College students are expected to take on a lot of pressure, stress and responsibility during the school year. But for Monique Trujillo, the pressure was doubled when entering college at age 17, with both her education to complete and her 1-year-old son Jacob to care for.
Trujillo will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology this semester, and she said she is looking forward to working toward her master’s degree next fall.
First, she said she plans on taking a break from school to get into Albuquerque Public Schools and attain her alternative teaching license so she can teach while working on her master’s.
“I am super proud. I get to walk with such confidence knowing that I overcame (the odds),” she said. “I beat the odds of being teenage mom and a single mom, and I now have my degree at age 22 with my child.”
There are many hidden struggles that come with being a single mom and attending a higher-level institution at the same time. Trujillo said everything is essentially twice as hard.
“You have to take the time to take care of your child while still having enough time to do your studies and homework,” Trujillo said. “Now my son’s in school, and now I have to help him with his homework while getting my own done. You don’t get to take the classes at the exact times that you want; you have to make sure they are good with his schedule. If he gets sick, then you have to deal with their sickness.”
Trujillo’s original plan was to graduate in the spring. However, she didn’t meet the requirements for a single class, setting her back a semester.
Additionally, her son had a double ear infection, causing her to be out of school for about two and a half weeks, which led to her falling behind on her studies and being unable to catch up in time. That obstacle made her question whether she could continue.
“Having that failure made me question if I was able to do it. Any time I got a grade lower than I wanted, I questioned (myself),” she said. “But looking at him made me want to push forward, made me want to continue.”
Trujillo said she wouldn’t have been able to accomplish all that she has done if she didn’t have the support of her family along the way. She said her parents were great supporters, and her brother worked around his own work schedule to help out with Jacob as much as he could.
She received help not only from family members, but from the University as well. She encourages others going through the same situation – or those considering attending college that have children – to not give up.
“You can always ask for help. Help is something most people are reluctant to ask for, but it is your main resource. The advisers are some of the main people that helped me. I didn’t know about the daycare center here, I didn’t know about a lot of aspects until I started asking for help,” she said. “Also, if you ask your professors for help, too, just letting them know that you’re dealing with your child as well as your school work, it helps. It will all be worth it in the end.”
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Denicia Aragon is a staff reporter for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
