A typical student might stumble out of bed right before class starts, but advertising senior Katie Stanaway has to get up hours before her classes begin in order to prepare for another hectic day.

Stanaway is the single parent of two children, a 2-year-old son and a 9-month-old daughter. Her routine includes taking care of her children before she can get ready.

"I get up at 7 a.m. every day like clockwork and we're all out of the house by 8:30 on the dot," she said. "Every day is exactly the same. Having structure is the only way I can do it."

After Stanaway drops her children off at day care, she goes to class from 9:10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

She needs to be home by 5 p.m. to make dinner and then put her kids to bed.

Staying in school is a priority mainly because she wants to give her children a good life, she said.

"I always knew I would go to college, just not with two kids," Stanaway said. "I will reap benefits later with the work I'm putting in now."

Even though she has a tough time balancing school and single parenthood, Stanaway said she has received plenty of help from Student Parents on a Mission. The campus organization helps student parents with problems such as finding day care, financial-aid advice and balancing school while raising children.

"(Student Parents on a Mission) has helped me to have a network of students I can identify with," Stanaway said. "I've met people going through the same thing I am."

She has been a member of the organization for two years and said the advice she gets is invaluable.

Laronda Brown founded the group nearly 10 years ago as a sophomore because she felt the university had no resources available for student parents.

"I didn't have a support group, so I created one," she said.

"I was pissed off that the university didn't deal with it."

The organization grew much larger than she had ever imagined, Brown said.

"It's now 10 years later and it's still impacting lives and touching people's hearts," she said. "It's surreal to me because I only did it because it was a need at the time."

Michelle Artibee, administrative assistant at the organization, said she can relate to the students who come to her for help because she also is a single student parent. She has a 4-year-old daughter and is enrolled in online Franklin University full-time and used to be an MSU student.

"They were a godsend," she said. "The resources they gave me were my bible."

Artibee's motivation for staying in school was her daughter, she said. She knew there was no way she would be able to support her child without a formal education.

"I encourage all the single moms who call to continue their education," she said.