At 17, she’s already a mother but even at her young age and the stumbling block she encountered, Fatima Balaba is determined to finish her studies and earn a degree so she can provide a better life for her baby.
According to Fatima, she knows that there are a lot of people talking behind her back and judging her for being a teenage mother but she does not care about their opinion because she is too busy working hard to reach her dreams.
Photo credit: Fatima Balaba / Facebook
Her life isn’t easy, especially because she has to juggle regular working hours as service crew at Jollibee with her studies; she barely has time for her baby yet she strives to hang on and continue with what she’s doing until she graduates from college.
Fatima shared how her day starts at 6:30 AM as she goes to school until 1:30 PM but instead of going back home just like most students, she has to go straight to her job for a shift that starts from 2 PM and ends in 9:30 PM. This hectic schedule means she goes home at around 10:30 PM, sometimes 11 PM.
Having such a busy schedule does not only mean she’s usually tired at the end of the day but also means she barely has time for her child. The sad consequence about this is that her baby does not know how to say “Mommy” but knows how to call everyone else, including “Daddy”.
Despite these difficulties, though, Fatima hopes that she could overcome the challenges and fulfill her dreams. She also hopes that people would stop judging teen moms like her. As for other teen moms, she encourages them to try their best and not feel discouraged just because they faced some stumbling blocks to their dream goal.