http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/do%20120504%20teen%20mother%20valedictorian.mp3
The valedictorian of a New Haven high school has won a Gates-Millenium scholarship to college. The student is a teen mother who will attend a college that supports single moms in higher education.
"My name is Shayla McQueen. I’m 17 years old. And I’m valedictorian of James Hillhouse High School."
Shayla McQueen is also a mother. Her son, Arlander Folson, turns two in August.
She says transitioning back into high school, just weeks after son was born, was tough, "...because I was debating whether or not, should I stay in school? Should I drop out? Because it was overwhelming and people were critiquing me."
Shayla says even harder than academics has been the feeling that she’s being judged.
"When people say I am a statistic, when people say that I am a stereotype, when people say I am a failure, I look at them and I say 'Thank you. Because you told me what I’m not.' That’s where it comes to pushing yourself and being that person you need to be, so I’m gonna do what it takes."
Shayla entered a high school program designed to support teen mothers. There, she found out about Wilson College in Pennsylvania, the first school in the nation to offer on-campus residential housing to single moms and their children. There’s also daycare while mothers are in class.
Shayla will attend Wilson College tuition-free, thanks to the Gates Millenium Scholarship "It pays not only for my master and bachelors, but also my doctorate if I choose to fulfill that."
Shayla McQueen hopes to become a teacher and says she may continue on for a graduate degree in philosophy or theology.
