Carolina da Costa often takes her two daughters to the parks in Orchard Downs to help them experience the positives of growing up in a campus community.

“We meet a lot of other families in the parks,” said da Costa, a freelance translator. “It’s been a great experience for Sara.”

Da Costa and other on-campus parents say raising a family in a college environment is a balancing act that changes the lives of the mother, the family and the child.

Some parents say the diversity and emphasis on education provided by the campus community make the challenges of being a student and a parent worthwhile.

A positive influence

Living in a university environment, where going to classes and studying are common activities, has benefited da Costa’s children Sara Pedocchi, 5, and Ana Pedocchi, 21 months.

“When (Sara) was three, she thought everyone that said ‘I’m going to work,’ was going to school,” said da Costa, who lives in Orchard Downs family housing with her husband Francisco Pedocchi, a doctoral student in civil engineering. “I think it’s nice for the kids to see studying as natural because everyone’s studying and working hard. I think it will be a natural choice for them to study.”

Da Costa also thinks the multicultural atmosphere of the campus community is a positive. She said she has had neighbors from all over the world, including Brazil, China, Mexico and Switzerland.

Experiencing cultural events and diversity at an early age can help to broaden a child’s awareness of the world, said Dottie Squire, research development coordinator for Childcare Resource Services.

“(Children will) have a broader view of the world in general if they see their parents in a learning-rich environment,” Squire said. “I can’t imagine how it would be detrimental.”

Chantelle Kelly, junior in LAS, sees the positive influence of the campus lifestyle in the life of her 3-year-old son RJ.

She brought RJ to her classes for two years, and thinks this helped him develop a large vocabulary, patience and a calm demeanor.

“He plays like a toddler outside of class,” Kelly said. “But when his mom walks through these doors, he has a poise where he’s very attentive despite the fact that this doesn’t apply to him just yet.”

Developing priorities

For 34-year-old Gwen Costa Jacobsohn, caring for her two kids and working on her doctorate in communications is an exhausting life, but she said she would not have it any other way.

“The more fulfilled I am as a researcher, the better parent I am with them,” said Jacobsohn. “I get so much energy out of my work, and I channel that energy to my children.”

Jacobsohn works as a research assistant for the Strong Kids Project, an initiative of the Family Resiliency Center, which is examining different aspects of childhood obesity.

“After you have kids, it changes what your research interests are,” she said.

Balancing school and family involves sacrifices on both sides, Jacobsohn said.

She and her husband Dan put their kids Max, 4, and Theo, 2, in day care when each was seven months old so she could work during business hours. But she chooses not to attend evening meetings so she can spend time with her family.

Finding enough time to get everything done may be the biggest challenge facing student parents, said Kristen Harrison, professor of communication and Jacobsohn’s boss on the Strong Kids Project.

But Harrison said she and Jacobsohn still find time to talk about every other day and meet in person twice a week.

“It’s never been a problem,” Harrison said. “Maybe a part of it is because I know exactly what she’s going through because I have young kids as well…. It’s a whole level of a relationship that I wouldn’t have with her if I didn’t have kids myself.”

Kelly said deciding how to balance taking care of RJ with being a student has never been a difficult choice for her.

During her freshman and sophomore years, she wanted RJ with her all the time, so she brought him to all her classes, even small discussion sections.

“I didn’t trust anyone with him because he couldn’t talk,” Kelly said. “But he was quiet and you couldn’t tell he was in class.”

Once teachers noticed RJ, Kelly said all of them were accepting and many brought snacks or toys to help keep the toddler occupied.

“No one has ever discouraged me in any way,” Kelly said. “They always say if I need to bring him, feel free.”

Finding support

In a campus community, finding the right resources is vital to the success of the parents and the child, but it can be difficult for newcomers to the community, said Brent McBride, director of the Child Development Laboratory and professor of human and community development.

After two years of bringing RJ to classes, Kelly signed him up for day care at the Child Development Laboratory, a teaching and research facility for students in the Department of Human and Community Development.

“When you ask him what grade he’s in, he’ll say college,” Kelly said. “It’s strongly impacted in him for some reason. He says he’s only in preschool to help them out.”

McBride said the laboratory accepts about 25 percent of its children from student parents.

Parents on campus and in the community can turn to Childcare Resource Services to find a child care center based on factors like location and price range, Squire said.

Since going to school and caring for a family is not something everyone experiences, it also helps to find others who are in a similar situation, Jacobsohn said.

“You really have to find a good support network of, for me, other grad students who have kids because it’s a very unique experience,” she said.

During the five years da Costa has lived in Orchard Downs, the community has become her support network.

She said she often meets other parents when she takes her girls to the park, and they discuss where to find health insurance, child care and good libraries.

“When you have children, you have to connect with the rest of the community,” da Costa said. “You’re not going to be only in a student environment, you have to connect somehow.”

Though she had to search for people and resources to help care for RJ, Kelly said being a mother is easier in college than it was during her final two years of high school.

“Back home as a teen mother it was really difficult; there were a lot of forces against you,” Kelly said. “People as close as family would turn and say, ‘She’s going to be a statistic,’ and there was a lot of pressure to prove otherwise. But when you have self perseverance, nothing can stand in your way.”