College students usually stay in campus dorms, nearby apartment complexes, or commute from home if local. My living situation is a little different from the average college student's. I live in a house five minutes away from the campus with my best friend, her fiance, and their almost seven month old baby boy. They allow me to stay with them for a small rental fee so I can attend school considering "home" for me is in Greenville. Since I moved in a year ago, they brought their little son, Joshua, into the world. Being the busy college student I am, I had concerns of course with how I would manage my busy life around people raising a family and starting a life.

Since Joshua was born in February, he has brought nothing but joy and pure happiness into my life. I get to have and experience the joys a baby brings in life without having to have one of my own because I still have a long time until I would be ready to do so. On the side of my studies and working long restaurant hours, I get to watch this beautiful little human learn and grow. He has already come so far in these past seven months.

Being a full time college student is not easy and every day has its ups and downs. So whenever I have had the lowest day and I am so stressed out, I get to come home to Joshua who is always there greeting me with smiles, squeals, and wet kisses. I offer to babysit sometimes when I'm at home and all I am doing is sitting around doing homework. I have gained tons of respect for those moms out there who have small children and still go to school for the simple fact that babies are always needing something. Just watching him try to comprehend the littlest things he sees and touches is amazing because it is proof of how fast life goes on. He is my motivation to get through school, receive my diploma, and start a family of my own some day.