It’s graduation season in Round Rock ISD! To celebrate, we’re showcasing seniors from across the district.

Brianna Hollie, a 16-year-old senior at Success High School, is eager to step into her future.

“I’m so happy to be graduating, especially a year early! It helps give me a head start on everything I need a year earlier than I would have if I’d had a regular high school experience.”

Brianna said finding out last year that she was pregnant changed her focus and changed the trajectory of her school career.

“For me, school was really bad. I was never in school, I would always skip, and I just had no motivation. I never wanted to step foot in a school building,” she said. “Figuring out that I was pregnant actually helped me a lot, because then school became my top priority. I really understood that it was up to me to support me and my baby.”

Brianna’s daughter was born last May.

“My baby is about to be 1! I’m not gonna lie… It was kind of scary at the time!” she said. “I didn’t care what other people thought about me, but I was worried about what my mom would think. My mom was the one person I didn’t want to disappoint.”

She said things were easier after she told her mom and was enrolled at Success High School.

“After I told her, it was easy because I was like if my mom accepts it, then I’m OK. That really helped me,” she said. “When I came here I was pregnant, so for me, one of the best parts was getting to meet with the daycares; we had, like, support groups and all the moms would go and we’d talk, have fun, play games, draw… It was really nice.”

Brianna said she also enjoyed the Women’s Group.

“They bring a whole bunch of women together and we talk about women empowerment and what our goals are for after high school. It helps us find the resources and support to reach our goals.”

She said learning how to pace herself was the key to her success.

“At regular school, I was used to someone telling me what I was learning and how and when to do things, so coming here and getting into the new schedule of doing things by myself was kind of hard, but it started getting easier over time.”

After a while, Brianna said, she got used to the routine.

She also credits her math teacher, Claudia Diaz, with her success.

“She cared about me and my mental health,” said Brianna. “Ms. Diaz would ask me how I was doing, how my daughter was… she always made sure I was OK, and I really appreciated it. She always told me ‘You can’t do your work if your mental health isn’t being taken care of,’ which is true! She’s really helped me learn how to balance my mental health with everything else.”

Now, Brianna stresses the importance of education.

“I would tell other young moms not to give up. Don’t worry about anything else that’s going on in the school, just really stay to yourself and keep pushing to get your diploma,” she said.

After graduation, Brianna plans to take classes at Austin Community College. She said she wants to be a day care teacher one day so that she can help others.

Good luck, Brianna!