Sometimes the days get so tough that I don’t know if I’m going to make it. Some people can’t understand why I don’t just give up, why I don’t just quit school. I keep wondering that myself; the career I plan on doesn’t even require a diploma.

Then I remember all the things my father said to me that awful day. He never thought in a million years that I would even make it this far. But I don’t plan on giving up. One of my dreams has always been to graduate high school. That doesn’t sound like a very big dream, but if you were in my family you would understand. I will be the first female in my family to graduate from high school. That’s why I’ve been so determined to make it all these years. It’s been a tough ride trying to get to where I am today, though.

“I need a break, school is driving me crazy,” I keep telling my mom. Once, when I said that, she said that a G.E.D. was just as good as a diploma. I told her that it wasn’t good enough for me, and she never said that again. Now she thinks that I am trying as hard as I can to be better than her, but it’s not like that. I just want to be better for myself and for my family. This might sound a little crazy, but my family is my motivation.

No woman in my family - and few men - have ever received a diploma. I can’t help but want to change that. But that isn’t the only reason I am so determined - it’s really because of a dream I had. I dreamed that in a few years, Katie will come up to me and look me straight in the eye and tell me she wants to be just like me when she grows up. When I woke up I realized something - I can’t give up! If I were to give up, then I would have few options for jobs. The world of work is getting so demanding that soon you probably won’t even be able to work at McDonald’s without a a high-school diploma. I want to be able to get a better job and make a good living so I can raise my children to do the same. What kind of a mother would I be if when times got a little hard, I quit?

That’s why even though I have a kid and had to stay in school an extra year, I’m going to make it. I am determined to make it. I want to and will put on that cap and gown, walk across that stage, and shake Mr. Cook’s hand while I receive my diploma. Not for my parents. Not for myself, either, but for Katie, my daughter. She is the reason I will make it in the end so that in the future that dream I had won’t be a dream but a reality. I hope I get the chance to have such an impact in my daughter’s life that she wants to turn out just like me.