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A high school senior, who is also a teen mom, graduated as valedictorian of her class, and has earned herself $610,000 in college scholarships.

Trameka Pope attended Wendell Phillips Academy High School in Chicago, where she graduated at the top of her class, after giving birth to her daughter just three days before starting her freshman year.

The 19-year-old was reportedly homeless while starting high school, but was determined not to become another statistic, and pushed herself to excel.

She told Fox 32:

‘I didn’t give up. I pushed myself hard. And my baby motivated me every day because I wanted to provide for her and I also didn’t want to be a statistic.’

Despite Chicago public schools having a rate of one in every four students dropping out, she exceeded expectations and was accepted to nearly 30 universities:

‘I always said that I wanted to make change and I wanted to be in the history books, and I started with myself.”

On top of earning the title of valedictorian, Pope also earned Prom Queen last month, and even worked a part time job at a grocery store while taking care of her studies.

SOURCE: Fox 32 | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

Teen Mom Graduates High School As Valedictorian After Giving Birth Before Freshman Year  was originally published on globalgrind.com