Marina Gaytan / The Collegian

For college students, time management can be a juggling act, trying to balance school, work and studies, while also trying to maintain a social life. For student parents, that juggling act can seem almost impossible.

The Campus Children̢۪s Center at California State University, Fresno hopes to relieve some of the stress student parents face when trying to keep up their dual roles as a parent and a college student.

Site supervisor for the Infant and Toddler Center, Kirsten Lange, has worked for children̢۪s programs at Fresno State for four years.

She said one of the main functions of the different on-campus child care facilities is to provide support and information for student parents.

Lange also said they offer housing and community resources.

“We have partnerships with other departments on campus. We have family functions so they’re able to socialize with other students that are going through the same thing. They have children, many are working and going to school with one to six children in a family, so they’re able to talk with one another about their issues.â€Â

Lange said there are three sites on campus that provide child care for parents, from infants to age 6. The Campus Children̢۪s Center̢۪s two programs, the Infant and Toddler Center and the Preschool Center, and the Joyce Huggins Early Childhood Center.

She said all three programs serve around 200 children. For parents to get into the subsidized child care programs they must be put on a waiting list which is prioritized by need.

Mathematics major Lucimar Myers said she applied for the waiting list when she was expecting her daughter and wasn̢۪t notified of an opening until two years later, after giving birth to her son.

“It’s funny because two and a half years later when they called, I was coming back home from the hospital with my second one,â€Â Myers said.

Myers two and a half-year-old daughter, Brooke, and 7-month-old son, Helam, attend the Infant and Toddler Center while she goes to school part time.

She said the convenience of having her kids on campus allows her to visit them on her breaks and to continue nursing her son.

“It would be very difficult without this place,â€Â she said. “Because of the center here, it’s not as difficult a thing to do for a mom. They’re this bridge that connects the possibilities for a mom to get an education.â€Â

The mother of five already had three children in school when she learned she was expecting again. As a homemaker for 10 years, she said her desire to go back to school meant she had to learn how to make it all work.

Her days consisted of taking her children to school and daycare, finding study and homework time during naps and after bedtime.

“It’s good to set an example and show people that you can do it if you really want it,â€Â she said. “I think that’s the main reason I came back. I said, ‘I want to be an example for my children.’ Of course I have the benefit of the center here, but it is possible.â€Â