A football player, aspiring nurse and hockey player have one thing in common besides being students at Ohio University: They are all parents as well.
Nearly a quarter of all post-secondary students in the U.S., 3.9 million, are parents, according to a 2011 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. About 56 percent of student parents who are single reported spending 30 hours or more per week caring for dependents, making it difficult to manage their busy academic schedules as well.
Senior nursing student Maura Taylor’s whole life changed when she found out she was pregnant during winter break this past year. She continued to live in Athens and take classes during Winter Quarter but soon found that she could no longer hide her pregnant belly, which was requiring more attention than her schooling, and moved back home.
“A lot of students who are pregnant try to hide that for as long as they can and then they sometimes don’t come back (to school),” said Susanne Dietzel, director of the Women’s Center.
Today, Taylor lives in Pickerington with her six-month-old daughter, Aiden, and makes the hour-long commute to and from Ohio University each day. Her daughter goes to daycare until Taylor’s parents pick her up, all while Taylor attends class.
“Any time I get to spend with her, I love, because it’s so rare,” she said. “In an ideal situation, I’d like to spend more time with her. It will be better, though, in the future when I have a college degree. It’ll pay off in the end.”
Managing schoolwork and parenthood is no easy task, she said, but she uses her daughter as a driving force to focus on earning a college degree.
“For some, it’s an impetus to finish their studies even faster,” Dietzel said. “I really think (having a baby) has an impact, but I wouldn’t call it a negative or positive impact.”
Larenzo Fisher, a sophomore studying communication studies and cornerback for the Ohio football team, said having a daughter back home helps him stay motivated.
“It is kind of hard because I want to be with (my daughter and girlfriend), but then again, I know what I’m here for. I have to make a life for them,” Fisher said. “It makes me want to work harder and push myself a little more.”
But while Fisher’s 19-year-old girlfriend cares for the child in Washington, D.C., where they both grew up, another couple has decided to raise their daughter together at OU, in Riverpark Towers.
Ashley Beatty, a senior studying communication studies, and Ian Smith, a senior studying mathematics and goalie for the Ohio hockey team, discovered Beatty was pregnant just before Winter Quarter last year.
While Smith continues to take classes and play hockey, Beatty has taken the semester off to stay with Ryleigh, now 13 weeks old. They plan to both attend class full time next semester, which required them to schedule classes so that one parent could always be with the child.
Though they realize that caring for Ryleigh as students will be a challenge, the couple said they never considered childcare services offered by OU.
The Ohio University Child Development Center, located at The Ridges, offers daycare services for professors and students, but the university no longer has a housing development for married students or students with children after the recent demolition of the Wolfe Street Apartments.
That is a notable factor for the success of students with children, Dietzel said.
According to the 2011 report, 60 percent of respondents said they would not have been able to continue college without the availability of childcare services.
Christine Sheets, assistant vice president for capital and facilities planning for Student Affairs, said there is no plan to replace family housing after the casualty of the complex, but that OU’s Off-Campus Living website offers assistance to families looking for housing.
For now, though, Taylor said she will continue to travel between Athens and Pickerington to fulfill her parental responsibilities and get the full college experience too.
“I think it’s just about knowing how to manage your time efficiently,” she said. “There is no time to procrastinate. I might get six hours of sleep at night, and that’s amazing.”
oy311909@ohiou.edu
