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For University of Wisconsin sophomore Daniela Juarez, a
typical day doesn?t really have a beginning or an end.

That?s because before, after and between commuting to
campus, running to class and hauling back to her apartment, Juarez cares for
her 16-month-old daughter Alexani.

?I?ll be doing my homework, and she wants my attention, and
if I don?t give it to her, she?ll throw everything on the floor, like all my
books, my laptop,? Juarez said. ?I just have to put things down and pay
attention to her, because she?s growing up. I can?t ignore my studies, but I
(also) can?t ignore her.?

Becoming a student parent is a fate dreaded by many a
college student, but Juarez has taken it in stride from the moment she found
out she was pregnant as a senior in high school. Juarez is a scholar through
the Posse Foundation, an urban college recruitment full-tuition scholarship
program.

?Honestly, I went with it,? said Juarez, a Posse scholar
originally from California. ?I knew that I was going to go to college ? [not
going to college] wasn?t even an option for me. I was going to go, and that was
it.?

UW junior Molly Dermody, mother to 1-year-old daughter
Bella, felt exactly the same.

?It just didn?t even occur to me not to do school,? Dermody
said. ?I knew that if I didn?t get it done now, it would be a while. I?d just
end up pushing it further and further down the line.?

Even so, Dermody, a Madison native, had her reservations.

?Nobody I knew got pregnant as young as I did,? she said.
?Nobody in my family had kids that young. It just was not what people I knew
and grew up around did.?

Both Dermody and Juarez took a semester off from school
after giving birth. Returning to campus and academic life, however, proved to
be almost as big an adjustment as having a baby in the first place.

?First semester, I made no friends,? said Juarez, who
focused on getting her GPA up and caring for Alexani, who was then 3 months old.

Although no longer pregnant, Dermody still felt as if she
were carrying something with her.

?I remember the first day I went back to school in
September, feeling like I had this big secret,? said Dermody. ?(I thought) ?I
look like a student just like you guys, but I have a baby at home.??

Neither Dermody nor Juarez knew of resources for student
parents, or where to find fellow parents at first. Juarez was soon guided by
the Posse program to the Office of Child Care and Family Resources, while
Dermody found the program through word of mouth.

The OCCFR serves about 350 graduate and undergraduate
student parents, as well as faculty and staff parents.

?Our mission is really just to help families deal with being
families in this competitive academic environment,? said OCCFR director Lynn
Edlefson.

Its cornerstone program, Child Care Tuition Assistance
Program, helps paying for quality childcare, which costs more per year than
in-state UW tuition, according to Edlefson.

In addition to CCTAP, the OCCFR provides actual childcare
itself. Currently, there are 10 facilities on and near campus, one of which,
the aptly named ?Chicken Soup,? is a care center for sick children.

Edlefson is careful to emphasize that they provide
childcare, not day care.

?When people say ?day care,? it?s kind of more custodial,? Edlefson
said. ?But that?s not what our programs are. Our programs are early-childhood-focused.?

Juarez is pleased with the high-quality care Alexani
receives at UW Preschool, mentioning that the caregivers even buy books in
Spanish for her daughter, who is being raised bilingual.

Edlefson estimates that all the childcare centers combined
have the capacity to care for around 550 children a week. Even so, university
childcare is notoriously hard to come by.

Diana McFarland, a UW senior raising three children, said
her 3-year-old son has been on a waiting list for two years.

?It?s really kind of ridiculous. For some parents, if you
can?t get a spot for your kid, you just can?t go to school,? said McFarland,
who has since found an alternative care provider.

And for all the help that the OCCFR provides, not all
student parents know about the program. Juarez said she knows pregnant students
who aren?t in programs like Posse and aren?t able to find out all that easily.

?I see pamphlets around, but that?s pretty much it,? Juarez
said.

All three student parents said UW needs a support group for
student parents.

Even without the assistance of such a support network, both
Dermody and Juarez said they have learned much through their experiences as
student mothers.

?You really realize that your life becomes completely
centered on the well-being of somebody else and start to care so much more
about every choice that you make,? Dermody said.

Although it?s been difficult, Juarez doesn?t hesitate when
asked about what has been positive about her parenting experience.

?Everything,? she said, contently staring at her daughter,
who has recently learned to wave and blow kisses. ?As a person, I think I?ve
become a lot stronger and a lot more mature. I think it?s a change for the
best.?