September is Student Parent Month, a time to recognize the students who are balancing their education with the responsibilities of raising a family.
At Pennsylvania Institute of Technology, Ciana Callahan, Iris Jones and Afifa Harrison are three student parents who understand that balance firsthand. Each has taken a different path to P.I.T., but all three have faced the challenges of managing school, family and their own goals.
Through P.I.T.’s Parenting Support Services, student parents can connect with resources designed to help them balance college and family responsibilities. Marcia Garbutt, P.I.T.’s Parenting Student Success Coach, works directly with students to identify assistance with childcare, scholarships, financial concerns and other challenges that could affect their education.
P.I.T.’s Parenting Support Services provides support for student parents through personalized advising, social services and campus programming designed to help them balance school and family. The Student C.A.R.E. Center also offers free essential-needs items, including diapers, wipes, baby formula, baby soap and personal hygiene products, helping student parents access the resources they need while pursuing their education.
Finding the Right Time
For some parents, going back to school happens when the time is right for their family.
Afifa Harrison, a mother of three originally from Philadelphia and raised in Virginia, had always wanted to become a nurse. She completed her prerequisites years ago, but as a single mother with young children, she knew she could not commit to nursing school at that point in her life.
Years later, her two older children had reached milestones of their own. Her son had graduated and joined the military, while her daughter had graduated high school and started college. With her children getting older and gaining a little more flexibility in her life, Harrison decided it was time to pursue her own goal.
“I put my dreams on hold to raise my kids,” Harrison said. “Now this is for me.”
Today, Harrison is pursuing practical nursing at P.I.T. while working two jobs. Her youngest son is still at home and is in eighth grade, so she is still balancing school and work with being a full-time parent. She plans to continue her education and ultimately pursue a career as a psychiatric nurse.
For Ciana Callahan, a Philadelphia native and mother of two young girls, the path to nursing school has included a few setbacks of her own.
“I feel like caring for people has always been in me, and nursing gives me the opportunity to turn that into a career,” Callahan said.
Callahan previously attended P.I.T. and came up two points short. When she returned to the program, she approached school differently and said she is proud of the progress she has made.
The LPN program gives her a way to start her nursing career while continuing to be there for her family. After completing the program, she plans to work as an LPN, gain experience and eventually return to school to become an RN.
It Takes Support
Balancing school and parenting is not something these students have done alone.
For Iris Jones, a mother of four from Philadelphia who now lives in Collingdale, her family has been a major part of her support system. Her family background is from Liberia, and she said family has always been a priority.
Her father helped get her children to and from school, sometimes traveling across the city to make sure everyone got where they needed to be. Her husband also encouraged her to focus on her education when balancing work and school became difficult.
“I’m grateful for my family because I had a good family support system that, you know, was helping me along the way,” Jones said.
P.I.T. was another important part of that support system. Jones credits Ms. Marcia Garbutt, P.I.T.’s Parenting Student Success Coach, with helping her learn about resources available to student parents, including scholarships and other support.
“When I first started in the program, some people didn’t even know that parenting options were out there. Ms. Marcia was one of my biggest supporters at P.I.T. She was always there giving me some type of new resource that I didn’t know about. I was grateful to come in contact with her because she was a big support throughout my journey.”
Jones completed the practical nursing program in June 2026 and plans to continue her education by pursuing an RN.
For Callahan, family support was just as important. Her family helps with childcare, school drop-offs and pickups, and gives her time to study and take a break when she needs it. When one of her daughters became sick while Callahan was in class, a family member picked her up so Callahan could stay in school.
“I would definitely say that it can be very challenging, but I feel like if you have … a village,” she said. “Having family that helps you is really key.”
That village also includes people at P.I.T.
“Ms. Marcia, she’s always there helping me, no matter if I need help with childcare, financial aid issues, or if I need help with a scholarship,” Callahan said. “I always go even just to talk to her because I’m stressed. I’m just so thankful that I have a village that helps me with everything.”
Learning Through the Challenges
Each woman has faced moments when balancing everything felt especially difficult.
For Jones, one of those moments came during her second term when she struggled with pharmacology and had to complete a reentry exam. The experience made her rethink how she approached school. When she returned, she stopped procrastinating, started completing assignments earlier and changed her study habits.
“If other parents really, really want to, I will open my hands and say, ‘I’m going to help you get through it,’” Jones said. “Because I know for sure how intense school is, especially having kids.”
Harrison has also had to make sacrifices to keep up with school, work and family. Her family agreed that this would be a “year of sacrifice,” meaning fewer vacations, shopping trips and other activities while she focused on school.
For her, the sacrifices are temporary.
She wants her children to see what it looks like to work toward something, even when it is difficult. A professor once told her, “You be the student that you want your children to be.”
Harrison took that advice seriously.
“I always put on display me studying and the habits I want my kids to have, because nothing comes without working for it. You have to study, you have to keep working for what you want because nothing in life is going to be given to you. Once you get those degrees, nobody can take them away from you,” she said.
Callahan has also learned from the challenges she faced when she first attended P.I.T. Coming back after missing the mark by two points gave her another opportunity to approach school differently. Now, she said she has seen a major difference in her academic performance and has even found herself helping classmates.
Her family and professors have continued to encourage her along the way.
Setting an Example
For all three women, being a student parent has meant finding a way to keep moving forward while also being there for their children. There have been setbacks, sacrifices and plenty of long days, but each of them has found reasons to keep going.
Callahan wants her daughters to know that setbacks do not mean you have to give up. Jones hopes her children see how hard she worked to finish school while raising four children. And Harrison wants her children to see that it is never too late to pursue something you have always wanted.
Their stories look different, but the message is similar: being a parent does not mean putting your own goals aside forever. Sometimes, it means finding the right time, leaning on the people around you and continuing to work toward what comes next.
For more information on P.I.T.’s Parenting Support Services, please contact Marcia Garbutt, Marcia.Garbutt@PIT.edu.
