It’s funny how things happen for a reason. Sometimes things happen for a reason that we don’t understand and never will. The majority of these circumstances happen when you least expect it. This is how I was thinking a couple of years ago, when I found out that I was pregnant.

It was very difficult for me to believe it. How could I get pregnant at such a young age? In those days no one really stressed the point of teenage pregnancy. My health teacher would make a comment, “11 out of the 27 kids in this class will have a baby by the end of their senior year in high school.” I would always think in my head, “That would never be me.”

Eventually, it was me. I was part of the statistics that she mentioned. You can’t change your life experiences that happened in the past. You can just live on day by day, hoping for the best and not letting anything hold you back from your dreams and accomplishments. Well, I delivered my son and he was a cute one.

A lot of responsibility came along with that package on March 6, 1998 at 12:36 p.m. There was diaper changing, bathing, and laundry. It was necessary for me to purchase formula, clothing, a car seat, highchair, bassinet, changing table, and swing. I went from being a child to giving birth to one. I went from a pediatrician to seeing a gynecologist. Yes, I was young. I should have been a little more careful.

By: Jashique Stona.

NOTICE: This short essay was written by one of my classmate at NYU’s Upward Bound Program for annual yearbook back in summer 2002.