We're kicking off a new guest blogger series featuring stories and advice about the library school experience. Today, recent Drexel grad Olivia Castello shares her perspective on becoming a parent while in school.
I started my MLIS at Drexel’s iSchool in March of 2009 and graduated in June 2011. During this time I took 1-2 classes a quarter, worked at 3 different internships, volunteered as a digital librarian... and had a baby!
Simon was born in August 2010, about mid-way through my time at Drexel. I learned a lot from the experience of being pregnant and caring for an infant while pursuing a graduate degree at the iSchool.Contrary to what you might assume, grad school can be the perfect time to have a baby... especially if it is your first child. It was for me, at least. The feasibility of it all depends entirely on your particular situation. I am lucky to have a wonderful husband who, from the outset, committed to covering our expenses for the roughly 2 years while I pursued my degree. I was also enrolled at the iSchool as an online student even though I live in Philadelphia. I found this arrangement to be ideal since I was able to schedule the classes I needed online but was also able to make it down to campus for the occasional on-campus class, group work session and iSchool event. Because of all these factors, I had the freedom to stay at home with the baby while still actively pursuing my degree.
