Jasmine C. started boxing when she was five years old and by the age of 15, had racked up an inspiring number of awards, trophies, medals, belts and championships for someone so young. While training and setting her sights on the Olympics, she held a 3.72 GPA, received student of the month awards, citizenship awards, a perfect attendance award and passed the 8th grade writing test with a perfect score.
And then she found out she was pregnant.
“I felt really scared,” she said. “I didn’t know exactly what to do, but I did know I was going to have this baby.” She dropped out of school and went to live with her boyfriend.
The tough part was her father was disappointed in her – he felt she had so much going for her and she threw it all away. “I wanted her to use boxing as a way to get a full ride to college.” But he never gave up on her and wanted Jasmine to stay in school. He heard about Learn4Life and thought it might work for her.
She was reluctant to try Learn4Life, but traditional school was difficult when she was pregnant. Other students would stare at her and judge her situation. Plus, she knew that once the baby arrived, she wouldn’t be able to sit in a classroom all day.
Turns out, she felt comfortable at Learn4Life right away and knew she would be able to finish high school. “The students were really nice. I didn’t feel like they were looking at me any different or judged me in any way.”
Now that Jasmine has her daughter, her perspective on life has changed. Everything she does is for her child – so she’s working hard to finish school, and she has resumed training, running and boxing. Her goal is to box in the 2024 Olympics.
“Being a mom is hard…it’s just life though,” she explained. “I want other teen moms to feel like their baby isn’t stopping them from doing anything that they love. They should go out and pursue their goals, because it’s not an excuse. They can see their baby as motivation and actually do something with their life.”