“Nevertheless, I Persisted and Graduated”: A Single Mom’s Journey

This guest blog post was originally published on the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) website and is authored by Zoe Erickson. Zoe graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in June 2020 from Portland State University and is expected to obtain her Master of Public Policy at Portland State University by June 2022. Zoe is also a recipient of services of the Resource Center for Students with Children program at Portland State University. The article was written in collaboration with IWPR’s Student Parent Success Initiative.

I have one son who is now five years old, but my college journey began when he was just 11 months. At the time, I knew that earning my degree was the best way to provide a solid future for him as a single parent. COVID-19, however, made it much more difficult for me to finish my Bachelor’s degree over the past year. I struggled with limited child care due to the pandemic, my graduation commencement was cancelled, and working from home while doing remote schooling was very difficult to navigate.

Nevertheless, I persisted and graduated. To read the full article, click here.