Student moms have double the reason to celebrate

And they were partly right. The 13 teenagers are indeed in high school or college, and some of them have graduated with honors. But Thursday's party celebrated something more important -- the fact that they were mothers.

Their efforts to get ahead by working and studying while taking care of their children were rewarded Thursday night with a diploma from the Project for Single Teenage Mothers. The project -- called Pasos, the Spanish word for ``steps'' -- was created by ASPIRA, an organization whose goal is to strengthen Hispanic communities nationwide through education and leadership development.

Carla Diaz, who is about to fulfill the dream she had when she arrived from El Salvador 10 years ago, said that studying at Miami-Dade Community College would not have been possible without the counsel provided by Pasos' coordinator, Marjorie Zurbaran.

``Sometimes I was tempted to give up, because I'm constantly exhausted,'' said Diaz, who will graduate next year with a major in business administration and export-import trade.

Getting her degree has meant getting barely five hours of sleep a night, so she can work full time as a telephone operator and care for her children, 1 and 2 years old.

Pasos students get information, education and assistance, to develop their personal and educational goals.

They can also get financial aid to cover rent, utilities and transportation.

A fund-raising campaign has just been launched, which is expected to collect at least $5,000 for scholarships. So far, aid for the 30 or so students who participate in Pasos has come from state funds and The United Way.

The scholarships will bear the name of Nidia Castro, a former Pasos student. She died Dec. 20, 1995, in the crash of American Airlines Flight 965, north of Cali, Colombia.