Finding changing tables is a problem, Liana Flores said. So is managing to enjoy Ping Recreation Center, which does not provide childcare services for guests who bring children.
But despite some of the troubles of finding child-friendly offerings, Flores has been able to be both a mother and an Ohio University senior - one segment of the student body many might overlook.
Single mother to Aurora, 4, Miguel, 3, and Ander, 1, Flores is a non-traditional student working on her second bachelor's degree, this one in Spanish.
She achieved her first bachelor's degree in elementary education in 2000 after she gave birth to her first child in 1999.
I didn't have too many doubts
Flores said when considering how she would manage both classes and family when returning to school after teaching in Virginia last year.
While attending classes, Flores takes advantage of daycare services at the Athens Recreation Center and Head Start for Aurora. The Athens Department of Jobs and Family Services provides care for Miguel and Ander. Transportation to and from daycare and her classes can be frustrating, yet she said she tries to make it to class as much as possible. On occasion, she has had to take one of her children to class, though she said they are well-behaved and rarely disrupt students.
When not studying, Flores said, schoolwork does get put aside in place of spending time with her family. She said that the Athens community has been supportive of her situation and that she has met other student-parents, many of them graduate students, through her church and her children's daycare.
Michelle Andrews, a 1997 graduate and current 6th grade special-education teacher in the Nelsonville-York school district, had her first child when she was a student at Hocking College. After taking a year off, she transferred to OU and gave birth to her second child her junior year.
Finding time to study and to be a new mom was a problem, Andrews said, though her passion to graduate kept her going.
While attending classes, Andrews' mother-in-law watched her children during the day. State and county family services at the time, she said, required 20 hours of community service in order for her to take advantage of daycare.
As far as finding camaraderie, Andrews said she did not meet other student-mothers, but she never felt alienated from other students. She said that listening to the problems of her friends made her realize she wasn't missing anything by not being a typical student.
While at home, Andews said her children were first, and that she would get work done even if it took all night.
School was my goal my children were my responsibility Andrews said.
Now with Isaiah, 11, Isaac, 8, and Noah, 5, at home, Andrews said she enjoys the fact that there are no longer any professors waiting for deadlines. Although thankful she received her degree while tending to her family at home, she said she would not go back and do it again.
Cathy Waller, director of Ohio University Child Development Center at The Ridges, said she cannot estimate how many student-parents take advantage of their facilities, which serve children of OU faculty and students and of the Athens community. When the center does encounter student-parents, Waller said they require just about the same amount of daycare as other parents.
Waller also said the center provides monthly meetings for parents and that student-parents can find others in similar situations through the center's advisory board.
Flores, who said she remains focused on her goals of teaching and of raising her children bilingually, urges students who find themselves pregnant while attending classes to not drop out and to utilize services the community provides.
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Nicole Banatka
