She started the race.

It just happened to be a race she wasn’t ready to lead.

Now it’s my race, and it’s my turn to run.

Research states that only 40 percent of teen mothers graduate high school. My mother was only sixteen when she gave birth to me. While she was horribly judged, she still saw the good in it.

She made it her goal not to be a statistic.While she did drop out, she made the decision to go and try again. After she finished her GED, she found a better job but not her way to college.

Later on, layoffs came, and it sent us back to square one.The difference is this time she had two more daughters and a son. Waiting tables didn’t bring in much, and we were in desperate need for a home.

Feeling she had nowhere else to turn, she thought back to when she was young. She remembered her dreams as a young girl of being the head nurse.

Hanging on to her last shred of hope, she finally made the call. Months later she walked us through the doors of Virginia College as they announced her honor roll.

“A small town girl with a hopeful heart” is what I heard them say. She juggled two jobs, four kids and school, always keeping her goals close by.

But as we all know, life happens. As time went on, she grew tired and lost her hope. No longer seeing how close it was, she quickly forgot her dream. She began to chase the dollar signs working in the Adidas factory.

My mother tried her very best to teach us how to dream. She tried her best to use her dream to gain a better life for me.

Some will look at it as a failure to achieve a silly dream, but as her child who lived through it, I see her victory.

Mom broke her back and sacrificed her dreams, so she could give to me. So yes, I’m proud to say her burden has fallen on me.

Now it’s my turn to show her all she did was not in vain. It’s also my turn to remind my family of the true value of a dream. I carry my mother’s burden with pride because she taught me how to dream.

My race begins in May with a stage in the school gymnasium acting as my runners’ block. Now my mama can say she pushed me to my victory.

And I’ll remember that someone once said that everything starts with a dream.