Name: 【TED-Ed】Meet Melissa Perez
Uploaded: 2013-10-09T17:34:07.000Z
Duration: 2 min 34 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

I was born and raised in the Bronx, New York City,

Going to a school that has metal detectors is stressful.

You have to stand in line 25 minutes to an hour.

because I knew they didn't take attendance first and second.

So, basically, if you were going third period,

they would mark you present for the whole day.

Getting pregnant changed my approach tremendously.

I thought, "I'm pregnant, I don't have a diploma.

So what I am I going to be working the rest of my life?

No! I have to graduate and go to college."

Being a mom, still going to high school is, ummm,

overwhelming, I would say, at the beginning,

but I had this math teacher who encouraged me

She always said that she saw something in me.

She was like, "I know there's something inside you there

because she knows that my favorite subject is math.

She's always like, "Melissa, figure this out.

After I had my baby, I got my head into the game

It made me have a total different visual for my future.