Becoming a parent can have a transformative impact on many young people, which is no different for Year 12 student Shannon Budgie.
“I can’t believe my daughter Apple is starting Year 7,” Shannon told The Bendigo Standard. “I mean, she’s still my little girl, and it feels like she was learning to walk and talk just yesterday.”
“She’s my best friend. We’re the Bendigo Gilmore Girls.”
Despite being a senior in high school, Shannon admits that she still thinks of her daughter as a child and is not ready to let her go just yet. “I’m just not ready for her to be a teenager,” she said, “I don’t think I’ll ever be ready for that.”
“I know what my daughter is going through as I was there five years ago.”