In addition to completing her political-science degree and applying to several law schools, University of Wisconsin senior Sara Beachy is working on another very important mission: helping her 7-year-old daughter, Emma, sell Girl Scout cookies.

“Selling Girl Scout cookies is a good experience for her. She has to explain what Girl Scouts is, what it means and how much the cookies are,” Beachy said.

While most UW students focus solely on classes, homework and the occasional part-time job, there are hundreds of UW students who juggle the time-consuming task of parenting with that of going to school. No office at UW keeps track of the exact number of student parents on campus, but the Office of Campus Child Care estimates that it services between 400 and 600 student-parent families each semester.

Beachy, who had Emma after her second year of attending college in Chicago, took nearly seven years off from school while her husband, Doug, finished his undergraduate degree. Since returning to school at UW, she has learned that being a student parent is a lesson in time management.

“It’s all about priorities and communication. You have to know what your priorities are at every minute. Being a parent has definitely made me better with time management and has made me a better communicator as well,” Beachy said.

Each day begins for Beachy with waking up early to get Emma ready for school. While Emma attends second grade at Shorewood Elementary School, Beachy attends classes at UW.

“I go to class, and then I come home and study very hard until she gets home from school. And then I don’t study again until after she goes to bed at 9 p.m.. Most of the time it’s manageable, and it’s a good schedule, because it forces me to be disciplined and I can usually schedule my classes within her school hours. When it is problematic is during finals and when papers are due and deadlines are piling up, and I need that extra time,” Beachy said.

In stressful circumstances such as these, Beachy and other student parents rely on their parent-support networks and the university-sponsored services aimed at assisting student parents. Even student parents who have a childcare schedule rely on support systems to help them as they juggle parenting and classes.

“Being a single parent and a student, you have to have backup. If you don’t have backup, that’s when things get difficult. Kids always get sick or crack their head open the night before an exam — believe me, that’s really happened to me,” said Angela Cunningham, a UW senior majoring in social welfare and women’s studies and the single mother of 4-year-old Lashawn.

UW’s Office of Campus Child Care has worked to develop a campus childcare system and is committed to addressing the needs of student parents, according to its mission statement. In addition, the OCCC has a Child Care Tuition Assistance Program that gives UW student parents assistance for up to 25 percent of the cost of their childcare. However, many student parents say that even with the help of CCTAP, it is very difficult to find affordable childcare near campus.

“Childcare is a big challenge on campus. I don’t mean finding childcare, but I mean paying for it. This is an issue that has really stressed me out,” Cunningham said.

Beachy agrees. Emma attended full-time daycare before starting school, and Beachy said it was very challenging to finance.

“I think the issue of affordable daycare on this campus is a huge problem. CCTAP is a fabulous program, but it’s a drop in the bucket,” Beachy said. “We were paying $6,000 a year for daycare. And when you’re paying tuition and your income is $20,000 a year, $6,000 is more than rent.”

Another issue student parents face is the isolation they feel at being unable to locate other student parents and share their experiences.

“You can’t really go out when you have a child, and until you connect with other student parents it’s really hard,” Cunningham said.

Cunningham also said connecting with other student parents can be extremely difficult because there is no comprehensive list of student parents on the UW campus. Beachy has found that living in Eagle Heights, the university-run student-parent community, has allowed her to connect with other student parents. She calls Eagle Heights a “fabulous place for student families” and appreciates the child-friendly atmosphere of the neighborhood. Beachy said Eagle Heights is one of her only resources for meeting other student parents.

“I don’t know many student parents other than those I’ve met through Eagle Heights. The student parents that I have met I try to be very supportive of and very encouraging and very understanding, because I know what they’re dealing with,” Beachy said.

In addition to not being able to locate other student parents, both Beachy and Cunningham noted that fellow UW students seem completely unaware that there are student parents on campus.

“I think other students think we don’t exist,” Cunningham said. “When they find out that we have a child, they’re just awestruck.”

Despite the challenges, both women find that there are rewards to being a student parent and ways in which it has changed their education.

“Being a student parent has changed the types of classes I take. I took classes in education, and I’ve taken science classes that I thought I could share with my daughter, such as geology and astronomy,” Beachy said. “And maybe I’ve missed out because there’ve been some really high-end academic classes that I would have enjoyed and done well in, but I don’t think so. It’s been fun learning about dinosaurs and stars and things that my daughter would be interested in.”

Cunningham feels that pursuing her education is setting a good example for her son.

“My son sees me working and studying all the time. Kids see that, and they pick up on that. He sees me reading a book, and he wants to pick up a book, even though he can’t read yet,” Cunningham said.

And although both women are extremely busy balancing the duties of motherhood and the stresses of attending college, both have continued to be active in campus activities. Cunningham started several parent support groups on campus, and Beachy participates in the UW mock trial team and went on a dinosaur dig this summer.

“The irony of staying sane is that you have to find additional time for yourself, or else you’ll go completely insane,” Beachy said. “The worst thing you can do is isolate yourself and just sit at home and study all the time. Being in a lot of activities actually benefits all of us. It gets us out of the house and connects us with other people, so when you need it that support network is there.”

Cunningham agrees that finding time for herself is important yet extremely difficult.

“That’s the one downfall,” she said. “Everything else I wouldn’t change for the world.”