“I go to school, work, and at the end, I (have) a 3-year-old,” Edwards said. “It’s kind of hard, but I’ve done it for three years now, going on four.”

Life as a student-parent is much different from that of a traditional student. Unlike schoolwork and class, the responsibilities of a parent do not have deadlines or a firm schedule. Parents are on duty at all times.

“On Friday, we can’t just say, ‘Let’s go to a party!’” Edwards said. “I have a child. So what am I doing? … More than likely, I’ll be at home, doing homework.”

Steps to success
The task of raising a child properly while trying to make it through college successfully might seem impossible at first glance.

But student-parents, including Edwards, Ta’Janae Ford and Tya Allen, are proving it can be done.

Allen, also a human development and family studies senior, is the mother of 2-year-old Jaylen Young.

“That’s the shocking thing, that I’ve actually made it this far,” Allen said. “I’ll be graduating in May.”

Allen has been encouraged by her experience and believes others can do the same.

“I tell people now: It’s really possible,” Allen said. “I got pregnant with him my sophomore year. I balanced going to eight o’clock classes and work while I was pregnant. I went home for a semester and took online classes, and came back over the summer. It’s possible.”

All the student-parents interviewed agreed time management and determination are essential for success.

“I try to do homework when she’s asleep,” Edwards said. “When you get home, you got to do all the mom routines: the feeding, the washing, all the cleaning.”

Support systems
The challenges facing a student-parent would be insurmountable if faced alone, students said.

Fortunately for families, the MSU community is home to several resources to assist and support parents on campus.

Student Parents on a Mission, or SPOM, is a student organization composed of MSU student-parents.

“SPOM has had the biggest impact on my life with having a child,” said Ford, a communication senior with a 2-year-old son named Noah. “I know a lot of females don’t have this kind of support, so a lot of the women of SPOM have become my family.”

SPOM functions as a peer support network for student-parents on campus.

The organization holds monthly educational meetings and family-friendly events, including a carnival complete with a petting zoo at Breslin Center this past weekend. Edwards, Allen and Ford all serve on SPOM’s executive board.

“(SPOM) helps you take the stress off yourself and get you back into normal life,” Allen said. “Sometimes when you have a child, you kind of branch off into this other world. You forget that you can have fun and be a parent.”

Also on campus is the Family Resource Center, or FRC, which works with SPOM on its initiatives, as well as providing assistance with housing and day care.

Lori Strom, coordinator of the FRC, said financial concerns are the biggest challenges for parents on campus.

“Most (student-parents) live on loans and Pell Grants,” Strom said. “When they have a dependent, they are considered independent students, so many of them end up graduating with thousands in debt.”

The FRC tries to ease the burdens of tuition, housing and childcare expenses for MSU student-parents.

Strom estimated there are between 3,000 to 5,000 parents enrolled as graduate and undergraduate students at MSU.

The FRC helps organize subsidized housing and childcare scholarships for these parents. These measures might make life easier as a student-parent, but the demands imposed still are staggering, she said.

“These students not only have their classes and studying, most of them are working too,” Strom said. “They’re the busiest students on campus, no doubt.”

Making it
Ford finds the strength to persevere in her commitment to her son.

“When you have a child with you, everyday you are working for them,” Ford said. “It’s hard but a motivating thing because we are living for someone else.”

During her time at MSU, Ford also found her professors to be keys to her success.

“I want to scream ‘Thank you so much!’ to all my professors,” Ford said.

Stephen Gasteyer, assistant professor in the department of sociology, is one of the professors who impacted Ford the most.

“When someone is bringing new life into the world, we need to appreciate that,” Gasteyer said. “We are at a place like MSU, (and) we cater to a student body. We are the kind of institution to have nontraditional students.”

Both Edwards and Allen have maintained positive outlooks during their time at MSU.

“You just can’t give up and say, ‘Oh, I got a child — there goes my life,’” Edwards said. “No, you got to take it in stride and do everything you can to make it.”

Allen agreed, emphasizing the importance of finding a balance between juggling being a parent and a student.

“Yeah, (because) life goes on. (My son’s) not going to stop me from going to school,” Allen said. “I’m going to have to do it with him. Anything I do I have to do it with him, which is fine for me.”