Angela Steckart, a short, blond young woman, walks into Espresso Royale on a Friday afternoon. With a smile giving off a laid back, confident aura, she orders a latte and sits down after a long day of class. Making small talk, she seems only vaguely interested until the pleasantries give way to her favorite subject. She beams from ear to ear conversing about her ""hysterical,"" sports-loving 2-year-old son, Callen.
To anyone passing her on the street, Steckart looks like any college student but her responsibility as a single parent sets her apart.
""A lot of people that come to UW-Madison are between 18 and 22, they don't know there are student-parents here,"" Steckart said. ""If you saw me on the street, you wouldn't know I'm a student-parent, so I think it's really beneficial to let people know and become aware.""
Angela Steckart's alarm clock goes off. She crawls out of bed knowing she has an hour and a half to get Callen ready, all the while showering, dressing and fixing breakfast.
Steckart came to Madison as an 18-year-old fresh from high school. After graduating from Madison Area Technical College with a degree in real estate brokerage, Steckart spent about nine months in South America learning language and culture.
After she returned to Wisconsin, Steckart became pregnant at age 22, while working in real estate. Looking for a more stable job, she worked as a personal banker, but she still felt she was not doing all she could to support Callen.
""I didn't feel satisfied with what I was doing,"" Steckart said. ""I put a lot of importance on [education], and I also wanted to relay that importance of education to my son.""
Steckart and Callen are out the door of their two-bedroom apartment in the Eagle Heights neighborhood. A short walk later, Steckart drops Callen off at Eagle's Wing Day Care at the Eagle Heights Community Center and rushes to catch the 80 to campus in time for her 9:55 a.m. class.
Eagle Heights is a neighborhood in UW-Madison's family housing community on campus, according to April Kigeya, a parent resource specialist at the UW-Madison Office of Child Care and Family Resources. Made up of faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students, Steckart said the neighborhood's diversity of cultures and families makes Eagle Heights a positive place to raise Callen.
According to Kigeya, UW-Madison offers eight child care centers on campus as well as financial programs to help student-parents pay for child care so they can attend classes. The Child Care Tuition Assistance Program allocates grants to undergraduate and graduate student-parents to pay for child care costs.
Programs such as CCTAP have enabled Steckart to attend school. With weekly child care costs of nearly $300, approximately $700 per month for rent in Eagle Heights, no support from Callen's father in Ecuador and minimal help from her own family, Steckart and Callen live off student loans and Steckart's part-time job as a leasing agent. Fortunately, they also qualify for Badgercare, a form of state-wide health insurance.
""Without Badgercare, I wouldn't be in school,"" Steckart said.
Kigeya said finding the support of different services is a key challenge for student-parents. While she is in e-mail contact with about 500 student-parents at UW-Madison, tracking the number of student-parents is more difficult.
""If [student-parents] don't know about our office, it's hard for them to find child care systems and other parents they can meet that have the same struggles,"" said Kigeya, who was a single parent at UW-Madison herself. She gave birth to her son when she was a freshman and as a senior, she had her daughter.
Another UW-Madison student-parent, Alicia Cramer-Carslon, 29, and her 7-year-old daughter, Coral, wander through the UW-Madison Geology Museum. Coral excitedly jumps from exhibit to exhibit, running off the energy she built up all morning sitting in class with her mom.
""It was a surprise day off of school,"" Coral said.
Not realizing Coral's school had Monday after spring break off, and with no alternative arrangements, Coral accompanies Cramer-Carlson to classes at UW-Madison.
Coral has been to classes with her before, Cramer-Carlson said. When Coral was younger, she struggled to sit through her mom's classes and the pair often left for home early. Now older, Coral sits contently playing her Gameboy or reading to pass the time.
Cramer-Carlson came to Madison in Fall 1996 as a full-scholarship, pre-med major. However, half-way through her third semester, she decided to withdraw and ""float"" for awhile, until she decided what career was right for her. She married in 1998 and the following year Coral was born.
Every morning, Cramer-Carlson's husband, Matthew, drops Coral and her off at their respective schools on his way to work.
While Cramer-Carlson says Coral is ""the best thing that ever happened,"" she admits there are struggles to being a student-parent at UW-Madison. For example, she has been unable to take advantage of opportunities such as studying abroad or doing summer fieldwork because she has a child.
""When you have children, it's such a reality of life. It's so messy and dirty and frustrating and wonderful and terrible all at the same time,"" Cramer-Carlson said.
Despite missing out on these opportunities, Cramer-Carlson said being a parent has enhanced her education. She feels more confident talking to professors because she can better relate to them.
""It's something that connects people. It's the experience that anybody who has children understands,"" Cramer-Carlson said. ""I feel in a way more related to my professors than I do to my fellow students just because of that. It's such an immense experience to have.""
Steckart picks Callen up from day care. Some days, they go to the zoo or children's museum. Other days, they stroll down State Street or play outside. Some days, Steckart simply makes dinner, gives Callen a bath and they play before bedtime.
""It affects my social life in the fact that I can't spend a lot of time at night with single people going out,"" Steckart said. ""But in the same sense, I do a ton of stuff with Cal, but a lot of people aren't completely interested in it ... and I think they're like ‘OK, she has a kid, so I'll just leave her kind of be.' They categorize me.""
Kigeya said part of her job is to support student, faculty and staff parents by organizing groups for parents to meet. Single-parent groups, parent-child play groups, presentations and workshops are examples of ways parents can get involved to meet other parents. Monthly parent lunch-ins allow parents to talk about a variety of topics. Kigeya communicates these different activities to parents on campus through an e-mail listserve.
Callen falls asleep and, for the first time in hours, Steckart pulls out her school work. Depending on the night, she may stay up as late as 1 a.m. studying only to head to bed and start the cycle again in six hours. To some, the life of a student-parent may sound exhausting, but for Steckart the positives far outweigh the negatives.
""It is awesome to be a parent. It has completely benefited my life 110 percent and I wouldn't take it back for the world,"" Steckart said. ""In a bigger picture, it's helped me focus and think about what's going to better myself and Callen.""
As tough as being a single student-parent can get at times, Steckart said she knows she will always do her best to be a ""sweet parent,"" therefore, Callen is going to do great as he grows up.
""I think the most important thing as a parent is consistency,"" Steckart said, ""and he's going to have that.""
