Kid/School/Internship

Hey all, I’m a new full time single dad about to re-enroll into my second semester (had to drop my “original” second semester due to gaining custody). And planning to Intern this upcoming summer.

I was wondering if there was anyone here that has experience similar to mine (eg single parent going through school and interning) so I could kinda get a feel for what to expect, and what is achievable with an Infant. Will I have time to Intern? Im majoring in Biology and hope to land a job with either a federal or state agency, and to my understanding need an internship to achieve this.

Im also paying my tuition through the GI Bill and living with my parent so my expenses aren’t too bad.

IF you have major family support & you intern nearby, you could probably manage it, but you are really going to need that support for a very long time. Are your parents on the same page with your wishes?

My parents are but they work full time during the week. There is a daycare nearby that has a great reputation and I’ll be able to afford it.

I was going to take 3 classes in a combination of night school, weekend classes, and online (my college offers all 3 options).

During the summer is when I would probably use the day care center, or maybe have one of my cousins watch my son while Im away.

First of all, good for you! Secondly – there are two other factors that weigh in – one is the course schedule you can arrange, and the other is your child’s basic temperament. As to the schedule - the more you can group courses together, the easier it is to manage time around that. Ideally you will have at least one day a week with no classes that you can use for internship.

As to temperament – there are babies that are calm and sleep a lot, and there are babies who are fussy and need lots of attention – and babies grow into toddlers, some who are easy-going and some who are extremely active and demand a lot of attention. Obviously you can get a lot more studying done if you are the parent of a calm and easy-going child.

I’d encourage you to defer the internship for this semester while you get the hang of things, but try to get a paid internship or job in a lab for the summer.

You will face the same challenges that many working parents of young infants face.

Good, reliable childcare is hardly every cheap. You will need to rely upon your parents - have an honest talk with them about it as soon as possible.

I had a baby while I was in law school. I was back to school the next week. I switched to night school when my spouse would be able to take care of the baby. It was a slog - those sleepless nights are hard. I don’t remember much from the last year of law school!

Raising a child must be the first priority - you may need to slow down, or rethink certain scheduling issues. But - it can be done! Best of luck to you!

I wanted to echo the best wishes to you, and add a huge “Thank you for your service!”

You might expect significant difficulty getting an internship if you are mostly doing night school/weekends and online courses. Does your college have a dean or advisor, or perhaps the department head, who may be able to help you with suggestions or success stories from other students who have gotten internships?