ACQ Vol 10 No 2 2008

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ACQuiring knowledge in speech , language and hearing, Volume 10, Number 2 2008 65
Work– l i f e balance : preserv i ng your soul
Students W rite…
Juggling family, study and life!
Jessie Smith
Reflecting back on my
student days…
Vegemite fingerprints decorate the sliding glass door and the
sideboard is beginning to resemble a haunted house. In this
come all the joys of juggling two small children and studying
full-time. The demands of family life and work are always a
difficult one but with compromise it can be done. Just ask our
family! In between my second and third year of studying
Bachelor of Health Science (Speech Pathology) at Charles
Sturt University our family became three.
Balancing a small baby and university was challenging, yet
fun. We managed to incorporate study, work and child-
rearing as well as having a social life. I think that compromises
and imagination play huge parts … reading speech pathology
text books is always much more stimulating then Hairy
Maclary!
Three months after I completed my degree, we had our
second son. This became more of a challenge and my husband
and I decided that I would be a stay-at-home mum for a little
while. I give credit to those who can dedicate themselves their
lives solely to the little people around them – this to me is a
far harder job then balancing work and family life. When my
son was 3 months old, I began working in a counselling role.
My speech pathology skills were invaluable as I used my
communication skills in diverse ways. On-site childcare
centres work wonders!
Six months after completing my degree I begun working
privately in three local private and public schools. It was
amazing to finally use my speech pathology degree in a
traditional way. My working two days a week was fantastic
for our family. I had two jobs: two days a week as a profes­
sional, contributing in the community, and the other, by far, the
most important job I have, looking after our beautiful sons.
Fast forward to 2008, one year after completing my degree I
decided to further my study and become a teacher. I called
two weeks before commencing the course and enrolled to
complete my Graduate Diploma of Education. The positives
of the course were the career advancement; flexible teaching
hours, etc., but of course, positives always entail negatives.
The main one was that the course is full time, 9–4 every day.
However, our philosophy this year is to consider the long-
term gains for our family. The boys go to my wonderful
personal nanny (aka my mother-in-law) and have adapted
really well. It is me of course who misses them the most.
Being a busy parent is challenging, with highs and lows.
The biggest difficulty for our family to spend quality time,
rather then simply “time” together.
Yes, the house isn’t as spotless as it was; yes, the clothes go
un-ironed but the boys are hilarious, outgoing and wonderful
people, and this indicates to me that we’re managing work
and home life perfectly … well almost!
Jessie Smith
Ex speech pathology student
Charles Sturt University
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