My Life Has More Meaning

My name is Tarialis Garcia and I am a 21 year old Dominican mother. I gave birth to my now one-year-old daughter, Lily. I am currently attending the University of Massachusetts Boston as a transfer sophomore student. I work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital as a Young Parent Ambassador.

Juggling life as a mother is hard but surprisingly I have it all under control. Trying to be independent, a mother, a full time student, having a job, and being in a relationship is a lot of work. My road to success will not be easy but I am determined to go through it all to accomplish my dreams and goals in order to make myself happy.

I thought it would be impossible to continue pursuing my dreams after being a young parent. The negative media, the stereotypes, and the lack of knowledge towards the subject of a young parent made me feel that way. I was assured by many that my life would be over after my daughter. Funny part of it all is that without my daughter I would have not made it this far.

My daughter gave me strength that I did not know I had. I broke out of the shell that I hid behind before Lily was born. My life would have been completely different without her, but not in the way media has made it out to believe. Lily has influenced me into being a stronger woman. My life is not ruined because I got pregnant at a young age instead it has more of a meaning. I have broken out of all the social norms that we young parents face and throughout my blogs I will be able to prove it.

Tarialis is a participant of the Young Parent Ambassador Program at the Center for Community Health and Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.