Cheyenne Trevino was recently named a winner of the Victoria College Foundation’s $1,000 “What’s Your Story?” scholarship.
Cheyenne Trevino was determined not to be a part of the 98 percent.
Trevino had it all going for her as a freshman at Bay City High School. She was a standout on the Ladycats’ softball team, a member of the National Honor Society and involved with Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) with plans of becoming a registered nurse.
The 15-year-old’s life changed forever midway during her freshman year when she became pregnant.
“I received a lot of negative feedback from people,” Trevino recalled. “All I knew is I wasn’t going to let that define me. I had big plans. I just made an obstacle for myself that I had to overcome.”
Trevino’s daughter, Ariah, became her motivation along with the desire to prove wrong all those who doubted her. Trevino is now enrolled in Victoria College’s Associate Degree Nursing Program. She was recently named one of the winners in the Victoria College Foundation’s $1,000 “What’s Your Story?” scholarship contest. The winning essay described her determination to resume her higher education journey at VC.
“When I found out I was pregnant, I thought my life was over,” Trevino wrote in her essay. “But little did I know that this obstacle would just push me to accomplish so much more in life.”
Trevino graduated on time from Bay City High School in 2017.
“I juggled homework, practices, meetings, work and being a mother every day,” Trevino wrote. “There would be days where I was beyond tired from waking up two hours earlier before school would start just to get my child to the babysitters, make it to school on time, finish the day off with afternoon practices, work if I had to, and making sure my child got picked up. I knew my hard work would pay off and I would be seen as someone more than a statistic.”
According to TeenPregnancy.com, only two percent of teenage mothers earn a college degree. Trevino met other obstacles as her application for a nursing program at a nearby college was rejected twice.
“In the meantime, I did all my prerequisites for my bachelor’s degree,” Trevino said. “I got accepted to VC’s nursing program last year.”
Trevino, 22, said she found a home at Victoria College.
“VC has really great instructors for the program and offers opportunities to get involved in the community,” Trevino said. “There are also many scholarship opportunities for students here.”
Trevino, who plans to transfer to the University of Houston-Victoria and pursue her bachelor’s degree in nursing after graduating from Victoria College’s ADN Program, has been approached by some of her counselors to become a mentor and inspiration for teenage mothers.
“You just have to keep pushing,” said Trevino, who aspires to be a neonatal nurse. “There are definitely times when you’re down and you don’t have a good mindset. But you have to do what you need to do for yourself and your baby. After you have kids, it’s not all about you anymore. It’s about your children, and you have to make a better situation for them and don’t settle for just the bare minimum.”