Back to School (for Moms too!)

By Kim Laehle

    Walking into Trisele Hall’s Elk Grove home is like walking into a Pottery Barn catalog. Her counters are clean, there are framed pictures on the walls, and a bowl of lemons graces her kitchen table. I look around, a little in awe, knowing that five children live here but not quite believing it. As Trisele and I settle in the living room, her children come down the stairs and perch on the loveseat. Trisele’s infectious energy pours out as she tells me how she won a scholarship from Project Working Mom.

 “One day, I was surfing the Web, and a pop-up appeared about a scholarship.” She followed the link to the Project Working Mom Web site, clicked on the application and started typing. “I didn’t stop and think about what I was writing. I just rolled the dice, wrote it, and waited to see what would happen.”

Trisele had worked as a medical assistant but left the field after the birth of her two youngest daughters. When she was ready to re-enter the workforce, her credentials were no longer applicable, and she didn’t know what she was going to do. She was job-hunting online when she stumbled across her opportunity.

When Trisele applied for the scholarship, she didn’t know that over 435,000 other parents had also applied since its inception in January 2008. During that time, more than 150 full-tuition scholarships have been awarded. When she hears these numbers, Trisele looks astonished. “That’s amazing! That’s crazy! Wow!”

She received $2500 to obtain a certificate in Advanced Medical Billing and Coding through one of several participating online schools. Trisele says she couldn’t wait to sign up for her first online course and get her books. She was whizzing through the chapters, one a day, until finally her husband told her to slow down. She shows me her quiz grades. (Her lowest score is 91%.) She tells me 70 is passing, but she’s quick to add, “I don’t want to go for 70!”

Resources for Smart Moms: 
Why not follow Trisele’s lead? Check out eLearners.com/ProjectWorkingMom. About 100 scholarships are still up for grabs—the next deadline is September 30!

Federal Student Aid Programs are the country’s largest source of student aid, providing over $80 billion a year in grants, loans and work-study assistance. Visit StudentAid.ed.gov.

Whether you’re heading back to class online or on a local campus, be sure to also ask about institutional aid—money your school awards. A financial aid administrator can help you connect with grants and scholarships.

Trisele says that studying during the summer has actually been much easier than when her children were in school. When school was in, she would study for an hour here and there, between trips to schools, lunches and naps. Now she can study for longer periods of time, and her kids know that when she is studying, they need to be quiet, especially if she is taking a test.

She feels that what she is doing now will have such an impact on her children as they go through school. She wants her kids to say, “If Mom can do it and not complain, I can do it too.” 

As the kids sit on the couch, giggling and whispering as we talk, I ask them to share their thoughts. I ask 13-year-old Gabriel what he thought of his mom winning a scholarship. He tells me, “To hear that news, I felt so overwhelmed, excited and really jumpy!” Now that he sees his mom getting straight A’s, Gabriel is also shooting for A’s and B’s.

Michale (11) is happy that his mom is going to college. The two girls (ages 5 and 6) hide their faces giggling, barely getting out their words of encouragement. Malachi (age 10) says he is happy for her, but he likes it better when she is home. “She’s the best mom ever,” he says.

Trisele says she feels really honored to have won. “Something I wrote spoke to somebody,” she says. “What I was feeling at that moment really mattered. I’m proud of that feeling.” As I walk out the door, I notice two signs on the wall: “Imagine” and “Dream,” they say.

Imagine and dream.   

Kim Laehle is a local mom of two, a freelance writer and a seriously avid reader. In addition to her fabulous book picks, Kim has over 20 magazine subscriptions! Get the buzz at her blog, DontPeeontheBee.com.