College Mom Magazine Spring 2008: Volume II Issue 2

Paying Tribute to Pregnant and Parenting Students in College.

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Features Melanie Knight: Graduate of the University of South Carolina Margaux Fragoso PhD Student and College Mom Katherine Arnoldi answers the most frequently asked questions from our readers. Arlina DeNardo: Financial Aid Director Gives Us Some Good Advice Kent State's LIFE Program Supports College Moms     Go to: Home	"There is no way I could have prepared myself for how draining, physically, mentally, emotionally and most of all financially, it is to be a single mom and full-time student."  -------Martha Braithwaite  "With every passing semester I became more and more determined to make this path a little easier for young women coming behind me." -------Martha Braithwaite "But we press on, optimistic that if we leave this small battle unfought, it will stand as just one more hurdle the mothers who follow us will have to clear." -------Martha Braithwaite	College Mom  Martha Braithwaite  Activist Mom at Mills College Tells the Story of her Struggle for Equal Rights to Education! As a young single mom who has spent the better part of the last five years on a college campus I have often felt incredibly isolated and quite frankly, exhausted. There is no way I could have prepared myself for how draining, physically, mentally, emotionally and most of all financially, it is to be a single mom and full-time student.  Yet, through all the semesters of final exams and the financial crises that come with each tuition bill, a persistent voice in my head would stomp its foot and insist "this does not have to be so hard." With every passing semester I became more and more determined to make this path a little easier for young women coming behind me. A year ago I found a group of fellow students who shared my vision and determination.  We know first hand how important it is for young single mothers to get college degrees, and we know how hard it is.  Never enough time, never enough money, yet no alternative but to press on or to resign ourselves and our families to a cycle of poverty and dependency on the social welfare system.  So we pressed on. Not only did we press on, but we have also taken steps to ensure that young mothers coming behind us have the support and information they need to make their path a little smoother.  In the summer of 2006 we started a mentoring program for teen mothers called Moms Mentoring Moms (MMM).  MMM matches teen mothers who have a dream of higher education with a mom who is a current college student or recent graduate.  Through one-on-one mentor relationships and workshops held weekly in the summer and monthly throughout the academic year, we hope to inspire other young moms to pursue higher education, and to support them along the way.
Departments   Alerts: College Scams Scholarships Book and Film Reviews Cartoons Actions: Class Action Lawsuits College Moms in History Links About Us / Submissions College Guide for Mothers: Do the numbers: Go to the financial aid information page, then go to the Map Search of Colleges to check the costs of colleges in your state. Find a college that you can go to without having to take any school loans!		This semester we have been trying to organize an event on campus to raise awareness about the lack of access to higher education for parenting students.  Ironically, just three weeks shy of our scheduled date, we have been unable to confirm a location for the event because the college is reluctant to allow us to accommodate children for fear of the "liability issues" they present.  The exercise of planning this event, while incredibly frustrating, has served as an important reminder that the structures and systems that make it difficult for mothers to achieve their goals of higher education are bigger than any one individual or institution.  It would be easy for us to throw up our hands in defeat.  We certainly have enough work to keep ourselves busy completing our classes and taking care of our families.  But we press on, optimistic that if we leave this small battle unfought, it will stand as just one more hurdle the mothers who follow us will have to clear. -------from Martha Braithwaite     Katherine Arnoldi answers the most frequently asked questions from our readers.     Go to: Home