CourtesyKelly Stewart, finance major at 成人头条 and single mother of five, works around six schedules to complete her degree.
Waking up at 5:30 a.m., Stewart sees her teenagers off for a 6 a.m. church class. Then she works out, reads her Scriptures and showers before her younger children are up at 7.
She puts her kids on the bus and drops off her kindergartener at school, and then she鈥檚 off to class. She studies with other students, prepares for exams and goes home around 3 p.m.
Throw in a lawn that needs to be mowed, one sick child and another child recovering from strep throat and dinner that needs to be made.
After putting her children to bed, Stewart falls into her own exhausted.
But closing her daycare business and returning to school has been worth the exhaustion to Stewart.
鈥淚 saw the prospect of working a minimum wage job and living paycheck to paycheck, and, most likely, working more than one job to make ends meet,鈥� she said.
Stewart believes that education leads to better employment and that a bachelor鈥檚 degree today is what a high school degree was 25 years ago.
鈥淭here are so many more opportunities with a degree,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 decided that I would have a better chance in a career with a specialized degree, such as finance.鈥�
Stewart enjoys math, which is one reason she chose to major in finance.
鈥淚 really enjoy trying to discover the weighted average cost of capital,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 mean that I always come up with the right answer.鈥�
Stewart wants to work in a medical or educational field, or even at a bank or government job.
She said working in the field of finance is not as profitable as it was a year ago, she said she is not earning her degree to make a lot of money.
鈥淚 want to be able to support myself and my children,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be a burden on society.鈥�
Stewart has five children. Her oldest daughter is 18 and a senior in high school. Her only son is 16. And her younger daughters are 11, 9 and 6.
This year they are all in school, which makes Stewart happy.
鈥淚t is a constant battle to balance school and children,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 feel that I am constantly putting out fires, running from one project to another, but not really getting ahead.鈥�
But, she said, she has a wonderful support system. Her sister, who has six children of her own, and six she adopted, is her 鈥渓ife-saver.鈥� If Stewart鈥檚 children are sick, her sister will watch them, so she can go to class.
Peggy Ward, Barton School lecturer, said Stewart is able to juggle her school responsibilities and schedule time for her classroom and study hours along with her children鈥檚 activities.
鈥淥thers in less demanding situations find reasons to skip class or ask for favors,鈥� Ward said. 鈥淜elly never asked for any.鈥�
Stewart is thankful that Ward had time and patience to help her.
鈥淪he helped me truly understand the basics of finance,鈥� she said.
Stewart graduated spring 2009 with a bachelor鈥檚 in business administration and finance with a minor in management.