I find the greatest challenge of being a student and a single parent has to be time management. As a widowed mother of four and a full-time student, I find myself awake way past any time a human should be. I have to make sure that I have completed all my assignments and that the house is clean, that I have all the meals planned for the next day, and that I am ready to take on the endless responsibilities of taking care of my children for the next day. Not all of my daily tasks are relentless jobs and chores. I also spend as much time as possible showing my children love. I take time out of my day to teach my children compassion and empathy. I don't want them to ever think that it is okay just to make it by. They need those heart-to-heart moments as well to grow up and be well-rounded. Life is a balance and requires more than accomplished. Being the singular parent requires you to be very diverse in everything you teach your child. Managing the time to cover all the bases while being successful and keeping a roof over everyone's head is challenging. It's like mastering juggling; my main job is to keep everything moving and letting nothing hit the ground. My children are of all different ages, from 21 years old to 10 years old, and although my older children require less of me physically, I still work hard to teach them accountability and influence them to make the best choices in life. They still need a lot of attention and often look to me for leadership. Finding the time to accomplish all these goals each day requires me to be flexible yet still responsible for finishing my assignments. This past year has been incredibly challenging, with kids home all day due to Covid. Learning from home has been easier for some of us than others. My youngest required many hours of extra help understanding the material he needed to finish each day. Adding these daily necessities into the schedule has required me to adapt my schedule to allow for the unknown of each day. As a full-time student and single mother, our finances are tight. Not only am I putting myself through college, but I am also putting two children through college at the same time. I am always struggling to make sure that I have the things I need to succeed in college. As in the true form of any mother, my children's needs always come first. Although I am a very successful student, I know that when money is tight, I have to push harder. I will use the calculator to finish my homework after the kids are in bed. I watch the lectures late at night because our internet is spotty when we are all logged in at the same time. I will wait until everyone else has finished with their homework to go and use the laptop charger because no one ever knows where theirs is hiding, so they borrow my charger throughout the day. It would be wonderful to free up some of my educational finances to help me have a more effortless educational journey. If I can show my kids that I can do this, they will know they can do it too. They are watching and learning from me.