Life as a single mum, full-time student and working part-time. Hello everyone, how are we all today? In today’s post, I want to talk about life as a single mother, a full-time student, and working part-time. And, of course, How I handled it. So basically, I stayed organised and completed my two-year course at college.
If you don’t know, I decided to go back to studies in 2017 when my daughter was three years old. Despite being a single mother with no support from anywhere, I had to look around at my lifestyle, and I decided I wanted to do better for my daughter. I wanted her to be proud of me and show her that it doesn’t matter what situation you find yourself in. Remember, you are the one in the driver’s seat. Trust me, it was not easy, but it was worth it.
Life As A Single Mum, Full-Time Student and Working Part-time
Mindset
To even apply for college, I had to change my mindset. I had a lot of doubt that I would be a good mother, and the situation was filled with so much negativity, I ultimately felt useless and worried that there was no way out. However, I still decided to go and seek help. The rest is history. It would help if you had a clear and focused mindset. Your either in until the end of your out. More important, you must be a little open to other options, too, just in case your plans don’t work.
Planning
I already knew what I wanted, and I had a very determined mindset and was ready to do whatever it took. I took some time to plan out how things were going to go and made up plans A, B, C, D, E etc. When I was a student, I had a diary and was constantly looking at it and making changes as things changed as well. For example, in a week I had 3 days at college, an assessment to prepare for, a doctor’s appointment, a ballet class for Sasha, a meeting with my officer and working part-time at the weekends. It was a lot of work, but I stayed focused with a clear mindset and because of that, I was able to set some priorities.
Prioritising
Although I had many things happening in a week, my daughter was my number one priority. I didn’t care if I had class today, if my daughter was sick and there was no one to look after her, I’d stay at home, just like every other parent would. I also made school and work a priority too. In that case, I made certain decisions that would affect my ability to stay focused on what I was doing.
Self-Motivation
Not going to lie, there were sometimes when I felt less motivated. Especially when I was struggling with understanding course work and having low finance, however, I self-motivated myself by reminding myself of why I was doing this, and I watched motivational videos on YouTube. I even had to stay up late at night to study while my daughter was sleeping.
Commitment and Dedication
The fact that Sasha was doing great with her developments at Nursery helped me stay committed to the plan. I showed my dedication to the lifestyle by making sure I turn up in class every day and even on the days that I was off, I would still visit the library to study. I did not have a lot of friends, but that’s okay because I was not there to make friends. When I was struggling with my coursework, I asked for help. I spoke with my North East Sensory Services officer when I felt lonely and wanted to give up. And I just kept going. Next thing you know 1 year has gone, then it was 2 and a year had gone by. And now I’m working at a job that I have always dreamt of and my daughter is still healthy and happy. Which was everything I planned for?
The choice is yours. If you want to change your life, there is support, b, but you have to. You got a dream. Fight for it. Invest your time and energy in it. And always believe that something extraordinary is about to happen. Life is hard, but it doesn’t have to be hard for you.
I hope you enjoyed that.
Talk Soon.
29 Comments
Chloe Arnold
Girl you are AMAZING!! I don’t know how you do it. I’m a momma who works from home and can’t fathom adding school into the mix!
Erica (The Prepping Wife)
You are setting such an amazing example for your daughter and you should be very proud of that! Nothing can stop you because you are clearly a very determined and strong woman!
Live Learn Better
No pain; No gain. Glad you’re making changes and progress at the same time in order to secure a better life for you and your child.
Wishing you all the very best.
Yealie Kamara
Thanks
Ivana Mearns
wow, you are a busy lady! I’ll definitely check out your 5 motivation tips, although I already feel motivated by reading this article! thanks!!!
Smita
Kudos to you, you’ve achieved so much! Truly an inspiration to the rest of us!
Daphne Takahashi
You are such a strong and courageous women! Thank you for sharing your vision and how possible it is to achieve our goals if we have focus and a great mindset!
Lindsay Brown
This is such an inspiring article and I give you so much credit for all the life enhancing things that you are doing while raising a babe! It is so true that good things come to those WHO WORK FOR IT and that is exactly what you are doing! Thanks for sharing your awesomeness with us!
Kelly Martin
You’re amazing and so inspiring. It must take a lot of planning and prioritising to get everything done.
LuLu B - Calabrisella Mia
I have a lot of respect and admiration for you. It couldn’t have been easy but you had the right motivation! You should be very proud of yourself!
Subhashish Roy
It requires courage, dedication and strong will power to achieve what you have with sheer commitment to your goals. Congratulations. Keep being the strong woman that you are.
The Sunny Side Lifestyle Co.
We can all learn from your quote ‘you got a dream, fight for it, invest your time and energy in it.’ Each of us needs to identifying what we want and invest time and effort in order to accomplish our goals. You should be proud of all that you have accomplished for yourself and for the future life you are creating.
Kileen
You are absolutely amazing babe and so inspiring! I’m sure your daughter is so proud of you and will be proud of you when she realizes all the sacrifice and effort!
Kileen
cute & little
Amber Hurley
You go girl!! You are a trooper and I’m proud of you!
may palacpac
Oh yes, in this life, you gotta put in the work. Not a single momma, but we did go through some rough years before getting to where we are and we didn’t get it just by lounging around and waiting for things to fall into our laps. we had to make smarter decisions, sacrifices and do the hard work that goes with it.
Jen
You are so right! Mindset, priorities and motivation make all the difference. You’re an incredible example of all of them!
Rikki Ridgeway
You are an amazing woman and mother. You’re such an inspiration and I love reading and learning more and more about you, every week.
Soniasblog
Aww, Thank you so much.
Adriane
You are such an inspiration! And what a role model for your little one.
Scott DeNicola
Congratulations on setting your goal and achieving it. Full-time student, part-time worker and single mom is no joke! Good for you for you. I love to hear stories like this. I like what you said about changing your mindset. and planning. We all suffer from self-motivation from time to time especially when we are tired or run down which as a single mom can be often. Love this story and these tips
Coralyn
Kudos to you on what you have accomplished. You make some very good points here. It really is up to us to do what we must to change our lives.
Corinne | my jEARNey
All I can say is, “I don’t know how you do it.”
You should be very proud of yourself because how you plan your day, even with all your conflicting priorities, is extraordinary.
Christine
Girl, you are seriously so inspiring to me! I love that you are working so hard to be the best for yourself and your daughter. She will definitely grow up to appreciate that!!
Soniasblog
Amen to that mama.
Lauren
You are so inspiring! It is great that you decided to go back to school. Prioritizing things and time management I’m sure is a must, but you go, girl!
Matthew Lovett
Great insight and wonderful little blog. Here’s to success and blessings in 2020!
Erin
I love your story! It really is possible for anyone to accomplish their goals. It’s just harder for a lot of us. Some people start further from the finish line! Congratulations to you and keep going!
Minda @ Centsandfamily
Very inspiring Sonia! And you have a blog! I agree… it’s about mindset. If we believe we can do it, we will make it happen. Happy New Year!
Soniasblog
You’re so right. I forgot to mention about the blog too. It was one of the supporting sources as I used it to share my experiences, struggles etc. And I got a lot of positive vibes from my readers too.