Transcriber: Naoko Fujii Reviewer: Denise RQ
I remember in third grade,
my parents going to my parent-teacher conferences.
And afterwards, they came over to my grandma's house to pick me up,
and they talked more about how my teacher could not believe
that they were old enough to be my parents,
versus what my performance was in the classroom.
At 9 years old, it was that moment that I realized
my parents aren't like everybody else's parents.
I'm almost 33 years old, my mom is 49, and my dad, 52.
For those of you still doing the math,
that means my mom was 16 when I was born, and my dad was 19.
Teen parents.
Now, I'm sure when I say 'teen parents,'
a lot of images automatically come to mind.
I'm guessing a lot of you are thinking about popular TV shows,
like "16 & Pregnant," or "Teen Mom."
Some of you may just feel bad because you know
the likelihood of finishing school and getting a good job, as a teen parent,
is significantly reduced.
Some of you might be thinking of that girl
that you went to high school with that was pregnant,
and some of you might be that girl from high school.
And actually, statistics would support a lot of those thoughts.
3 out of 10 teen American girls will get pregnant
at least once before the age of 20,
with 'parenthood' noted as the leading reason
for teen girls to drop out of school.
And unfortunately,
more than 15% of teen moms will never graduate from high school.
As I reflect back on what it was like for me growing up with teen parents,
it actually was not like those images at all.
Based on what you see on TV,
you would think that three of us would be in some sort of legal trouble,
or barely able to make ends meet.
And honestly, that's just not the case.
In a conversation with my mom earlier this year, I asked her this question,
"Why were we different?"
And her answer was so simple. She said it was 'expectations.'
When my parents found out that they were pregnant with me,
their parents just expected that they would do what they needed to do.
That included finishing school, getting a good job, and taking care of me.
And that's exactly what they did.
They didn't get a free pass to not pursuit their goals
just because they were going to be teen parents.
I can tell you sometimes their goals
come in a different way and in a different time frame,
but it didn't fundamentally change the people that they are.
They were both very driven individuals before,
and they are very driven individuals today.
So, over the course of the years, we kind of all three grew up together.
They not only had the expectation that their parents placed on them,
but now, they have the expectations of me.
One of the unique opportunities you get when you are the child of teen parents,
it's you kind of feel like you get to play a little part in raising your parents
as much as they raised you.
I say this because a lot of times
you are going through the same events, at the same time,
and in some instances, it might actually be in reverse order.
For example, several years after I got my bachelor's degree,
I got to celebrate with my mom as she got her bachelor's degree.
And earlier this year, within six months of each other,
all three of us got promotions at the companies that we work for,
putting all three of us in leadership positions.
Maybe you weren't teen parents,
but maybe there were other events that have happened in your life,
that have altered the path that you had planned.
And these events will inevitably happen.
And when we do, it doesn't mean you need to resign yourself
to be in one of these statistics.
I would challenge you that when these events do happen,
you would continue
to set high expectations for yourself and those around you.
Thank you.
(Applause)
(Host) So, I told Brooke I was going to to do this, can I have the house lights?
Can I have Brooke's parents stand up, please?
(Applause)
Thank you so much.
Thank you for raising such a fabulous daughter.