”The happiest moment of my life would probably be when my son was born. It was something that I experienced that I hope I remember forever.”

Yesenia Juan is a 20 year old working mother who shares her life stories and opinions on the world. She talks about her religion, her experience with having a child, and lots more things that take us to the past, and set ourselves for her future as a mother. Here are her stories.

Alexis Juan : Okay so tell me about yourself.

Yesenia Juan: My name is Yesenia and I am 20 years old.

A: What are your goals for this year?

Y: I think a goal that I have for this year would be to have my own house for myself and my family.

A: What do you like best about yourself?

Y: Physically, what I like is probably my curly-hair, but also other than that I think i’m a really mature person and that’s something I really do like about myself.

A: What was the happiest moment of your life?

Y: The happiest moment of my life would probably be when my son was born. It was something that I experienced that I hope I remember forever.

A: And what was the saddest?

Y: The saddest would be i’m not sure I don’t think I have a super sad moment in my life and I hope it stays like that for a while.

A: How has your life been different than what you’d imagine?

Y: Well everyone always has plans but they never end up – most of the time, like there’s some problems along the way that makes it, like, way different from what you imagined and I thought I would have been continued going to school, I would have gone to college, but some stuff did happen along the way that prevented me.

A:  What was the hardest thing you have ever had to do?

Y: The hardest thing would probably be giving birth. That’s super painful.

A: Are you proudest about that in your life.

Y: Um I am really proud of that in my life because I feel like giving birth to another human is something  really awesome you know like all the women go through it but you don’t really know the pain until you yourself have to go through it men will never know the pain so like that’s good for them.

A: Who has had the biggest influence on your life and how?

Y: I think my mom has been the biggest influence in my life because she’s really cool, she, y’know she works and she gets home and she, she takes care of, like, my brothers and I don’t know how she does it ’cause I definitely would be tired of like having to work, having to do chores, feeding them, and I don’t know how she does it.

A: Who are your best friends and what are they like?

Y: My best friends, I have not seen them since I finished high school, but we still talk with each other, we text. Um it sucks that we don’t have like, like free time to like hang out physically but my best friend, her name is Beatrice and right now she’s studying to be a nurse and it’s cool for her like I wish I would have had the same experience she has, but I really miss her and I hope one day we could still hang out.

A: What was it like growing up in this area?

Y: Um I think South Central never had a good reputation, like everybody’s always talking about gang members and drugs and all that, but I think were I always grew, like my street, my neighborhood, they were always pretty calm and I never remember anything super, like bad happening, like cops everywhere, so I think it’s good that I was able to live in a somewhat okay environment.

A: Were you ever worried about becoming apart of this reputation?

Y: Um I don’t think that was ever a worry I had because I knew I had because I knew I had to, I had to behave, I was never like part of the bad kids in school and I always tried to, I was- I wasn’t book smart, I wasn’t super nerdy, but I also wasn’t a bad kid so I was somewhere in between and I was never worried about like being part of the reputation that South – Central has.

A: If you could do everything again what would you do differently?

Y: I think- I mean even if I have my child, my son, I think I would still want to try and continue going to school, and right now I guess it could be possible but it’s really hard so I can be able to do everything again I think continuing my education would be a big part of that.

A: Can you tell me about your religious beliefs?

Y: My religious beliefs, well I’m Catholic and I do believe in God, but as like my open minded as a 21st century teenager basically there are some doubt  because like the Bible and everything, it was like such a long time ago, like who even wrote that you know.

A: If you believe in God can you please describe them?

Y: Well if I imagine God in my head, I don’t see him as like – I think I see him really differently because in my head he would have more – not like – more, like miracles and all that.I think he would be more like spiritual like he would be – I’m not sure how to describe it.

A: What are your best memories so far?

Y: I think I have a few good memories. I think one of them was definitely like still my – it was while [in] high school like two years ago, three years ago with my friends you know, I think having not many responsibilities was fun, and hanging out with my friends that was something I cherished. Another great memory I have is when my son was born I think, I still remember the pain I felt and I still remember like what I felt when he was handed to me by the nurses, the doctors. I still remember that they played a birthday song, like the happy birthday song when he was born, I remember that he was born at 11:20 in the morning, so that was a great memory that I have.

A: What were our parents like? 

Y: My parents – our parents are really hard working, they’re – they always have like everything for us, they – nothing we never like had – like if we needed something we had it like if we wanted something they would try their best to give it to us.

A: Where are they from?

Y: Our parents are from Campo De – something I forget [in] Mexico.

A: Have you ever been there?

Y:   I have not been [there] but I heard that, from my parents, that it’s a beautiful place and that although they suffered many hardships that they still like learned that’s how they were able to grow up themselves and I would want to see like their childhood too so I would want to visit one day.

A: Who is your favorite relative and why?

Y: Well other than like my family, my mom, and my brother[s], I think my favorite relative would have to be my cousin ’cause she’s the same age as me and we have fun together, we have the same problems, we have the same thoughts almost, and I think that’s why she would be my favorite relative.

A; Okay well thank you for your time.

Y: No problem.