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Aggies... with children
Students try to balance time for classes, studying and activities with parenting duties
By Melissa Sorola-Bilano .
The Battalion
Amy Limas faces the same daily struggles as all Ag
gies: She has to find a parking spot, go to class, study for
tests, do homework and work. But Limas’ job is differ
ent from most other Aggies — she is a mom.
Limas, a junior agriculture business major and the
mother of a 5-year-old girl, said her responsibilities are
different from the traditional student.
“Going to school and having a child are both full-time
jobs that require more strength and determination than
anything I have ever done in my life,” Limas said.
Limas said she gets mixed reactions when she tells
people she is a mother.
“Most of the time when I tell people I have a child,
their reaction is ‘Wow, I would have never guessed that’
or ‘Oh, my God, that must be hard!’ ” Limas said.
“I am very proud of what I am doing with my life and
the fact that I have a child. 1 don’t like being treated as
though it is something that needs to be discussed behind
closed doors.”
One of the struggles student parents like Lima face
is organizing class schedules around parenting duties.
Lima said student parents want to able to register early
because it is difficult to create a schedule to fit her and
her daughter’s needs.
She said parents should be able to register early like
student workers do.
“It makes little sense to me that people with jobs can
register early, but mothers who
are responsible for another life
have to make do with what is
available,” Limas said,
think both should be treated
equally.”
Sarah Graham, a junior speech communication major
and mother of a 5-year-old girl, said early registration
would help students with children.
“I have never expected anything to be handed to me
or expected special privileges because I have a child, but
I do think that college students with children is a reality
that needs attention,” Graham said.
Juggling school and other activities can be hard for
students without kids, so when a child is put into the pic
ture, things can get more hectic. Graham admits time
management is not something she has conquered, yet she
still manages to get good grades.
“I do what I can when I can, and if it doesn’t get
done, the world won’t end,” Graham said.
Another concern for parents is child care. Texas
A&M’s Children’s Center is one way the University has
acknowledged the need for a facility that benefits students
with children.
The Center is open to children of A&M faculty, staff
and students.
Di Fontenot, director of the center, said more than
54 percent of those enrolled at the Center are students’
children.
Fontenot said funding for the center comes primarily
from a monthly tuition paid by the families. The Center
offers assistance for qualifying families.
“Every semester we seek funding for those who can’t
afford the tuition,” Fontenot said.
Fontenot said one source of money is a grant funded by
the U.S. Department of Education.
The Child Care Access Means Parents In School
program (CCAMPIS) was designed to benefit college
students by giving them tuition reduction assistance for
their child’s daycare. CCAMPIS funds also help the
center pay for supplies and things like transportation
for field trips.
In a 1999 White House press release, then-Vice Pres
ident A1 Gore said the grant will help low-income Amer
icans continue their educations while their children at
tend a campus-based daycare.
“No parent should have to choqse between taking
care of their children and furtherlin i their education.”
Fontenot said the center has recently become a
Child Care Management Servici s (CCMS) vendor.
CCMS is a state program that pa; s part of the tuition
for parents who can not afford ch Id care. The family
then pays a co-pay to the Center.
For some parents, joining a school organization has
been out of the question. A&M is a huge campus with or
ganizations to satisfy everyone’s need. But until lately,,
students with children have been left out.
A new campus organization. Aggies with Kids, is try-:
ing to reach out to students who are parents. Children are
always welcome at the meetings so parents do not have
to worry about baby sitters.
Risa Bierman, coordinator for the Adult, Graduate and
Off-Campus Student Services, said Aggies with Kids is
working to become a University-recognized organization:
Aggies Plus, an established group at A&M, is de
signed for nontraditional students.
The University calls them nontraditional students. Par
ents, graduate students, married students and students old
er than 25-years fall into this definition.
Marc Barringer, president of Aggies Plus, said the
group gives people the chance to meet other students in
the same situation. Spouses and children of Aggies Plus
members are often included in activities sponsored by
the group.
School and family life does not leave a lot of time for
parents to socialize or even spend time alone. Alpha Phi
Omega (APO), a national co-ed service fraternity, has tried
to solve the problem by offering Parents’ Night Out.
Sara Allenson, project chairwoman, said she does
not see a lot of students’ children, but she wants them
to know they are welcome to take part in the service.
Children who attend Parents’ Night Out are assigned
an APO buddy who will look after them for the night. The
children are divided into age groups and have the oppor
tunity to play at different centers.
Allenson said past centers have included a dress-up
center, a craft table and a puzzle center.
Allenson said she thinks parents appreciate this service!
“It has to be useful for them to have a break and enjoy
a nice evening out and not worry about the kids,” she said
While college is a time of sacrifices for parents and
children, most parents feel the experience will be use;
ful to all of them.
Graham said she thinks when her daughter sees her
studying and hard work it will benefit her daughter in
the future.
“I think that one day she will realize that I’m doing this
for her, and it will set an example for her not only to go to
college but hopefuly to follow her dreams, even if it means
taking the longer and harder road,” Graham said.
Limas said her daughter already talks about becoming
an Aggie. . *
“When she starts her sentence, ‘After I get out of col
lege and become a...,’ (then) there is no doubt in my mind
that I have instilled something very valuable in her by con
tinuing my education,” Limas said.
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