In Singapore, Alicia’s story reveals the quiet courage of a young mother determined to build a better future for her child while continuing her own education.

At first glance, Alicia seems like many other 22-year-old polytechnic students. She worries about grades, hopes her upcoming internship will be a good fit, and looks for extra weekend work to help cover her expenses, but her life has followed a far more difficult path than that of most students her age.

Alicia married and became a mother while still a teenager. She later made the painful decision to leave her husband because he was neither a supportive partner nor a responsible father. She now lives with her mother and her young son, James, in a rental flat.

The names Alicia and James have been changed to protect their privacy, but the challenges behind their story are real.

Alicia continued attending school and working part-time well into the third trimester of her pregnancy. After James was born, she missed only one semester before returning to her studies.

Today, she is working hard to complete her final year at the polytechnic. She wants to improve her grades, graduate, and find stable employment that will allow her to provide for her son.

Her concerns are practical and immediate. She hopes her internship supervisors will understand if she occasionally needs urgent leave when James is ill. She tries to work during the weekends, when her mother is available to care for him. Every additional shift helps pay for food, transportation, and the ordinary necessities of raising a child.

For Alicia, there is little separation between study, work, and motherhood. Each responsibility is connected to the same goal: giving James a secure future.

“Once I became a mother, my social life stopped,” she said. “Before James, I wasn’t that strong, and every little thing would make me cry. Now, I tell myself I can’t cry because James needs me.”

Her words express both the cost and the strength of her choice.

Alicia does not deny that she has taken a harder path. Her youth has been marked by responsibilities that many people do not face until much later. Yet she does not speak of James as a burden.

“He has brought me a lot of joy, happiness, and even luck,” she shared. “He loves to cuddle and get kisses.”

Love for her son has become a source of determination. It has pushed her to continue studying, to keep working, and to seek help when she could not carry everything alone.

That help came through a network of people and organizations willing to accompany her.

Alicia describes Kate Leong, a social worker from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Community Services Office, as her “lifesaver.” Kate helped her connect with the SSVP Conference of Our Lady Star of the Sea, Catholic Welfare Services, and other sources of support.

This accompaniment did not remove every difficulty from Alicia’s life. She still faces financial pressure, uncertainty about employment, and the daily demands of caring for a toddler while completing her studies.

It helped her continue.

Sometimes Vincentian service begins by helping a person find the right door. A family may need financial assistance, but also guidance through a complicated system of social services. A young mother may need encouragement, practical support, and someone who believes that her education is worth protecting.

In Alicia’s case, the assistance she received helped create space for her to remain both a student and a mother.

Her story is a reminder that poverty is not always immediately visible. A person may appear to be managing well while carrying an exhausting combination of responsibilities. A student may be worrying not only about an assignment, but also about childcare, rent, groceries, and whether missing one day of work will mean going without something essential.

Vincentians are called to look beyond first impressions.

Alicia does not need to be defined only by what happened to her as a teenager. She is a mother, a student, a worker, and a young woman trying to shape a different future for her family.

Her perseverance deserves respect, but her story should not be reduced to individual strength alone. Courage grows when people are not abandoned. Determination becomes more sustainable when a community offers practical help and faithful encouragement.

For Vincentians, Alicia and James’s journey offers a simple lesson: sometimes hope is protected by helping someone remain in school, find childcare, access financial assistance, or continue working toward a qualification.

These actions may seem ordinary, but their consequences can reach far into the future.

Supporting Alicia today also means supporting James. It means helping a young family gain greater stability and increasing the possibility that poverty will not determine the next generation.

Alicia’s path remains demanding. She still has assignments to complete, bills to pay, and an internship to navigate. There is no promise that every stage will be easy.

Yet she continues moving forward.

She studies because she wants a better job.

She works because her son has needs.

She accepts help because love sometimes requires the humility to let others walk beside us.

And in caring for James, she has discovered a strength she did not know she possessed.

For Vincentians everywhere, her story is an encouragement to remain attentive to young parents whose struggles may be hidden behind an ordinary appearance. A timely referral, a listening ear, or practical support can help someone continue a journey that might otherwise be interrupted.

Alicia is forging fortitude through love.

And every person who accompanies her becomes part of the future she is trying to build for James.

Article based on information from the 2025 Annual Report of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Singapore.