Features 27
As a studying parent, the stereotypical university life
does not apply to you. No, we’re a special type of
student, with our own special set of challenges.
If you’re fortunate enough to find
a way for some other responsible
adult to mind your rascals, you may
find yourself sitting in a university
classroom – you know, excited to
be doing, and thinking adult things
BY YOURSELF – and not being
bewildered by your toddler as they
rouse on you for choosing the wrong
colour pants.
You look around you and many of
your peers are likely younger, perhaps
even fresh out of school. This tertiary
world is but the next stepping stone
in their education path. Meanwhile,
you’ve been learning too – you’re
now a pro-level expert at changing
nappies, negotiating with irrational
beings, organising the household
and helping your kids with school.
Certainly not without value, but it’s a
far cry from writing academic essays.
But you don’t care.
You’re too darn excited at securing
your own future dreams. Besides …
your honed multitasking skills and
resourcefulness will guide you in
figuring it out, or finding someone
else who can help you (seriously,
there is some amazing help
available to you as a student. If
you don’t know how to access it,
speak up!).
Listening in to the conversations
around you, you hear the word
‘tired’. Your ears may prick up …
ah, now that’s a word you’re most
familiar with (with most of us having
been bemused with Playschool’s
Noni Hazlehurst’s read-a-loud of Will
you go the f**k to sleep? Parents,
are you feeling me?!). For a moment
there, you were happy to have some
common ground on which you could
relate to your peers. But then, you
learn that they’re tired from having
to wake before 10am to attend the
lecture.
And just like that, your extended
sympathies have vanished – poof!
You cannot remember the last time
you slept in that late – it’s merely
a distant dream. But you need not
worry mums and dads; you will find
other common ground – just perhaps
not in the poo-disaster stories so
affectionately shared amongst your
fellow parent comrades.
If you’re a parent studying online,
by all means, kudos to you! You’re
some kind of super-human. If
you have young children, or old (I
suppose there is no distinction here),
no doubt you have been faced with
the sometimes-impossible task of
trying to concentrate as your children
pester you for the umpteenth time.
Undeterred, you find a way to make
it work.
Perhaps, like me, studying with the
Wiggles tunes you know every word
to can be a bit cumbersome, and so
you wait until the kids have finally
gone to bed (once again your little
angels) to hit the books. You are now
sacrificing your precious freedom
and alone time to tackle university
study. You, my comrade, deserve
The views put forward in this student submission
are those of the student and are not an official
statement of the University of Southern Queensland.
WORDS: HEIDI PETITH
IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK
a solid pat on the back. I know it’s
not easy. We could be sleeping, or
watching a myriad of non-kid friendly
MA15+ shows on Netflix, or perhaps
even showering alone. Yet here
you are, following through on your
commitments. Way to go.
So, as a mum who resumed university
study with a breastfeeding three-
week-old on my hip, here is my
best tip for you: be kind to yourself.
You’ll have moments when you’ll feel
frazzled, and wonder if you’re taking
on too much, as that all familiar self-
doubt creeps in to say hello.
Take a realistic self-assessment, but
remember: good things don’t come
easy. You’ve been giving so much of
yourself to your kids for so long; it’s
time for you to take some time for
yourself. The house may become a
little disorganised, and you may need
to rely on others, but you deserve this!
Just as your kids learnt to say
sometimes-inappropriate things by
watching you, they’re watching you
now as you work hard to achieve
your own dreams. Show them and
show yourself that it can be done,
and enjoy the ride!