Memories of high school often conjure up images of prom night, Driver’s Ed and competitive sports. For Elizabeth Geurin, her favorite memory was when she realized she could raise her baby.

Four-months pregnant, she came to Annunciation Maternity Home with a heavy heart. She decided to give her baby up for adoption. Those plans quickly changed when she embarked on her new journey at the Georgetown-based UT-UCS charter school.

“Being at AMH helped me realized what my future could be,” Geurin says. “In a world that bashes a young mom—no matter what decision she makes about keeping her child—I was on edge about what I was going to do. At AMH, I learned not to worry or care about what other people think and focused more on how I saw myself.”

Unlike many of her fellow classmates at the residential facility, this was her first time entering a classroom setting. Home-schooled her entire life, she was anxious about keeping up with her peers in the one-room schoolhouse. With some help from an attentive team of faculty and staff, she overcame her anxiety and started planning out her career goals. She took advantage of the school’s work-study program and secured a job at T.J. Maxx.

“I loved the work-study program because I learned so much about careers, how to get a job, budgeting, and self-development,” Geurin says. “All of these life skills will benefit my current and future careers.”

Now she has landed a rewarding and satisfying career at her daughter’s pre-school, where her fellow staff members treat her like family and she spends time with her child every day.

“I came to the home with no hope,” Geurin says. “I hated myself and felt like nobody cared about me. AMH helped me see that I could control my life and my happiness. Now I am very happy with where I am in life, and I would not trade it for the world.”