Chapter 9: Sofia

I smile at the student sitting across the desk from me.

Ella Michaels is eighteen years old and will graduate in less than two months. She's worked hard over the last four years and should end with close to a four-point GPA. She tested well on both the ACT and SAT, which she took at the end of her junior year and had her choice of top-notch universities all over the country. Since she's a state champion swimmer who lettered freshman year and broke two school records in the four hundred breaststroke and freestyle, universities with D1 swim programs have vied for her attention since she was a sophomore. After visiting her top three schools last year and talking at length with the coaches, she settled on Florida State.

Intelligent, athletic, and talented, Ella is one of those students who make everything look effortless. She appears to have it all. It would be easy to hate her, but she's sweet, genuine, and goes out of her way to be friendly with everyone.

Two months ago, she came into my office in tears and told me she was pregnant. She was terrified to break the news to her parents. They were so proud of everything she'd accomplished. All she could see were her dreams and the future she had worked so hard to secure slipping through her fingers. We spent a couple of hours talking before calling her parents and inviting them to my office, where Ella broke the news.

They were shocked. It was painful to watch all the different emotions-distress, fear, anger, and sadness -flicker across their faces. I give them a lot of credit for not getting upset or flying off the handle. They both took deep breaths and agreed that it was disappointing, but not the end of the world.

Ella decided not to continue her competitive swim career at Florida State. She chose to stick closer to home so that she can commute to a local community college, where she'll begin taking classes next spring. Her boyfriend, Collin, also changed his plans. He'll attend the same college but will start right away in the fall.

This isn't how Ella anticipated ending her senior year, but she's embraced change and is doing what she can to succeed by adjusting her expectations and goals. I'm proud of how she's taken control of the situation.

I have a caseload of approximately four hundred students in grades nine through twelve. I meet with some kids on a regular basis. A few pop in almost daily. And some only require a quick check-in every few weeks to make sure they're on track and aren't falling behind. Others make weekly appointments during study hall to talk about the issues in their lives. Most of them are normal teenage growing pains.

Since the pregnancy came to light, I tend to meet with Ella on a weekly basis. She checks in and chats about how classes are going and how she's handling all the changes in her life. We try to troubleshoot challenges as they arise.

"Hi, Ella. How's it going?" Scanning her face, I notice a healthy glow on her cheeks. She appeared tired, drawn, and pale the past few weeks. My heart goes out to the eighteen-year-old because these last couple of months haven't been easy. "You look like you're feeling better."

At about four months along, you wouldn't realize Ella's pregnant unless you already knew. She's still quite slender. Morning sickness set in around the second month and she hasn't been able to keep much down. There were days when she had difficulty making it to school on time. She emailed me in the morning to let me know she was too nauseous to leave the house. I've done my best to run interference with teachers regarding her absences. Most have been flexible because they know Ella is a diligent, hardworking student.

While many students choose to take it easy their senior year, Ella challenged herself with two AP courses. Before the pregnancy, Ella didn't have any problems handling those classes along with the others in her course load-Spanish V, Anatomy, Literature, and Psychology. But now, she's struggling. Even though it broke her heart to stop training, she couldn't continue with such a rigorous schedule. It wasn't unheard of for Ella to spend twenty hours a week in the pool, often having two-a-day practices and dryland training. Without that, she has more time to dedicate to her studies.

And sleep.

She's been doing a lot of that lately as well.

"The morning sickness is getting better. My doctor prescribed some medicine last week, and that's helped a lot with the nausea."

"I can tell. You have more color in your cheeks."

"I'm still really tired, but at least I can keep my breakfast down in the morning." She cracks a wry grin.

"That's always a bonus. Are you having any trouble with your classes?" I try to stay preventative and nip problems in the bud before they get out of control. It's always easier to stay ahead of the train than be run over by it. "You're keeping up with homework and studying?" I know AP Calc and AP Physics have been a challenge for her. Both classes are college-level courses that require a great deal of work outside the classroom.

"Now that I'm not swimming, I have more time for studying." With a small smile, she muses, "I've swum almost every day since I was five years old. It's weird to have so much free time on my hands." Sadness creeps into her eyes. "I really miss it. A few days ago, I stopped by the pool and watched practice for about thirty minutes. It sucks not to be in the water."

"I know," I say softly, wanting to acknowledge her feelings. Change is difficult. Giving up something you love, or at least putting it on hold, isn't easy. "You can still get in the water and swim. As long as your doctor says it's okay, swimming is a great pregnancy exercise."

She shrugs. "It wouldn't be the same."

"No," I agree, "it wouldn't. But there's no reason you can't get back into competitive swim after the baby is born."