Nineteen Fifty-Six Vol. 2 No. 5

48
And though these resources might be at the
University, with a lack of visibility, it has left
Thomas feeling as if students like her are not
considered.
“It feels like they accommodate the students
who are just college students. They don’t
see parents, pregnant women, even elderly
people that go to UA, that aren’t in grad
school,” Thomas said.
Jeremy Henderson, the director of student
care and wellbeing, said there are resources
for all students that student parents might
want to use, like the UA Counseling Center.
There are also other resources for student
parents like the parent assistant line.
Still, the University doesn’t directly offer a
number of those resources so that might be
why they aren’t visible to everyone.
However, Henderson said though some
resources can be helpful, “there may be a
number of unmet needs for” student parents,
and he would love to learn more about them.
While programs themselves are extremely
important, it’s also important to have faculty
and staff who are understanding.
To help encourage that understanding, Hood
said it’s important to communicate quickly
and clearly with professors and advisors
when you’re struggling.
Thomas said she’d had professors who have
been helpful and worked with her; however,
some weren’t as accommodating.
“Nowadays, in recent terms, I still have some
professors who are understanding,” Thomas
said. “But I still maybe have like one professor
per semester that’s kind of like, ‘well, I still
have this policy here,’ not really caring
thinking their class is more important than
my mental wellbeing and the fact that I have
other needs outside of what they need.”
Dallas said she hasn’t felt any support from
her professors, but she has felt support from
her employer, Darrien Simmons, the UA
student center’s director, who helped her
when she was in crisis.
Not only is it important that student parents
feel supported, there’s also a certain level of
isolation that can creep in.
Dallas said she was walking around campus
thinking she was the only student parent
because of a lack of community.
“I don’t feel like women or even fathers on
campus have a support system where they
can go talk about their problems, look for
people who can help them,” Thomas said. “I
feel like it’s just nothing here on campus to
help.”
Hood said in Student Life, they want to
make sure that all students feel welcome and
have the resources and support they need
to succeed and thrive, including student
parents.
While trying to succeed and find community,
Thomas advised student parents not to be
afraid to speak up about being a parent.
“I was ashamed at first, when I was only a few
months pregnant, walking around campus
until I couldn’t hide anymore. I felt like there
were moments where my self-esteem was
really bad,” she said. “Find those friends, ask
them to find support for us, tell them to tell
their friends and other organizations, ‘hey,
we need to do something for moms, they’re
struggling, we need to do something for
dads on campus that are single fathers that
they’re struggling, they need help’.”
For student parents who are interested
in creating support for other student
parents, Henderson said student care and
wellbeing would love to serve as an advocate
for students “who have identified gaps in
resources and problem-solve with students
to create solutions to address those gaps.”
He said he invites any student to contact him
directly at Jeremy.henderson@ua.edu.