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  • Jessica Mendez, a senior at Lincoln Academy and a student at Autry Technology Center in the medical assisting program, balances her responsibilities of school and parenting her 11-month-old daughter Raegynn. (Staff Photo by BONNIE VCULEK)

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November 23, 2011

Jessica’s wake-up call

By Phyllis Zorn, Staff Writer Enid News and Eagle

ENID — Jessica Mendez wants a better life for herself than most women in her family have had. When she found herself pregnant at 16, she made up her mind to get that better life.

Jessica, a dual student at Lincoln Academy and Autry Technology Center, will graduate from Lincoln next month and from Autry’s medical assisting program in May.

After that, she wants to get her licensed practical nursing certificate from Autry, then go to Northern Oklahoma College for her associate of applied science in nursing degree.

Jessica, now 18, moved to Enid with her mother and grandmother when she was 9. She admits facing the unanticipated responsibility of a child to raise was a wake-up call.

“I found out the end of my sophomore year I was pregnant, and I started to panic,” Jessica said. “What am I going to do? What am I going to do?”

At Lincoln, she found support and encouragement, and began to see that she can make it.

“We give a lot of one-on-one help,” said Kent Chesser, Jessica’s teacher at Lincoln Academy. “We kind of treat everyone here like we are one big family.”

Chesser said the school’s flexible schedule helps students who have other responsibilities to fulfill, such as the need to earn a living or take care of a child.

When Jessica started classes at Lincoln, she mainly wanted to complete high school, but it wasn’t long before she looked further for herself, Chesser said.

“She’s motivated and she works hard,” Chesser said.

Jessica said many of the women in her family have dropped out of high school and started families early, never to return to school and finish.

“Looking at their lives, it’s nothing I wanted,” Jessica said.

Jessica said her daughter, Raegynn, 11 months, gives her the drive to keep going so she can build a better life. Her family helps out by tending to Raegynn when she needs them.

And Raegynn’s father, Josh Francis, gives Jessica plenty of encouragement to keep going when she starts to feel worn down.

He, too, is taking classes at Lincoln while he works full-time in a restaurant to support the family. When he graduates along with Jessica next month, he wants to train for a better job.

“I want to go to Autry and study diesel mechanics,” Francis said.

Sandra Patocka, instructor for Autry’s 37 current medical assisting students, said she’s seen Jessica blossom since she started taking classes at Autry.

“You can really tell she’s developing into her own person,” Patocka said. “I can tell she’s gaining confidence in where she’s going and what she’s doing with her life.”

Patocka said she admires Jessica’s willingness to work alongside anyone to accomplish the task, and Jessica never lets someone else’s negative attitude get in the way of what she needs to do.

“She sees the chance to reach her goals and she’s taking advantage of that,” Patocka said.

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