Comeback Mama

Name: Marcia Morales

Age: 18

School: Rio Cazadero High School

Accomplishment: Staying in school when other teenage mothers were dropping out

Key to awesomeness: Her two-year-old daughter, Enedina

As a sophomore at Monterey Trail High School, Marcia Morales rarely went to class. Bored with school, she would sneak home to hole up in her room for the afternoon, then emerge at the end of the day and pretend to come in through the front door. She was failing almost all her classes. "The only thing I was getting a B in was health," she said.

Then, at 16, Morales became pregnant with her daughter Enedina and everything changed. "I wanted my daughter to be able to look up to me and know that I graduated high school," she said.

After Enedina was born, Morales—who had briefly dropped out of school—started hitting the books. She relied on her mother to watch Enedina while her husband, who she met in middle school, worked 13 to 19 hours a day in the family landscaping business. Her grades climbed to As and Bs, and the principal at her new school, Rio Cazadero High School, asked her to make the annual student report on the school's progress to the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education.

"Marcia has had a lot of challenges that could be very daunting for some people, but they just pushed her to do more," said Principal Doug Wendle. "She's a very positive influence on other students without being like 'I told you so.' "

Today, Morales is on track to graduate and attend Sacramento City College, where she'll study criminal justice—just one item on a long bucket list that also includes skydiving, having three more children by the age of 30, and visiting her father's hometown of Culiacán, Mexico.

"Every morning that I wake up and see my daughter, she gives me confidence," Morales said. "If I hadn't had her I would still be a dropout, partying, drinking and clubbing. I do not regret anything."