BANGOR – For the 13 young women graduating from the Good Samaritan Agency’s Teen Parent Education Program on Thursday morning, persistence was the common denominator.

“While you didn’t do it alone, it was you who did it,” said Dorothy Freeman, keynote speaker and president of the Unity Foundation. She referred to the words of President Calvin Coolidge, who said that nothing in the world can take the place of persistence – not talent, genius or education.

Freeman presented the graduates with plaques inscribed with a personalized quotation she had selected for each student. The quotations were geared toward each woman’s goals for the future.

Raekel Nichols, 20, of Bangor is the mother of 8-month-old Tyler Smith. With plans to attend Eastern Maine Technical College next fall for business management, Nichols got a plaque containing the Chinese proverb, “Business is 30 percent patience.” As a mother, Nichols is well-versed in patience.

“It’s been hard,” she said. “But it pays off in the end.” As with most of the young women who graduated Thursday, the combination of support from family and the Good Samaritan Agency has allowed Nichols to obtain her high school diploma.

“I wouldn’t have been able to graduate without the program,” she said. There also is camaraderie among the members of the Class of 2003.

“We all bond really well,” Nichols said. “We’re almost like sisters.”

Amid squeals from their children and cheers from family and friends, each graduate was presented with her diploma and a bracelet, donated by G.M. Pollack and Sons of Bangor. Bangor Floral donated roses for each graduate and an anonymous donor gave each one a pendant representing a mother and child.

Nichols, Chelsie Chapman and Cassandra Carlow also were presented with $500 G. Pierce Webber scholarships. Of the 13 graduates, seven have been accepted to colleges for the fall and each intends to further her education.

“You’re all living proof for your own children that nothing, nothing, nothing in the world can take the place of persistence,” Freeman said.