He Didn't Take Away My Future, He Gave Me a New One

I was fifteen years old the day that I found out I was pregnant. To say that I was in a dark place at that point in my life would be an understatement. I was selfish and had basically dropped out of school. I wanted to do what I wanted to do, no matter who I hurt or how I treated people, and not only just people, but my family.

I remember how I felt seeing “3+ weeks pregnant” on my positive pregnancy test. I was flooded with hundreds of emotions all at once, but the two emotions I remember that really stood out and shocked me were courage and hope. The courage to do what I knew was right came to me immediately. I was going to raise my baby no matter what sacrifices I needed to make. At such a young age people sometimes confuse that courage with immaturity. Over and over again I was told, “You don’t know what you are getting yourself into”, “Children shouldn’t raise children” or “You are only a child yourself, you don’t know what you’re in for”. Thankfully I had close family who did believe in me and didn’t make me feel like I was just young and naïve thinking that I could make such a life changing decision. The most shocking feeling of the two though was hope. I hadn’t ever taken the time to realize how unhappy I really was until I was forced to step back and re-evaluate my priorities and my life. As surprising as it was, I felt hopeful. I had hope for a new life and a new sense of purpose and happiness. Of course I would never recommend purposely getting pregnant at such a young age, but already finding myself in that situation I had to make a choice. I could either let pregnancy ruin me, or use it to motivate me.

Courage and hope are so significant to me because they are the two emotions that stuck out to me in the most life changing moment of my life. Because I was able to find courage and hope my life changed in an incredible way. I started going back to school, making up for the time I had missed with 2 years of summer school. I was able to grow as a person in a way that I would have never imagined and my relationship with my son’s father grew so much stronger. I was opened up to a whole new definition of the word love, and I fell in love with being a mom to my perfect little son.

Now, being the seventeen year old mother of a one year old in a 3 year relationship in high school I have the courage to speak up when I hear people talking about how teen pregnancy ruins your future. I have had people ask me “How does it feel knowing that you’ve ruined your future?”, and it almost makes me laugh because I know what they don’t. Before my son, I had no future. I had no hope or courage. I had no plans for high school let alone college. Although some people may not see it, I know that having my son in high school did not take away my future; he just gave me a new one.

By Brooklyn Wickersham

http://www.circleofmoms.com/teenage-mothersyoung-mothers/a-must-read-poem-for-young-mothers-425253