Schoolwork, extra-curricular activities, and social life keep most students busy. We live our same routines daily and change them up every once in a while to add a little excitement. But how difficult would it be to take care of someone besides yourself?
Jessica Vaugh is a phenomenal Ram who is very busy with school, a job and baby.
Vaugh is a 20-year-old sophomore with so much to do, and so little time to do it. As a nursing major, active church member and mother of a 2-year-old, she has learned that time management is critical to her daily routine.
“Balancing my time is very important to me; I plan everything around [my daughter] Naomi because she is most important,” Vaugh said. She schedules all of her classes in the mornings between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. That enables her to spend the afternoon with her daughter until it’s time to leave for work, around 3p.m. Vaugh returns home around 9 p.m. and tends to her daughter and schoolwork.
“Having the help and support from my family is what really keeps me sane; without their help I would not be doing as well, Vaugh said. She said that living with her parents is the best thing for her and Naomi. She is able to go to school and work, and not worry about the hassles of childcare payments.
“It is very hard sometimes,” she said. “I may stay up all night sometimes doing work, because my daughter would not go to sleep.”
Vaugh said that she tries to put her daughter in different activities with other children, so that she can have a social life, as well.
“I love my daughter and if I have to stay up all night to finish school, then that’s what I have to do,” she said.
With school, a job and a daughter, Vaugh is a young woman who is determined to go beyond her dreams.
I thank God every day for my daughter and my life,” she said. “I’m very blessed, and I wouldn’t change anything for the world.”
With determination and faith, Vaugh is one student with a lot to do and no time to complain. “Naomi is my motivation,” she said. “She keeps me focused on school so I can make a better life for her in the future.”