There are so many stigmas surrounding motherhood. Especially for mothers who want to better themselves by furthering their educations or careers. Mothers often feel as if they can’t go to college or pursue their dreams of having a successful career, and I think that we often feel this way because this is what we’ve been told for so long. People act as if our lives are over just because we’ve given birth. But there is still a full life out there ahead of us just waiting to be explored. Will it be hard? The answer is yes. It sure will be. But that isn’t the question we should be asking.
The question we should be asking is “Can I, do it?” and the answer to that question is, yes! Absolutely. You can … I can … we can. I know it can feel hopeless sometimes, especially when you have a newborn. So many sleepless nights. So much worry. Everything seems ten times harder than it should be. Now when you leave the house you have to cart a billion things. You never sleep. Your body is different. You are so tired all the time. Then, to top it all off, everyone treats you so differently than before. People may have said things like “Well, it’s all over now,” or “No more vacations for you,” or maybe they’ve said something like, “Guess you’ll be staying home with the baby now.”
These things are not true at all. So many women live full lives after birth. They do things like work and go to college or travel the world. Many mothers are even pursuing their doctorate degrees. Despite everyone who told them they couldn’t, they still did it and you can too.
According to the Education Data Initiative website, “Among bachelor’s degree holders, female graduates have outnumbered male graduates since 2015.” Their data also stated that “Women at public institutions have a 64% college graduation rate while 70% of women at private, nonprofit institutions graduate.” Women’s graduation rates exceeded those of men. (College Graduation Statistics, 2022)
The fact is women can and are doing it. They are breaking stigmas and moving forward. They are paving the path for future generations by taking control of their lives and their futures. So don’t think for one minute that you can’t do it too.