QUINCY - There's no question it was tough, and it left Pedro Reyes in a tough position.

His mom and dad split partway through his senior year at Quincy High School, he said. Mom moved on, and there was a confrontation between his dad and the new guy, and there was a fight. His dad ended up in the Grant County Jail.

"So after that we were alone for two months," Pedro said. Pedro and his little sister stayed home in Quincy, and while they got help from family, for the day-to-day stuff they were on their own.

"That kind of made senior year tough for me," Pedro said.

Pedro had to pay rent, handle the bills, take care of his little sister. He had to juggle all of that with school.

He had a part-time job, he said, at the Heartland Pharmacy (now affiliated with ShopKo), and that helped. His older brother Marvin Ortiz would come home from college every weekend. His godmother, who lived next door, helped with babysitting, and just helped generally. "She's like a mom to me," he said.

"We had a lot of help from my uncle," who came around to check on them, and kicked in some money to meet the bills. (His dad had some money in savings, Pedro said, but he didn't want to use that if he could avoid it. And in the end he got by without it, he said.)

Still, "it kind of sucked, not having family around."

It was a hectic schedule - to school, to work, home to take care of his little sister, homework, and start all over. "I felt like the day was really short," he said.

On top of that, there was uncertainty about his dad, and the outcome of his case, he said. It all took its toll. "It was a lot of stress, and hard to concentrate in school," Pedro said.

Things did get better - his dad came home and went back to work. "That was a big relief," he said.

It was tough, but Pedro learned something from meeting the challenge, he said. He could've reacted a different way, he said. "I feel like people can really change when something like this happens," pick up bad habits, he said.

But there are important lessons for people who stick it out. "I feel like I'm a better person now," he said.

He learned he could handle troubles, and other kids should know they can too, he said. "Hang in there. There's always light at the end of the tunnel."

The experience has cemented his decision to become a school counselor, he said. He wants kids facing tough times to know they're not alone, Pedro said.

He plans to attend Wenatchee Valley College on a soccer scholarship, he said, then wants to transfer to Central Washington University, where his brother is a student.