The College Mom

A lot of people wonder how in the world I manage going to school with a child (on top of work, but I'll get into that at another time). Well, as I've said before, it's not easy! But it's definitely worth it!


Even though my family never drilled it into me, I've always felt like having a college education was the only way to really move up. My original plan was to go to culinary school to become a Pastry Chef, but of course having my son at a younger age changes things around. Honestly, even without my son, I would have waited a few years to save up money for school.


After being in the workplace a few years, I got more interested in business. Long story short, I eventually walked into South Hills.

I only told one person, because I had no idea what was going to happen, or how my family would react. I walked out knowing that I would be able to go to school part-time, I could still work and have time to take care of my son, and I could afford it!

Now, for anyone in Centre County or surrounding regions, you may know about South Hills. They have locations in Lewistown, Altoona, and the main campus in State College (where I am). South Hills has smaller class sizes, and the classes are more geared towards what you need to know in the real world. They also change the curriculum based on what companies in our area say that they are looking for; for example,  this year I took Supply Chain Management, because it's a hot thing in our area.

Going part-time means I usually only take an average of 5 classes per term. Now, this last year I've been taking more because I requested to. Right now I have 5, but the most important one is Business Plan. That's literally what it is. We spend 12 weeks (in groups) coming up with and writing a business plan, and then we'll have a 45 min presentation on it. It's the "capstone" class before internships start. 

Now, I'll be graduating in September! Turns out, I'm staying with the same company! I realized that I should stop running away from the place that got me so interested in business in the first place just because people have different perceptions about it. The fact is, I'm able to move up, I receive great pay and benefits, I get along with the majority of the people I work with, and most importantly, I LOVE WHAT I DO.