Hey, I’m Breanna. I’m 17 years old and have a daughter named Alliyah. I gave birth to her 9 months ago. From what I’ve been through since April 2012 when I got pregnant is a lot of life changing. I never got the chance to be a teenager; I had to grow up fast for my daughter. That means no late nights, shopping sprees, or partying. Roughly two months after finding out I was pregnant, I dropped out of high school. I couldn’t handle the stress of becoming a mom and keeping up with my classes.

I would highly suggest to young girls and boys in school who are or thinking about having sex to wait. If you’re not going to wait then protect yourself. Having a baby while you’re so young, still in school, have no job, or still live with your parents is not fun. It’s a full-time, all day and night job without vacation. After having my baby I received my driver’s license. Having a license is very helpful, but you need a lot of money for the entire little baby essentials.

Since I was jobless and wasn’t in school, I applied for financial aid “cash assistance” where the Department of Transitional Assistance referred me to the Young Parents Program (YPP). YPP is a program through Training Resources of America where young moms and dads who need a diploma can go to study for their GED and find a job. I worked hard and now have my GED and a job! I plan on enrolling in nursing school in the near future to pursue my dream of becoming a mid-wife (a nurse that delivers babies) so I can provide for my own family.

So if anyone is a young parent and needs help studying for their GED or finding a job, I’d tell them to go to YPP.

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