My Turn: School's out but not a GED

By Natalia Yarbrough

Photo illustration by Natalia Yarbrough

A lot of teenagers say their life is so hard. What many of them don’t understand is that they actually have it pretty easy.

My name is Natalia Yarbrough. I am 16 years old and I am a teenage mother. When I found out I was pregnant, I was a sophomore at Bogan High School. The pregnancy shocked everyone in my family. The way that my family reacted to the pregnancy really stressed me out. I ended up failing the second semester of my sophomore year because I was sent out to live with my Dad. During the time I was with my Dad I was not in school, which was about four weeks. Because I missed I was unable to make up all of the work.

What made this all worse was that my due date, Sept. 28, 2009, was the beginning of my junior year. I was not able to start my junior year. I had my daughter, Kaelah Renee Jackson, on Sept. 24, 2009.

I would now be considered a junior in high school. Unfortunately, I had to withdraw from school to take care of Kaelah. Raising a child has interfered with getting my education. Instead of going to school, I have to stay home with my baby. Instead of doing homework, I have to take her to the doctor. Life is not a piece of cake for anyone, but I feel like it has been especially hard for me this past year.

When I talk to my peers they all say the same thing about high school. It’s always, “I only like the social aspect of high school,” or “I’d rather get my GED if that means I don’t have to go to school and can teach myself.” It’s hard for me to explain to them what I am going through. Most of them don’t understand that I loved school. I was popular and had a lot of friends. Most of the teachers found me hilarious. And now all of that is gone!

When I decided to go through with my pregnancy and become a mother, I knew that meant giving up everything for my child. I gave up high school; I won’t be able to walk across a stage for graduation. I won’t be able to dress up for a prom. I can’t just go to the mall and hang out with my friends. I haven’t even experienced a high school party, and now I will never get the chance.

The hardest part about being a pregnant teenager was being judged. Not by my friends because all of my friends thought it was just the cutest thing to have a little round belly. And quite frankly, I didn’t care what they thought about me anyway. I’ve never really been a person who cares about how my peers see me. I always knew that how I felt about myself on the inside was what really mattered. But when my favorite teachers would stop talking to me, it hit me hard. I was embarrassed to go to the grocery store with my mom, and that made me sad. When people asked me how far along I was in my pregnancy, followed by, “How old are you?” I was ashamed to say, “I’m 16.”

I was no longer Natalia, the spunky, fun, outspoken person everyone hated to love. I was now a statistic: the teenage mother everyone loved to hate.

Don’t ever mistake my words I love and adore my beautiful daughter. She never has been, is, or will be the reason my life is hard. She didn’t ask to be here, I brought her here. That makes it my new job to do everything I can to make her life the best it can be.

The day I walked into Bogan High School and had to withdrawal, I received a look of disappointment from everyone. Usually this is something that would hurt my feelings. I don’t like to disappoint people but that day instead, of hurting my feelings, it made me want to grow and continue living my life the best that I can.

Getting my GED is not something I would rather do instead of high school. This is something I have to do to take care of my child. I don’t plan on getting my GED and getting a minimum wage job. I plan to get my GED, go to college, graduate and find a career. I plan to make enough money so that I can provide my child with the best education and life.

Being a mommy is the best feeling in the world! And so that I can be a great mommy… I am going to get my GED, no matter what!