To the girl who thought she was ready.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1InyEZiKmyTyoxkasJQc9imFXqRruBcJe/view?usp=drivesdk

To the Girl Who Thinks She’s Ready: A Letter from a Girl Who Rushed.

The first time I had sex, I thought I was making my own decisions, because I felt I was old enough and knew everything that had to do with sex. In truth, I was just searching for love, attention, and a place to belong. I was still a teenager, still someone’s granddaughter, still trying to figure out who I was. But one thing led to another, and by 18, I was pregnant.

At the time, I was living with my grandmother. I had lost both my parents, and though she gave me all the love she could, she couldn't shield me from the choices I was making. Furthering my studies, like my peers, became a distant dream. I was now a young mother, and everything else including education, freedom, self-discovery, had to wait.

I ended up married to the father of my...