Life as a Student Mom

Like many, I first attempted community college at about eighteen or nineteen years of age. I soon discovered that I much more enjoyed the freedom of spending money from working full-time over the responsibilities of school, especially when I had just recently escaped that by graduating from high school about a year before. So, on I went, working a few jobs, primarily in the medical field for the next fifteen years. I had fortunately been blessed when it came to work and made a decent living for myself through the years, especially with no college degree. But at thirty-three and newly divorced, I made the decision to finish my Associate’s Degree. Not to necessarily find new work — I was happy where I was — but to prove to myself that I could do it. So, one day I went online and enrolled at Chattanooga State!

There was quite a bit to do to initially get enrolled; I had to get a hold of my previous transcripts from when I lived in California and deal with the intimidating FAFSA forms (now I consider myself a pro at FAFSA). Then there were the classes. I chose to purely take online classes since I wanted to continue to work full-time. Throughout my whole time at Chattanooga State, I only took part-time classes. This made being a mom and working much more manageable. I still had the flexibility to volunteer at my son’s school on Friday afternoons and could chose when to do my schoolwork, often after he had gone to bed. I discovered that I was actually a very good student and was even asked to be part of the Spire Honor Society in both 2017 and 2018, which is an honor society for non-traditional students.

I got remarried in early 2018 and I graduated cum laude with my Associate’s of Science degree in Humanities a few months later. I really hadn’t planned on continuing my education, but at the encouragement of my mother-in-law, I decided to stop working and attend university after I had my second son late last year, initially majoring in Nursing, but then deciding that wasn’t for me and switching to Psychology. 

Student life as a mom is much more different at the university AND with a baby. My husband watches the baby while I attend classes and I have my computer set up at the couch so when the baby was smaller, I could lay him next to me and work. Nowadays, I wait until he is asleep in my lap to work. I have learned and am continuing to learn that finding what works for me as my children reach different ages, is an evolving process.

I wanted to offer a few tips I have learned along my journey, in case any other moms are debating returning to school:

• Don’t bite off more than you can chew. I tried taking A&P with lab, along with Chemistry when my baby was two-months-old. And I am TERRIBLE at the sciences. It was either fail everything, be a terrible mother, or drop a class. I ended up changing majors anyway, so it was goodbye to A&P.
• Save yourself some time and don’t do anything that isn’t necessary. I took a class over the summer, which had a ton of reading. I didn’t know how I was going to find the time to read everything I was supposed to. I looked at the assignments online and only certain discussion posts required certain reading. Needless to say, some books I never touched.
• Use the time you have. In the beginning, I would often go home on my lunch breaks and squeeze in a little schoolwork. Down the road, when I needed a couple of extra credits, I took violin lessons as a class and would drive to Chattanooga State on my lunch breaks for my lessons.

If you are thinking about going back to school, now is the time. Being an adult student is actually much more affordable than it is for typical aged college students. I was able, and still am, to get the majority of my tuition covered through grants and scholarships. A good place to start to see what might be covered is by visiting this website. Another amazing program that Chattanooga State offers is the Tennessee Reconnect Program. It allows adults to attend the college tuition free.

Best of luck if you are or are considering becoming a student mom!