My mother was a teen mother. At the age of 16 she found out she was expecting my brother and at 17, she gave birth. Growing up, she had told me about her experience with the father, being a teen mother and over coming obstacles that have tried to prevent her from doing what she needed and wanted to ensure that her child had a better life, regardless of the circumstances. When I was growing up, becoming a teenager myself and dating, my mother never missed an opportunity to tell me about her experiences. Every time she had a free moment, she would recall a memory about what it was like to graduate with a baby, go to college and graduating with a toddler. As my brother grew older, so did she. It's like growing up together and learning from the mistakes and triumphs. As I reached my teens, my mother pressed hard on me about being safe while dating and to protect myself. She was always worried about me making the decision, she never said mistake for children are not, but the decision to have a child in high school like she did. I wanted children and had a lot of experience taking care of them in my teens as a babysitter. I did adhere to my mother's wishes, for me to finish high school and go to college. I did not become a mother in high school but when I was 21, I had my first child. I was in college and then at 22 I had my daughter. I was an adult in age and mentally but it was still hard. I am truly grateful for my mother's stories. I feel that without her guidance, talks and her pushing for me to be careful as well as protecting myself, it is a strong possibility I would have had a child in high school. I was highly focused on school and my friends and I knew I wanted to wait. My career choice is to work with military active duty, veterans and their families. I know that many have families and many may be in high school thinking of enlisting in the military to help benefit their futures. My mother has always been my inspiration to help people; whether that is working with single parents, children of all ages or the elderly. I love helping people, I have a passion for being the person who made a significant change in their life that had the best and most positive outcome. I want to major in business administration with a minor in social work but I also want to pursue my master's degree in both fields. If I can help students with their career choices, military members with their rating so that their future is set for them and their families, I look forward to a career in helping as many people including families as I possibly can. Even teen parents are a family, they just started earlier than expected and deserve a chance to not feel guilty for it. I would rather work with them using encouragement, helpful resources and advocate for them for a better future.