I became a single mom during my first semester of graduate school. I wish a scholarship such as this one had been available to me then. I am graduating this Spring with a Master’s degree in teaching. It hasn’t been easy!

I can remember coming home from school every day to find her studying toward her degree at the kitchen table while simultaneously preparing dinner and her class for the next day (she was working FULL-TIME as a teacher while she finished her degree).

I don’t know, I guess she was just the kind of woman that other women love to hate. I’ve seen plenty of other single parents try to do what she did and fail.

casualencounters.com/blog´s last blog post…Casual Encounters Web TV Show, Episode 1

I earned my doctoral degree and license as a psychologist while single parenting my two very young children. There’s no “back story explanation”-like a generous trust fund or family support (or child support for that matter). I highlight this personal history only to encourage other single parents to follow their dreams and further their education.

My kids have great memories of when “we” were in school. My daughter signed every paper in 2nd grade with Ph.D. after her name. She deserved it!

I really couldn’t have done it without them.

Sometimes I handled studying, sometimes it handled me. I built a lunch/study break into my schedule on campus. I also tried to balance my schedule so that I didn’t overwhelm myself. One semester I had two classes that were reading AND writing intensive and the stress almost made my head explode.

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