Studying with family obligations

Interview with Anna Gall and Melanie Ilik, both B.Sc. Nutritional Management and Dietetics

How is it balancing your studies and pregnancy / a child?

Anna Gall/ Melanie Ilik: During pregnancy, especially at the beginning you can have difficulties because you’re so tired - it’s hard to stay concentrated and prepare well for exams. Taking all of the exams in one examination period wouldn’t have been possible for us or at least it would have meant our grades would have been worse. We use the possibility to put off exams so we can split up what we need to study.

Melanie Ilik: The child needs to have someone watching him or her so that you can attend lectures. In my case, the child’s grandmother helps out. Others who don’t have family to watch the child need a spot in a childcare center, otherwise it is not possible to regularly participate in the lectures.

Despite a lack of sleep, you have to pay attention during lectures, do all the follow-up work soon afterwards, and at the same time give the child the attention he or she needs. For me, it helps to start studying right after the lectures and not wait until just before the exams. We both have a husband who can help take care of the child, but our husbands both work, too. Depending on the situation, we have to set different priorities. Who stays at home when the child is sick? Is it an exam phase? Can the husband get off work for the child’s appointments (play groups, doctor’s appointments, etc.)?

Do you feel like you get good assistance from the University, and what support have you taken advantage of?

Anna Gall/Melanie Ilik: We feel like we get good assistance from the University of Hohenheim. We quickly got an appointment with the Central Student Counselling Service, and they were able to answer our questions. Our semester leave of absence was immediately approved by the Registrar’s Office. We just had to submit our family registration certificate (Familienmeldebescheinigung) and our maternity report (Mutterpass) or birth certificate with the application.

Anna Gall: I didn’t get BAföG (German Federal Training Assistance Act) counselling. I was able to find the information I needed on the BAföG office’s website. It was also pretty easy to request a childcare spot using the University of Hohenheim’s website.

 
Encouragement for studying with children?

Anna Gall/Melanie Ilik: It’s no problem if you’re pregnant while studying or if you already have a child when you start studying. Really, it’s the most flexible time of your life. We recommend taking care of childcare before the child is born and being very disciplined in studying the lecture materials as you go. That way the material you have to study before the exams doesn’t pile up.

Take advantage of the University’s support offices as well as assistance from other institutions, e.g. the funds for basic supplies for students if you don’t have an income makes a lot of things easier.