Meet My Community Profile: An Intro to Suzy - Teen Mother on the Run

Here we go.  My community profile focuses upon the phenomenon of Teen Pregnancy.  The subject of my research starts with Suzy - a teen mother I know from high school.  We used to sit next to each other in English class.  After school we ran cross country together.  Pregnancy hasn't slowed down Suzy at all.  She is still as hard as ever to keep up with.

Suzy is a dreamer, not a “dreamer” the way we use the word today, but she has always had the goal of being the first in her family to graduate from college.  She came to this country without knowing a word of Spanish, but she persevered.  Not only did she learn English, now she wants to teach it.  However, When she  became pregnant in her senior year of high school, all her plans had to be put on hold.  The father of the child wanted nothing to do with marriage.  When it came time to have the baby, Suzy found herself all alone.  Suzy’s mother was a full-time nurse.  Her father was so angry at his daughter, he refused to speak with her.  He certainly wouldn’t support her. 

Suzy had no other option but to take matters into her own hands.  Suzy decided to raise her child as a single mother.  Yes, she knew of the hardship and challenge of raising a baby by herself in today’s economy,  but this was Suzy being Suzy.  She still had her dream of becoming an English professor.  Nothing was going to get in her way.  A counselor on the COD campus told her that with her grades, she was eligible for a Pell grant.  With this subsidy, she would be able to raise her child and continue her education.  Although many single mothers may feel trapped in their lives, Suzy saw no obstacle in her way for moving on in her life. She is inspired by the idea of becoming a role model for her daughter.  Every day she wakes up, she wants to be strong for her.

Whatever people think about her decision to go at it as a single mother, she just doesn’t care.  “The look at me from the outside,” she told me, “but they don’t know me.” Suzy doesn’t feel trapped at all with her baby.  No matter what happens, she will always have  her love and dream and vision.  Her baby will be her guiding light.