While most college students try to maintain a balance between academics, work, partying and extracurricular activities, some have to worry about more. For married students–sometimes with children–being a student and a parent at the same time is a difficult task.

One student, a junior at Saint Louis University who wished to remain anonymous, recalled the months following her daughter”s birth. After skipping a semester to accommodate her pregnancy, she went back to school part time. She and her husband had difficulty finding an affordable day-care center, so her mother-in-law would come two or three times a week to take care of the baby. The couple”s parents would come in on weekends so that the students could catch up on their studies.

When their parents weren”t around to help, the student said finding time to do everything was a challenge. ‘It wasn”t easy,’ she said. ‘I did homework during her naps. It”s like trying to fit eating, showering and homework [into a very short period of time].’

The stress of balancing these almost compelled her to transfer to a school that offered child-care services on campus, like Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. ‘It would be nice if SLU had a full day-care center where you could drop kids off for baby-sitting,’ she said.

Currently, she drives her 2-year-old daughter to a day-care center in South County. Although it”s 30 minutes from SLU, the overall costs are much cheaper than having to place her in the city.

It”s harder when both parents are pursuing an education. Lethao Tran, a Parks senior on her second undergraduate track, talks about a time when she and her husband were both attending school.

‘We had to compare schedules,’ Tran said.

But some required classes were bound to conflict with each other, during which she got her sister-in-law to pick up and watch her daughter, Dawn, until one of them got home. Now she has a baby sitter to do the job on a regular basis.

Tran explains that while she can do most of her assignments at home, there are some projects that force her to stay on campus until 1 a.m. When that happens, her 7-year-old becomes very unhappy.

‘Sometimes she would stay up past bedtime, call me and ask me to come home,’ she said. ‘And she starts to wonder how often I would have to stay in school that late.’

Anne Marie Lodholz, a senior majoring in history and education, described a typical day for her as she manages three boys: her 2-year-old twins and a 16-month-old.

‘We try to get ready and eat breakfast by 8 a.m. Then we play with toys, and I do laundry, then some errands. Right now they don”t nap at the same time, so it”s tricky,’ she said. ‘You have to find time in all sorts of places.’

Her mom watches the kids twice a week when she goes to class. She waits tables four nights a week when her husband, Dan, gets home from work.

‘I always have a book [at work],’ she said. ‘I can”t do homework when they”re awake.’

Despite the rigors of school, working part time and parenting, Lodholz still maintains an A average. She is grateful for the support she has received from her family as well as from the University.

‘The teachers and department secretaries at SLU have been great,’ she said. ‘They”ve been helping me schedule classes to keep them around the same time. I”ve been lucky because I live close to my family, and I have friends who are supportive of me.’

Lodholz said that she likes the idea of having a day-care facility on campus. ‘When I was pregnant, I remember thinking that it would be really nice if they had something on campus that was run by SLU faculty or professionals,’ she said. ‘It would be really close, and if you had a lunch break, you could visit the kids.’

Though it might not seem like enough students are going to benefit from this service, she thinks faculty and staff would use it if available. ‘If they”re going to have to take their kids elsewhere, why not just drop them off where they work?’