I am the same as the public as my fans.

Usually, when a young girl is pregnant, she drops out of school and concentrates on being a mother. I thought thats what I had to do, but my counselors told me there was no way they would let me drop out. I had too much promise.

No one else has ever opened doors for me - I opened them myself.

My mother never let on that anything was wrong. She kept her chin up and acted as if everything were just fine. So we did too.

When I started getting so many haters and closed doors, I decided to prove that it could be done. I was a divorced single mother of three at the time and a size 12 - not your typical model artist that labels feel work for the music industry.

The key to success in life is getting up early.

If I had the opportunity to speak to a young immigrant girl that just arrived to the U.S. the advice I would have for her would be: ask, speak, search; because there are opportunities out there. And, know that you aren't the only immigrant or the last to come to this country. Many that have come before you have succeeded. It is possible.