It is known without a doubt that college is hard, because if it was easy then everyone would do it. Imagine attending college while working a full-time job, seems pretty do-able right? Of course, people do it everyday, but let us add something more challenging to this scenario. Imagine attending college while working full-time, and being a single mother. This is my life!

I am a 25 year old female, in my Junior year at the greatest school (in my opinion), Prairie View A&M University. I am currently on track to received my Bachelors degree in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration of Special Education, in the Fall of 2019. I do have a wonderful, smart, independent and very adventurous 5 year old daughter who just started Kindergarten.

When I graduate high school, I planned to live the carefree college way, but that vision and planned was short lived when i became pregnant at the age of 19. Although having a daughter before I established myself career wise and financially wasn’t in the plans, I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Day to day activities and routines can be hard at times, and I’ve had to give up a lot of things for the benefit of my daughter but I do see it paying off in the future. Many researcher and articles state the hardships and struggles that single mother go through, especially those trying to further their education, and while this may be true its not impossible.

The first thing I have learned since going back to college is to not be or feel guilty. When I first enrolled back into college I spent hours on end at school and doing work, and less time with my daughter. This caused a lot of guilt and doubt into my head, as to what kind of mother would I be to “neglect” my daughter especially when she is hitting those milestones when she needs me the most. So with this thinking I slacked on my academics, and my grades certainly showed for it. After a rough first semester, I spoke with my parents and they drove into my head that I wasn’t neglecting her, but I was doing something beneficial for her and that this short period of time will make up for the rest of our lives we have together. I have picked back up my academics, and I always make sure that each and every Saturday is our day!

When it comes to my parents, they come into play on my second topic of support. Without my support system, my parents, I honestly wouldn’t have even gone back to college. Even with their own lives and jobs, they pick up with my daughter where I slack. When I stay after school or I am doing late assignments they make sure she gets home, does her homework, eats, and gets in the bed. When I have study/group activities they make sure she still gets to gymnastics, dance, and swim. I believe without this awesome support system I wouldn’t have gotten this far.

My third and final point about being a single mom is the misconception that people have about our lives. Some people think that because you have a child, your life is “over”, and this is untrue. I believe that my life is over because I have a daughter, but it has actually gotten better. I wake up everyday wanting to better myself and my life for her and because of her. It doesn’t happen overnight, but its not impossible. Anything is possible with the right type of inspiration, and I know for a fact that my daughter is all the inspiration that I need.