Many students at STLCC-Meramec struggle with being full-time students while managing their personal lives. Having kids, working a full-time job, or being in a band can overload a student.
Amber Davis
– Staff Writer –
Many students at STLCC-Meramec struggle with being full-time students while managing their personal lives. Having kids, working a full-time job, or being in a band can overload a student.
Three students who attend Meramec are on their way to acquiring a degree but they face other responsibilities as full-time students.
Work before play
Nathen Johnson, 19, is a full-time student at Meramec, who works full time as a supervisor on the grounds crew at Bethesda, a retirement facility.
Johnson is also busy playing bass in the band Captain Dee’s and the Long Johns. The band is currently playing shows around St. Louis.
According to Johnson, having to juggle work, school and his band all in one week is like having three jobs.
Johnson finds it easier to plan a study hour into his schedule so he can still be on top of his schoolwork.
“I plan every class around my work schedule, even with my school schedule I purposely plan out two hours between each so I can force myself to study. I think it’s important to have a study hour in your day because it makes you want to study,” Johnson said.
Adjusting to new experiences
Mary Travis, 57, is a proud parent of four grown children and she has 10 grandchildren. Travis works as a sales representative for Kraft selling new products to customers and is a part-time student studying to finish her paralegal degree at Meramec. Travis said she likes the challenge.
“I know I’m not used to using the updated version of computers, and having to use Blackboard was overwhelming because I was brought up with hard copies of everything,” Travis said. “But I think being a non-traditional student, I look at it as a new experience and think of it as I’m updating myself.”
Academics and parenting
Twenty-year-old Lauren Craft is a full-time student at Meramec who plans on majoring as an ultrasound technician.
Not only is Craft a student at Meramec, but she is also a wife and a mother to a three-month-old daughter.
“I plan my time according to my daughter’s schedule. For example, if she is awake then that’s my time with her, but on her naps throughout the day, that is my time to get my homework done. Or if I have a great amount of homework to do, and she is being good then I don’t need to tend to her as much so I can focus on studying,” Craft said. “I have a great amount of help from my husband when he is home and our parents, when they can.”
Craft said she has to stay focused to succeed academically.
“Remember why you do what you do every day, for your son or daughter, so that you can provide and give your child everything he or she needs and more. No matter how hard things get between balancing both, it’s only going to make you that much better of a student and a parent, so stay strong,” Craft said.
