Twist of fate
Twist of fate
A random act of fate changed one teenage girl’s life forever.
A random act of kindness changed it further still.
After the first time she had sex, Jessica Treviño got pregnant. She was in the eighth grade. She was 14.
“I was scared and didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t even planning on it, it just happened,” said Treviño, now 23. “My mom asked me why I did it, as if I had done it deliberately to hurt her, when obviously, you are not thinking of your parents when you have sex.”
Of course, Treviño’s mom was in shock at the news that her baby was having a baby.
“Well, I thought, ‘Oh my God, there is a kid having a kid,’” said Lupe Galindo. “I have seen so many other parents kick their kids out, and they wind up on the streets on drugs or shacking up with some guy and getting pregnant over and over. I decided I wanted something better for her. She made a mistake, but she was young.”
So Treviño began her freshman year at Bakersfield High School as an expectant mother. At first, she wasn’t sure if she would keep the child, but her mother and a sermon at church made her realize that she had to be responsible.
“I went to Mass at St. Mary’s in Delano one Sunday and they happened to talk about motherhood and abortion and I ran out of there crying,” Treviño said. “I couldn’t choose not to be a parent, I knew it was wrong to think about abortion.”
Treviño saw the sermon as a message from above, and with the support of her mother, decided to go ahead with the pregnancy.
But being a pregnant teen in high school is not a glamorous situation, Treviño said.
“I knew I had to face what I didn’t want to face, but I did think for a point that my life was over — I was 14 and pregnant,” Treviño said. “I thought I would be undesirable and that everyone would look down on me.”
Despite all that, Treviño went forward with her pregnancy and gave birth to her daughter, Kandice Nicole Hernandez, on Nov. 27, 1999.
Afterward, Treviño would go to school a half day and drop Kandice off at the school’s daycare program. Treviño’s mother would take care of the baby when Treviño worked.
“I didn’t take any college prep classes, so the school work wasn’t that hard, but overall, it was tough,” Treviño said.
Treviño worked nights, and then would take care of her daughter, plus the half days of school — this busy routine robbed Treviño of the normal high school experience, she said.
“It was hard to be a young parent. I wasn’t one of the popular hot chicks, I was a mom,” Treviño said. “My daughter motivated me to hurry up and grow up, and take things seriously.”
Kandice also influenced her young mother’s social circle — but in a good way.
“I had to choose my friends carefully,” Treviño said. “Most of the kids were into partying and I couldn’t go out and do those things.”
Random act of kindness
Treviño made it through her first three years of high school, facing all the challenges that came along with being a teen mother and trying to complete high school. But it would be during her senior year when her life would once again shift significantly — and for the better.
Those closest to Treviño knew her new focus and new maturity would reap its rewards eventually.
“Jessica was always very together. You could always tell that she was very goal-oriented toward finishing school and very mature,” said Christopher Borges, Treviño’s choir director at BHS. “Being a high school mom, there were things she couldn’t do with the choir because of her responsibilities, but she was nevertheless a hard worker and extremely talented.”
Borges said the fondest memory he has of Treviño as a student was her baccalaureate speech.
Before graduating, Treviño had to write a speech for extra credit in her English class. Her teacher suggested Treviño write about her high school experience.
The speech led to Treviño being a speaker at the baccalaureate — a ceremony that features a speech or series of speeches given to a graduating senior class — the Sunday before graduation.
“I gave a speech about my high school experience, read an inspirational poem and sang,” Treviño said.
After the ceremony, Treviño was excited about graduating, but that was nothing compared to the excitement a complete stranger would add to the equation.
To Treviño’s complete surprise, a woman she did not know approached her after the baccalaureate ceremony with a very generous proposition.
“She asked me if I needed help with college,” Treviño said.
Yes, Treviño did.
The following day, the school principal called Treviño into the office and gave her a letter from the woman.
“It said that if I could get a C or better in my classes, she would pay for my college until I get my bachelor’s degree,” Treviño said. “It was then that I realized that I could go to college, so I hurried up and signed up for classes at Bakersfield College.”
Treviño’s patron wanted to remain anonymous.
“I was extremely thankful and grateful to her for her offer,” Treviño said.
Thanks to the mysterious benefactor, Treviño obtained her associate degree from Bakersfield College in 2006, and is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in music at Cal State Bakersfield.
In addition to being a mother and a student, Treviño works at both Hot Topic and Victoria’s Secret in the Valley Plaza Mall, and also sells Avon and guitar pick earrings that she makes.
She is also continuing to pursue her dream of becoming a musical performer, and recently landed the lead role in the musical production, “Evita” at CSUB in May.
Treviño’s mother is proud of her daughter’s achievements, even if she did have to go through a lot to get to this point.
“She is a good daughter. She is working hard trying to keep her grades up and working two part-time jobs,” Galindo said. “She keeps a close connection with her daughter and is doing a lot better than I thought she would be when she got pregnant. Thank God she followed through and made up her mind to have a better life for her and her daughter.”
Looking to the future
“After having my daughter, things just got better and better, and I learned that you can’t lose hope and faith in yourself,” Treviño said. “I know that if it wasn’t for Kandice, I wouldn’t be trying to better myself and be a good role model. If it wasn’t for her, I probably would have too much pride to ask for help.”
Treviño added that her college experience has given her a different perspective on her life as well. She learned that she is smart and has gained more self-esteem.
After graduating from college, Treviño wants to follow in Borges’ footsteps and become a junior high choir director herself.
And Borges is sure that’s just what Treviño will do.
“I have no doubts about her ability to succeed. I am really proud of her, and it is also very fulfilling for me that she wants to be a music educator,” Borges said. “I look so forward to her having a career and being able to have a better life than so many kids in her position. She is a poster child for other kids to figure out what they can do when they commit themselves to doing something.”
Still, Treviño reminds herself and others that even though life’s struggles happen for a reason, there are always lessons to be learned.
“I have changed a lot and turned into a better person,” she said. “But I do think teens should wait to have sex, not just because of religious reasons, but because when you are that young, you don’t think of the consequences. You have to go through a lot of life to realize what true love is.”
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