"Being a teen mother at 17, changed my life. I remember looking into my baby's big blue eyes and I was determined he would have different parenting than I did. I didn't want him to feel unloved or uneducated like I felt. So, I signed up for emotional intelligence classes and I signed up for a parenting class that I went to once a week for many years. And then I sent him off to Duke University where he will be a senior next year. I have three more children and all of those parenting and education skills trickled down to them as well. And, after getting my GED I also received my EMT and nursing licenses. And most recently I've become a licensed real estate agent." Amanda Tafoya is a real estate agent in Taos, New Mexico.
Ella Romancito
"Having a child has changed my life. I didn't go to college but I did want to go. Now I am just trying to make it in this town without a college degree. But even if you do have a college degree the options are either working at Walmart or working some job on the Plaza. Rent is expensive and the locals can't afford it. Motherhood is hard and I am just trying to get enough sleep. I still feel like I have bouts of postpartum depression and I am just trying to have enough motivation to get out of bed." - Ella Romancito is a young mother living in Taos, New Mexico.
Ruth Lemansky
“Nursing has been so natural for me because it incorporates so many female characteristics and I get to bring my womanly nature into my work. It makes caring for my patients fun, like I am spending time with a friend and not at work.” Ruth is a single mother and a nurse practitioner at El Centro Family Health in Embudo, New Mexico. "I’m allowed to bring my emotions to work, its acceptable. I can coo over my patients but because I am a woman it isn’t seen as creepy.”