Jessica

Jessica got pregnant her junior year of high school. Instead of following the trend of dropping out of high school she chose to push herself throughout her pregnancy so that she was able to graduate early, and she did. Jessica worked very hard to obtain all of her necessary credits and studied for and took the SAT during her nine months of pregnancy. In the end, her hard work paid off. Jessica was handed her high school diploma two weeks before her daughter’s birth in December of 2004, a full semester ahead of her class!

When Jessica’s daughter was just eight months old the pair relocated across the country to attend college through a single parent program in Massachusetts. She was able to live on campus with her daughter and receive grants from the school that covered almost 100% of her tuition. The program also paid for her daughter’s full-time childcare while she attended classes. While at college she participated in extensive community service and held a part-time job as a tutor at her college’s writing center. She was a Big Sister in the Big Brother, Big Sister program and she served as a mentor to teen parents in high school. She also founded and served as President of a club and was a member of three national honors societies. Needless to say Jessica was a supermom and A+ college student. She graduated May of 2010 with her Bachelor’s of Science in Biotechnology and is currently working in research at a major university.

During her freshman year of college she met a new man and they fell in love. They dated all throughout college and married New Year’s Eve 2010. They are now living in a beautiful condo right outside Boston, and her daughter is a happy, healthy second grader. Last I spoke to her she was in the process of applying to graduate school hoping to begin Spring of 2012.

Jessica wants teen moms everywhere to know that they don’t have to be another statistic. She says: "Our children are our greatest motivators. We *are* capable of achieving our dreams."

I couldn’t agree more with Jessica.