KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – Jakayleia Bauer thought about giving many times in the last seven months. Nobody would blame her, either, since she was rearing twin daughters and trying to finish her senior year of high school.

But she didn’t quit. In fact, she completed her classwork ahead of schedule and will graduate later this month from Clay Virtual Academy with a 3.37-grade point average.

Although she had plenty of support, Jakayleia had to do most of the hard work herself. The sense of achievement that will come with her diploma has allowed her to think about a successful future.

“A year ago, I really didn’t have a plan, but I think I want to go back to school,” she said. “I think I might want to do cosmetology. And I’d like to be married.”

Her daughters are six months old. Getting them both to sleep at the same time wasn’t easy. And when they did nod off, she dug into her schoolwork.

“It was hard at first, but I got some help with the babies,” she said. “I thought about giving up multiple times, but I just didn’t want to waste all that time.”

As if being a teenage mother wasn’t complicated enough, her daughters had to be delivered by Cesarean.

“There was a risk that one of them wasn’t going to make it if they didn’t take them out when they did,” Jakayleia said. “They had to stay in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for almost a month. This was a high-risk pregnancy because of the type of twins that I had.”

The father is in the Navy. Jakayleia said he’s been a positive influence.

“He’s been very huge help to me, one of the main people that was pushing me to finish school,” she said.

Her daughters and family also kept Jakayleia motivated.

“I’ve been through a lot,” she said, “but I got a lot of help. My babies are doing well, too. It hasn’t been easy, but I couldn’t give up.”