I don't go to Arcadia but let me know if I can answer any questions about being a mom in school. It is a VERY challenging road. It was way more than I expected or my family planned for so I hope by sharing, I can make it better for you. I don't know the student breakdown at Arcadia, but at my school, there are not any other parents in my situation. I was the only one in my class with children. The few other students who had children in the classes above me were in a completely different position....husband was in PT school, wife was a stay at home with the kids. While I appreciate, it is still challenging to be a father in that situation, it's not even on my planet. My school isn't used to dealing with moms and it shows. I hope other programs might be better on this one.
The best thing you can do is create a HUGE support system now. Consider things like do you have enough daycare hours? (I often need daycare from 7am to 6pm....very long days). What is your commute time with daycare? (I have to leave the house an hour before class starts because dropping off kids often takes some time and then I have to get to school and park). Do you have a plan for test days when you may have to be at school even earlier? Who will watch your daughter when she starts throwing up at 4am and you have class at 8am? What is your school's attendance policy? (I walk a fine line making enough class days with my some semesters....as we really can't miss at all). Do you have weekend care in place for when you have a Monday anatomy test and you will need to study all day Saturday and Sunday? Do you have a plan for clinicals when you have to travel away from your home (I will be away for 8 weeks for my first clinical)? My husband works long hours and travels so I wish we would have hashed our plan out more before I went to school. I took a lot of it....but that's not everyone's situation. I think our plan is working now, but it was tough going for a while.
I know I've posted on here before, but the ONLY way I scraped through is that I (thankfully) don't have to study much compared to others. I'm a great test taker and abuse that strength all the time to scrape by. I don't get great grades, I'm a terrible partner to get put with on group projects, I can never meet my partners outside of school hours....but I'm getting by. The second year is much better than the first in our program. During my first year, I woke at 6am, out the door with kids at 7am and in class by 8pm. I was in class generally from 8pm - 5pm. I got home by 6pm. Fed kids and put them to bed by 7:30pm. Then I studied from 8pm -11pm or midnight. Rinse and repeat.
I think try our your support system this summer....make sure all people are in place. It's really funny how those friends who said they could watch your sick kid are really hard to get ahold of when you need them (not all, but some....the true friends stand out).
