Major: Linguistics

Minor: Communications
Transferred to UC Davis in Fall 2019 from Butte College

Family members: Zhu Yi (age 4)

About the family: My son loves to read, build LEGOS, and like me, he really likes to watch movies! He's also a very active boy and loves to play, run, and jump.

Favorite course: Linguistics 1 with professor Raul Aranovich

Most rewarding aspect of being a student parent: when I am able to finish my school work and spend time reading to my son, playing with him, or just cuddling him.

Most challenging aspect of being a student parent: It's hard to coordinate schoolwork with being a single mom. I can only attend lectures, study, do homework when my son is at school or at night once he's gone to sleep. I can't do schoolwork over the weekends because there is no one to watch Zhu Yi, so I always have to plan for that.

Reflections on the experience: My son is my biggest motivation to keep going in school. He is my purpose for everything I do. Without him, I might be lost in this world and not know why I am attending school! Seeing me do homework on my laptop makes my son want to do work as well. I think showing him that I can do school and be a mom is a good example for my son. When I graduate, he will see that it's possible to finish something even if there are many struggles along the way. My son will learn that we never give up on our goals.

Advice for other student parents: Getting the best grades is not necessarily important if it means sacrificing time with your kids. I think it's more important to get a B rather than an A on an assignment as long as I can hug my son more, or read one more book to him.