I was 16 years old when my mom graduated with her bachelor’s degree. In the years leading up to her graduating from college, she held three important full-time jobs: mother, employee and student. Her days began with an early alarm clock and wrapped up with late-night homework and studying, while the in-between was filled with work demands and, of course, mom life. To me, she was (and still is) a total rockstar.

To the university, she was a student — a nontraditional student. I asked my mom what that meant, and she explained that nontraditional students often come to higher education with a diverse set of experiences and life circumstances that can make it harder to maintain a work-life balance due to things like working full time, raising a family and balancing other obligations while going to school. Nontraditional students are typically over 25, have a spouse or committed partner, are divorced or widowed, and/or are a parent. At 16 years old, I didn’t think too long or hard about my mom’s explanation, but her words would certainly come to mean so much more to me over time.

At 25, I was married, working a full-time job and decided to go back to school to earn a master’s degree from Weber State University. As I reached my academic program’s halfway point, I was excited to learn that I was pregnant. While pregnant, I continued my studies but later encountered complications with the birth of my baby that required my academic journey to be put on pause. I paused for almost two years before returning to the classroom. When I returned, I was just entering the toddler phase of parenthood and was in for a wild ride.

As a mother to a terrifically energized 2-year-old, a wife, a full-time employee and a student, I began to feel the overwhelming demands that came with each role. Every day felt grindingly difficult — hard to navigate, coordinate, manage and be present. I had never experienced this kind of pressure before. I was living the famous song from Disney’s “Encanto” movie that goes, “Pressure like a grip, grip, grip, and it won’t let go, pressure like a tick, tick, tick till it’s ready to blow.”

I thought back to when my mom was going to school to earn her degree and realized that she, too, was a woman of many roles, under pressure, and working hard to earn her education. I thought about the way she described nontraditional students as having a diverse set of experiences and life circumstances that can make it harder to maintain a balance in life, and it finally hit me that I was a nontraditional student. This got me thinking about my academic college, program and Weber State in general, and just how lucky I was to be earning a degree from an institution that values what it means to be a nontraditional student.

While sitting in my Wednesday night English class, having a deep discussion about transcendentalist authors and their works, my “mom mode” was quickly activated when tiny fingers tapped my leg to remind me to pass along another snack. Yes, I was the student who brought her little one to class for 30 minutes each Wednesday night before making the parent/grandparent handoff to either my husband or mom, who would rush to Weber State’s Elizabeth Hall and meet me outside my classroom door at 6 p.m. I quickly became a huge proponent of “You do what you gotta do!” This is when I really began to understand what people meant by the “Weber family.” My professor was kind and supportive of my situation and encouraged me to bring my daughter to class, rather than come late. My classmates embraced me as a student and mother, always keeping two open seats together at the table.

At the institutional level, Weber State University provides a variety of academic programs and support services that help ensure success for nontraditional students. Students are able to incorporate higher education into their lives by selecting academic programs that work best for them. For example, Weber State’s Division of Online and Continuing Education partners with entities across campus to provide students with opportunities to learn in off-campus centers or through online programs. The university also offers a number of apprenticeship opportunities, allowing students to earn a wage while learning and completing courses. Weber State’s Nontraditional Student Center provides students with a supportive learning environment and access to resources like hourly child care that is available for in-person and online classes and for time spent studying, testing, tutoring, completing homework and other academic-related activities.

If you’re interested in attending college, don’t let other life commitments stop you from exploring the possibilities or enrolling in classes. Weber State is dedicated to helping nontraditional students succeed by fostering a supportive environment that empowers students to navigate barriers and challenges, while providing access to resources for academic and personal growth in order to achieve success — both in and beyond the classroom.

Brooke Lindgren is the associate director of the Office of Sponsored Projects at Weber State University, where she helps faculty and staff prepare and submit grant proposals for external funding.

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