HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. —  As thousands of high school seniors graduate this week at the Florida State Fairgrounds, it is a celebration for students and families that faced more challenges than most students do.

Students graduating this week navigated school-at-home and hybrid models for at least half of their high school years, and upon returning to school saw more violence and disciplinary issues than previous graduating classes.

But one student graduating from Armwood High School this week had an even higher hill to climb.

Lisseth Rico says she got in with the wrong crowd, lost school credits as an underclassman, then gave birth to her daughter.

Rico says two years ago, she wasn’t even thinking about graduating.

“I didn't want this, and now I do,” said Rico. “I grew up and now I say, I’m glad I did this because it is very important."

Rico described herself as a very different young woman in her early days of high school.

Lisseth Rico says she got in with the wrong crowd and then gave birth to her daughter. She is graduating high school with her original class this week. (Courtesy Lisseth Rico)

She says she fell behind in her classes after dating the wrong boy. That relationship eventually led to her pregnancy, setting her even further behind in school.

Becoming a teen mom, Rico says, was a wake-up call.

She managed to get caught up on course credits while raising her daughter, and then even served as a mentor for underclassman for what to avoid as they started high school.

On Friday, Rico will graduate on time, with her original class.

“My kid was my motivation, because I saw her growing and I was like, ‘What am I going to do, what am I going to do if I don't have a diploma, a job, because I know as she grows up she's going to want more and more things, like me,’” Rico said.

After graduating on Friday, Rico says she will attend Hillsborough Community College, and then move on to Police Academy with the hope of working in law enforcement.