05.08 Free Choice Blog

05.08 Free Choice Blog

By Taylor Cruz

The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez

Chapter 4

            Gaby talks about her home life and how she grew up. She states how her parents got together and how her mother found out that she was pregnant. She explains how her father wasn’t there for her and they’re almost nonexistent relationship. But that he visited her once in a while. He worked on farms and didn't usually see her often, live nearby, and didn't pay child support. Gaby's mother did request that he pay the money, but the courts could never find him. Her father didn’t even attend her quince. The party was something she had to beg for from her family. She also says how one of her brothers, whom she looked up to, drank too much at the party and didn’t dance with her.
            I thought it was messed up that Gaby’s father didn’t go to her party. A girl becomes a woman only once. How could he miss something like that? It’s his daughter for crying out loud. He didn’t even pay for anything. It was also sad how she had to literally beg for a party for her fifteenth birthday. Even under the circumstances. Her brother also shouldn’t have the drinking problem that he has. He should have been considerate to Gaby and not drank. At least for one day he could have quit. She still looked up to him even though he became a teenage parent and drank. He tarnished her idolization of him by being inconsiderate.

04.08 Free Choice Blog

04.08 Free Choice Blog
Assessment Details

By Taylor Cruz

The Pregnancy Project by Gaby Rodriguez

Chapter 12 “Getting Big”

        In Chapter 12, Gaby tells about her trip to New York. She talks about from when she got to her hotel to her graduation. She also includes a conversation she had with her father about her project that is known internationally but he claims he hasn’t heard about it. She comes to learn that she’s not missing out on anything anymore. He is the one who is missing out. He didn’t even come to her graduation but all her brothers, sisters, mom, grandma and even an aunt and uncle attended what was the most important day of her life. They were able to do a family portrait which hadn’t been done since Gaby was fourteen. Since Gaby was placed in the top five percent of her class, she was chosen as one of the commencement speakers. Chapter 12 ends with Gaby’s immensely inspirational speech.

        With each page, paragraph, sentence, and word that I read, I was deeply intrigued by Gaby’s determination and strength. Even with her uncaring father who is basically out of the picture, she understood that she wasn’t really the unlucky one, he was. Her father is missing out on a wonderful, caring and loving daughter. If her father cared, he wouldn’t make excuses on not visiting and attending important events or even acknowledging the whereabouts of his daughter. Even with the media craze, Gaby was able to make it as the top five percent of her graduating class and rose above the stereotypes thrown upon her.