Students balance parenthood and academics

Hayley Jackson

More than three million people are balancing parenthood and pursuing a college

education. According to the American Council on Education, 18% of college

undergraduates are parents.

For some, college is a time for students to discover themselves and have fun. For others,

college means working towards making a better future for themselves and the children

they are raising.

Lani Johns, a Troy student from Sylacauga, Alabama, had her daughter about six months

ago. She had just turned 20 when she found out she was pregnant and transferred to online

classes.

“Me and my fiancé were living together,” Johns said. “Our biggest decision was I had to

move back home while he stayed in Troy for a little while to put in his two weeks' notice and to find a job back in our hometown.”

Brianna Burkett, a former Troy student from Atmore, Alabama, said she felt like she had to

drop out of school altogether. She had her son last May.

“I was already considering taking a semester off, and then it just kind of happened,” Burkett says. “That choice was just taken away.”

Young women who get pregnant while in college face many challenges and hard decisions.

Many young women are faced with challenging decisions, such as keeping the baby,

placing the baby for adoption, having an abortion, and deciding how to navigate their new

future.

Abortion is illegal in Alabama, if a young mother wanted to terminate her pregnancy, she

would have to cross state lines.

College is a mentally challenging time for anyone without the added responsibility of

parenthood. Not only are they struggling to maintain grades, a social life, and starting a life

on their own, but they are still figuring themselves out.

Johns said she already has a few mental health issues and that her parents were not

supportive in the beginning of her pregnancy.

“Not having them did take a toll on my mental health,” Johns said. “I was on four

medications, none of which were pregnancy-safe, so I had to drop all of them.

“Everything went downhill.”

Burkett talks about how she was scared at the start of her pregnancy. She was worried and

kept asking herself questions.

“Other than being scared and emotional, it was an okay time,” Burkett said. “I was happy

and excited to go to the appointments.

“I did cry a lot.”

Another issue many young mothers potentially face is whether the father will stay or not.

Johns and Burkett, however, defy the stereotype.

Johns has been with her fiancé for about five years now. She said they were not planning for a child at the time, but it happened.

“He was there for me through it all,” Johns said “When I had to move back home, he hated

being away from me.

“He struggled with jobs for the first little while, money was a big struggle. We argued, we

butted heads a lot, but none of it got to the point where he’d leave or do separate housing.”

Burkett said her husband takes care of her and the baby. He goes to work and lets her stay

home and not have to go to work.

Jason Burkett, Brianna’s husband, shared his story as a new father.

“I’ll take the baby if she needs the alone time,” he said. “I want to be her stress reliever.

“I’ll be gone about 10 maybe 12 hours out of the day. I had a lot of doubts of being a good

father. I never knew how a father was supposed to be. All I’ve seen was they did what

needed to be done. They’d fix things, go to work. Trying to learn how to be a father was the

biggest thing on my mind.”

Troy has resources for women who unexpectedly become pregnant. Sav-A-Life has

resources and provides counseling for both men and women.

They can be contacted at (334) 566-2880 or by email at wlcoftroy@gmail.com.