The life of a student-parent can be difficult, but at Sacramento State, many are able to obtain a balance between their schoolwork and taking care of their children.

With Mother’s Day around the corner on Sunday, May 8, student-parents will be able to take a break from their busy schedules. Some parents will simply spend time with their families, but senior psychology major Elizabeth Melendrez said she has something else in mind.

“I’ll be going to the pottery art store Mud Mill with my daughter and my mom,” Melendrez said. “We’ll be painting something nice for my mom.”

With resources like the Children’s Center available to them, student-parents are able to manage their schedules, having time for their children and even planning for holidays like Mother’s Day. This management is still difficult, however, and problems still occur.

“It’s hard to try and balance school along with work,” Melendrez said. “Sometimes you feel guilty about not being with [your child].”

The Associated Students, Inc. Children’s Center, located between the Hornet Bookstore and the Sac State Police Department, serves as a daycare service for students. Director of the Children’s Center Denise Wessels said the service has been available to students for the past 30 years.

“The center is specifically designed to meet most student needs,” Wessels said. “We try to give the parents a flexible schedule.”

Most college campuses have a number of parents enrolled as students, and Sacramento State is no different.

In 2014, there were approximately 4.8 million student-parents working on college degrees in the U.S., according to a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. (LINK 1) Two million of those were single mothers and half a million were single fathers. For these parents, trying to balance schoolwork with taking care of children can be difficult, as senior criminal justice major Marissa Edwards can attest to.

“It’s difficult and takes a lot of planning to make sure I can give her enough attention at home,” Edwards said. “Thankfully, the Children’s Center helps out and she’s here during the day.”

Many of the student-parents at Sac State said they struggled with balancing school and taking care of their children, but also that the balancing act was well worth the effort. The most important concern was being able to provide for their children.

“I’m glad to be able to deal with stress, not putting it on her, [giving] her a stable life,” Edwards said. “She’ll be able to go to the same school with the same friends she makes at the daycare.”

Senior environmental studies major Frank Wulff said the Center helps him find time between school and watching his child.

“The daycare really helps, they can watch the kids during class,” Wulff said. “It’s nice to be able to go to school and have a family life too.”

Students are not the only ones who make use of the resources here at Sac State; faculty leave their children at the daycare as well. Ashley Ciraulo, a staff adviser for the College of Education, has two children she leaves at the Children’s Center as she works to help balance her life as a worker and mother.

“I work for 40 hours a week and don’t get home until 6 p.m., so having them here is great,” Ciraulo said. “There’s a comfort knowing that it’ll only take me two minutes to get there if there’s something wrong.”