{"id":293477,"date":"2023-06-23T18:45:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T23:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=293477"},"modified":"2023-06-23T14:31:53","modified_gmt":"2023-06-23T19:31:53","slug":"birth-15-doctorate-ucla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/birth-15-doctorate-ucla\/","title":{"rendered":"INSPIRING: She gave birth at 15. Now, she has a doctorate from UCLA."},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sonia Betancourt had dreams of attending UCLA to become a lawyer but put those dreams on hold after becoming pregnant when she was 15 years old. While she postponed her college plans to raise her daughter Stephanie and son Miguel, she didn’t let go of her dream. Earlier this month, that dream became a reality when she earned a doctorate in nursing from UCLA \u2014 as the proud daughter she raised as a teen looked on.<\/p>\n

Sonia and Stephanie spoke to NBC 4<\/a> about Sonia’s accomplishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, who plans a pregnancy at 15, right? I didn’t,\u201d Sonia said. However, she made clear that she wouldn’t let the fear of becoming a failure or the worry of becoming a statistic hold her back. Instead, she focused on raising Stephanie and later her son Miguel. The brother and sister eventually went to UCLA themselves, both graduating with Bachelor’s degrees, before it was Sonia’s turn to pursue her lifelong ambition.<\/p>\n