Vickie Morrish writes for Oxford’s Cherwell on bringing up her toddler son while studying – and why students should take tips from motherhood to succeed at uni:

…If you’d told me a few years ago that by the time I was twenty I’d regularly be spending my time wiping excrement off another human being, I would have been enormously offended, and probably questioned your twisted sense of humour. You see, being single and having a child wasn’t in the life plan – let alone having a child at the tender age of eighteen. When I was twelve I envisioned myself being relatively child-free until around thirty, when suddenly I would ‘settle down’, get married to Hugh Grant’s younger brother, and pop out a set of twins named Tom and Jerry. But I’ve realised two vital things in the eight years in between. Firstly, that Tom and Jerry were never going to be good name choices, whatever the circumstances. Naming your children after a fictional duo of an unlucky cat and a devious mouse just isn’t a good move for the playground. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, that life doesn’t care about the plans you have for it. But I’ve adjusted, and I’m loving the adjustment, despite the copious amount of nappy changes.

Having a child is alien to most students – many of my friends were petrified even to go near Bailey when he was a baby, in case (a) he started crying (a given) or (b) they got asked to hold him (also a given). But what I’ve learnt from being both an Oxford student and a toddler’s mum, is how there are a few common ways that can help you to survive both…

Full article here.