This year has been one that has been truly hard for me to deal. It all started out to perfection, and I was having the time of my life and enjoying my senior year with my friends and boyfriend. We were all making plans – individually and together. Then, the worst night of my life happened – I became pregnant.
The months leading up until finals were tough and emotionally charged. At a certain point, I needed to project all my passion and anger towards my baby. Luckily, I would still make graduation, which I thought was a first good step to creating a better life for my child. While I intend to go to college, I will be behind one year from my peers. I have wonderful parents who have decided to help me – I couldn't ask for a more supportive family. I have great values to benefit my child's life in the future in his or her upbringing. I will start part-time classes by next semester, then hopefully transition to full time to complete my junior college degree. By then, I should have enough funds to transfer to a four-year university where I will finish my program in forensic sciences.
The school, my friends and my family have all made this day possible. I will be able to accept my diploma in person before giving birth some time in the next few weeks. My classmates have all been incredibly understanding and those that were not did not matter. My life was so much more than high school long ago.
The
academic gown I purchased looks good, and it hides my belly fairly well. If you did not know me you would not know I was pregnant – which I'm sure for visitors and guests at commencement might be a sight to maintain a positive school image.
We all take our seats and put our
graduation caps on and wait for everything to get started. There are the usual introductions and the presentations of the awards for outstanding students. Then we have all the regular speeches about what the real world will be like and how we should remember these years. I imagine I could have given a speech to remember. There are things I would like to forget but I have to especially thank everyone who came together for me when I needed them. That will always stay with me.
The dean reaches to the stack of
diploma covers and hands them out one-by-one. As my name is called, I hear a roaring cheer from my family section, and even receive a congratulatory and well-meaning «goodbye» of sorts from the school principal. and we being to file out and get our diplomas. This is the end to a good year and the beginning of an unknown adventure. But as all these exiting seniors will soon realize, there is much work to be done in the coming year, regardless of raising children, preparing for college or acclimating yourself to community.
