Sarah Guillory’s morning routine is similar to most college students. She wakes up, gets ready, eats breakfast and goes to school or work. The only difference is that she is also responsible for getting her 3-year-old son Cade ready for the day before heading to campus.
Guillory, along with 3.9 million people, is a student and parent, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.
In April 2010 when Guillory was a senior in high school, her son was born just in time for prom and graduation. Since then, the human resource and leadership development senior, 21, simply describes her daily routine as a balancing act.
“As he gets older, I have to juggle entertaining him and playing with him while doing my schoolwork,” she said. “It’s a lot of multitasking.”
Certain semesters have been harder than others, she noted, but not so much now. She said she believes her son understands when she is busy with schoolwork.
“He entertains himself when he needs to,” she said. “He is a pretty good kid.”
Although his father is not in the picture, Guillory has found the necessary support in her family, friends and her fiancé, Thomas. In addition to her immediate family, her friends have become an extension of that. She said that her friends come to Cade’s soccer games and always demand photos of him.
Guillory also uses the University’s child care center for daycare. Her father, who worked at LSU, played a role in securing a spot for Cade. However, not all student mothers are as lucky.
Kinesiology senior Deadrian Ireland, 21, was unable to secure a spot for her 13-month old daughter Charleigh who was born in January 2013.
“If you think your child can use the day care services, your child just won’t be able to go there, because the waitlist was full for up to a year,” she added.
The program is available for children of LSU students, staff, faculty, alumni and those not affiliated with the University, but there is a priority system, according to the website. For students who are able to secure a spot for their child, the tuition is $660 per month.
Ireland said she received individual help from her professors who were willing to make adjustments for her workload and accommodate her daughter in class. The University can do more in her opinion, she added.
“The little things make a big difference,” she said.
Child and family studies associate professor Cassandra Chaney agrees. She said she believes the University has room to improve.
“Being a mother is stressful, and having that support from the administration is important,” she said.
Chaney said she doesn’t want college-age mothers to be deterred from going to school because it is difficult to balance. In addition, she said that it is important to ensure these women succeed and graduate.
“I feel like young mothers are generally an invisible group on campus,” she said. “There are probably more than we realize, and they don’t always talk about their experiences as mothers. It is important that the University supports them as best as they can.”
Chaney said there are a lot of external factors, financially and emotionally, that affect young mothers. She said these women deal with a lot, so the system needs to be accountable in helping them, especially for mothers like Ireland.
“I’m basically doing it by myself,” Ireland added.
Her boyfriend and Charleigh’s father helps in any way that he can, but her family isn’t in Louisiana for her to rely on. Ireland said she wouldn’t have it any other way. At one point, her mother mentioned the idea of taking care of Charleigh, but she couldn’t bear to be separated from her daughter for that long.
“I didn’t want to miss her ‘first’ moments,” she said.
Unfortunately, this is the reality that kinesiology junior Jasmin Plowe, 20, deals with.
She made the hard decision to have her parents care for her 4-year-old son Jace in Franklin, La., while she attends LSU. Plowe sees her son every other weekend and often struggles with the separation, but her son’s comfort was the most important thing in her decision, she said.
“I realized how complicated it would be,” she added. “But I want nothing more than to graduate and live with my son.”
Even though it is hard for her to be away, she said that she talks to her son at least twice a day.
“Every time I leave, I will tell him where I am going and he will say ‘I gotta be a big boy,’” she said.
Plowe said it breaks her heart, but everything she does is for her son. She plans to go to medical school one day and knows the road to get there will be long and difficult.
“I know I will have to take a slower route to get where I need to be, but I know what I want,” Plowe said. “I will do what I need to do for my son. I think about it every day.”
All three mothers agreed on doing the best for their children, even if that means sacrificing “college experiences.”
Guillory said young mothers are forced to mature and prioritize things. Analyzing things that she wants to do versus things that she needs to do is important when considering how it may affect her child, she added.
“I applaud young parents who are there for their children,” Guillory said. “Some people focus on the negatives, but everything I have done with my son is worthwhile. Yes, it can be hard, but watching him grow and teaching him new things has been rewarding.”
As Plowe said it, none of the “college experiences“ matter to her if she can just spend time with her son.