Child care takes top priority for parents in college
While many USC students enjoyed this week’s snow days sleeping late and relaxing, Lauren James and Nick Kain reveled in extra free time to spend with their two-year-old daughter, Addison.As full-time students and parents, the couple has learned such a responsibility is challenging, but that it is possible to stay in school while taking care of a child.
“Everything revolves around the fact that we want the best life for Addison,” said James, a fourth-year biology student. “We have very different lives from normal college students, but to us we’re very happy with our lives.”
With support from family and friends and resources such as day care, James and Kain said they have been able to manage their classes and schoolwork without hurting their grades. The couple graduates in May and are engaged to be married soon after.
“We’re fortunate that Lauren and I are together and have each other, and our families are really supportive,” said Kain, a fourth-year computer science student.
While James is not aware of resources designated specifically for students with children at USC, she said professors have understood the situation. This has helped at times when Addison is sick, or there are other unexpected conflicts.
There is also a day care facility on campus, the Children’s Center at USC, but James said professors and staff members have priority over students for enrolling children.
“It is a resource to students, but I wouldn’t say that it’s readily available to students,” James said. “We’ve been on the waiting list for two years.”
Instead, James and Kain take their daughter to another day care facility in the area during their class times. This child care facility costs $150 per week and is about 20 minutes from campus.
Though James and Kain work during the summers, they opted not to have jobs during the school year so they can focus on academics and parenting. There is a lot of financial aid available for students who have children and don’t live with their parents, James said, and she and Kain also have student loans.
“We decided that we would rather take the loans and be able to focus on school and being good parents and not have the added stress of working,” James said. “We want to be with her as much as possible, and even if only one of us was working, we feel like it would take away from our time as a family.”
While Addison is the couple’s number one priority, James made it clear school is a close second. When it comes to making sacrifices, she and Kain said their social lives have taken a hit.
“Sometimes it’s difficult compared to when we didn’t have Addison; we could do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted,” Kain said. “The biggest difference is we don’t have as much free time to hang out as we used to.”
James and Kain said they must plan ahead more now, and they find time to go out once in a while but don’t have the time or desire to party on a regular basis like many college students.
Despite the challenges, both James and Kain said staying in school was the best decision. After graduating, they will move to Maryland for Kain’s upcoming job as a software engineer for Lockheed Martin. James is applying for a sonography program at nearby Montgomery College.
“You still can do things with your life ... it just takes a lot of dedication to your child and to your studies,” James said. “I feel like you can still do the things you wanted, you just have to realize that it’s not going to be as easy as it would have before.”