Pregnancy did not divert Quincy teen from finishing her education

QUINCY - Angelica Ruiz had it down, she was getting good grades, junior year and senior year at Quincy High School looked like a lot of schoolwork, but that was doable.

Then she got some news. "The beginning of my junior year, I found out I was pregnant," she said. That changed a lot of things.

One thing that didn't change was school. Ruiz stayed in school, following her mother's advice. "My mom has been supportive since day one," she said. Her boyfriend stepped up and helped out.

Nevertheless, it wasn't easy. "I couldn't do a lot of stuff," she said. Her friends could play sports, go goof off after school, but she couldn't, she said.

Pregnancy brought some physical challenges, and she had to skip the last month of junior year because of complications. But even when it was tough Ruiz tried to stay focused, she said.

"Thankfully, a lot of my teachers were very understanding," Ruiz said. She came to school every week to get her assignments and turn in her homework. Her teachers were understanding, but they expected her to keep up. "I had to make up pretty much everything that I missed," she said.

"My son was born on June 1 (2012)," she said. Her son Jesus is the greatest thing in her life, she said. "I think about him 24/7. He's always in the back of my mind." But his birth was when the real work started, she said.

Angelica, her mom, her boyfriend and his mom worked out a support system to cover child care when others were working or at school. But the baby changed everything. He had to come first; no extracurricular activities, no hanging out after class, even for a little while. "After school I have to go home," Ruiz said.

It's OK, because Angelica doesn't mind the baby coming first. But "I was very lucky," Ruiz said.

She has her mom and her family, her boyfriend and his family, and that support system helped her stay in school, she said. She knows girls who didn't have the same kind of support and had to drop out, she said.

"I have to give a lot of thanks to my mom and my boyfriend," she said.

She said she would tell a girl in her situation to stay in school, no matter how difficult it might get. "Absolutely."

After graduation she's planning to attend Big Bend Community College, and looking at a career in the medical field.