By Kathi Stearns

The rock group Nirvana blared its newest hit from the television screen on MTV. A Shamrock High School senior continued to graph the tangent of a circle and label her x and y coordinates. She was interrupted by the cry of a 14-day-old baby. She laid the pencil down and rocked the cradle of the newest music in her life.

For her this is everyday life, 1993. But for this young woman living life 1993 is a better choice than living life after an abortion or having placed her baby, Xavier, up for adoption.

The problems Monique Mosley, 17, encounters are much more serious than those of a typical high school student. She worries not about the homecoming dance, the newest fashions or the lunch menu in the cafeteria. She faces in stead the personal challenge of overcoming the stereotype that a 17-year-old, who is black and a new mother, won't graduate from high school.

She explained, "I know people look at me and my son and say 'Look at her. She is up a creek without a paddle.'" But Monique wants everyone to know that she has a paddle. "And as long as I have a paddle I am going to keep paddling."

Her paddle, and, in a sense, her life preserver, is Karen DeBow, a volunteer with Catholic Social services and the Teenage Parenting program. Ms. DeBow, a parishioner of Christ Our Hope parish in Lithonia, volunteered two years ago to work with teenagers who took a maternity leave from school to have their children.

Ms. DeBow, a computer programmer with AT&T, began tutoring Monique this September in algebra II and geometry. "Monique keeps me on my toes. She has a real desire to learn, and I really can sense her motivation as we cover the material," she explained. "Sometimes, she'll say to me, 'Okay, I've got that; let's move on.' So we move on."

The problems Monique faced are not foreign to Ms. DeBow. She, too, was a teen parent. In 1973 during her senior year at Mother Butler Memorial, a Catholic high school in New York, Ms. DeBow learned that she was pregnant. "I'll never forget how people looked at me," she said. "They look at you as if to say, 'You aren't going to amount to anything now.'"

She remembered the struggle encountered and said people's misconceptions haven't changed much since then. "When I found out I was expecting I was ranked first in the class. I remember thinking, 'They are going to try to take this away from me because I'm pregnant.'"

Her experience taught her that just because one has a baby, life isn't over. "Life doesn't stop; someone else's starts," she said.

When Ms. DeBow walked across the stage at her high school graduation, as class valedictorian, "It was the proudest moment of my life. I remember thinking, 'This is my day, and my diploma and I made it despite what everyone else thought.'"

Ms. DeBow, who began college in January, 1974, graduated in four years from City University in New York, with a degree in business. Her daughter Tyesha, now 20, lives on her own and Ms. DeBow has two other children, Renee, 12, and Danielle, three.

Ms. DeBow shared her experience with Monique for the first time during the interview. "Karen knows the battle I'm fighting," Monique explained.

Her best friend, Angela Alexander, doesn't want Monique to give up either. "I just want to see her get her education, whatever it takes."

The reality of the domino effect looms large in Monique's mind. If she doesn't get her high school diploma, she can't go to college, and if she doesn't complete college, the chances of getting a good job will be much more limited. "I'm doing this for our future," she explained.

Monique is enrolled in Spanish V, two English literature classes and sociology as well as the math courses. While the work is quite demanding, "The more challenging it is, the harder I have to work, but I am going to make it," she said. "I promise you that much!"

Ms. DeBow knew that for Monique to make it a strong support system had to be in place. "When you are going through something like this, there is no such thing as too much help."

Monique feels that she has been given a lot of support. She said her family pushed her to think things through and consider the consequences of her decisions. "I seriously thought about having an abortion, but my mom didn't," she said. "She had me." Monique said she believes her mother sacrificed her college education for her life. "I had to give my son the chance ... I had to give both of us a chance," she explained.

Graduation is a dream that is finally within reach. This June, Monique intends to cartwheel across the graduation platform and get her diploma. And if there are enough tickets, Ms. DeBow said she wants to be in attendance celebrating with her. "I'll be here as long as she wants me to be," Ms. DeBow promised.

Twelve women have registered with CSS to tutor pregnant women who have not yet completed their high school education. African-American women who feel competent in the areas of English, math and science are needed to strengthen the current program. Women interested in volunteering their time should contact Kathleen Pyrce, CSS administrator of volunteers, at 404-881-6571.