Question About Balancing School and Family

[Ellie0302]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I will be starting OT school in a few weeks and have...concerns, fears, wonderings...about balancing grad school and family. I have 2 children in elementary school who I would very much like to spend some time with and not feel like I am missing out on the next 2 years with them.

Anybody in a similar boat or can speak to the question of balancing school and downtime?

 

[mco316]

I don't know what kind of situation you are coming from (SAHM, WAHM, Full time work at work, etc), but I know that the program I'm starting next month has told us to expect to treat grad school like a full time (40 hour per week) job. The majority of women with children in the country work, and while striking a balance between work and family is a struggle for most people, I definitely don't think having children should preclude you from doing just as well as anyone else. You can do it!

I'm a mom too, and my best advice is to create a strict schedule with your life, and if you study better out of the home, make time to do that. Grad school is tough because there is always SOMETHING that you could be doing (kind of like being a mom--isn't there always some chore you could be doing other than anything else?), but your kids will definitely remember who you are, even if you have to pull some long hours during points in the semester.

Good luck!

 

[speedyy12]

My classmate had children and she was able to balance it out by setting up time for herself to study and time to be with the kids. You will be fine! Just balance it out. Good luck!

 

[Ellie0302]

Thanks for the replies and the encouragement. I had recently heard a couple of people describe grad school as if it's so time-consuming you don't have much of a life outside of school. Grad school as fulltime job (with some overtime here and there) I feel confident I can handle.

Good luck to you both as well!