Web Editor’s Note: This is part two of a three part series. To read part one, click here.

Carolina Galloway

Masters in Interdisciplinary Sciences

Alumna, Graduated May 2011

WT alumna Carolina Galloway always knew she wanted to be a mother, but she was not anticipating it would happen while she was still a student.

“It was a big surprise,” Galloway said. “I was very scared at first. I always knew I wanted to have kids, but now it was real and indeed scary.”

Galloway was a graduate student when she became pregnant in 2010. She was pregnant during summer sessions I and II, the fall semester of 2010 and the beginning of the spring semester of 2011.“I had a part-time job on campus as a graduate assistant in Personnel Services and during both summer sessions I had another job in the library,” Galloway said. “I didn’t take any summer classes, but I had to work all day.”

When Galloway began classes again that fall, her pregnancy impacted her schoolwork.

“Those semesters were not my best,” Galloway said. “I made a B in two classes and I found it difficult to pay attention in class.”

Galloway recalls sitting in her Assessment class when she was about five or six months pregnant, and her baby was kicking. She found the baby’s kicking to be a distraction and was unable to focus.

“At the end of the semester, instead of class notes, I had letters to my baby,” she said.

In the spring semester, Galloway had only one class left. She said that did not mean it was easy, but her professor understood her circumstances.

“I missed a couple of classes after the baby was born and had to catch up with some schoolwork,” Galloway said. “But it worked out just fine in the end.”

Galloway said the hardest part was balancing being a mother and a student at the same time.

“Being in class or working when you really want to be home and take care of your baby is difficult,” Galloway said. “I found myself just thinking about my son a lot while I was supposed to be doing something else.”

Galloway also found it difficult to go home and study or do her homework. She was tired after class or work and felt like she was not doing a good job as a student nor a mom.

This led to a decision between Galloway and her husband for her to take some time off after she graduated, so she could stay home with her son Jonathan until he gets older.