Morgan Smith: Not Your Ordinary College Student

Morgan Smith: Not Your Ordinary College Student

By Linzi Sisler, ENGL 336.001

Morgan Smith, who is a senior at Frostburg State University, is no ordinary college student. Morgan, at 21 years old, has a 2-month old baby and still attends Frostburg as a full-time student. Her daughter, Parker J Austin, was born on July 27, 2011, and lives in a 2-bedroom, off-campus apartment with Morgan. Morgan said that Parker’s father does go to Frostburg, but doesn’t help with anything. Fortunately, Morgan has a boyfriend named Travis, but he does not attend Frostburg.

Like many other mothers in America today, Morgan is raising Parker on her own. When asked how Morgan can both go to school and single handedly raise a child, she responded with, “Sometimes I have to feed her, put her to bed, and stay up late finishing homework.” While this seems like a very difficult task, it was very obvious that Morgan finds this experience to be, while difficult, also very rewarding. Morgan also added that this task would not be as difficult if Parker were older.

Morgan was born on June 24 and was raised as an only child in Baltimore. When asked what it was like being an only child, Morgan responded with, “It’s fun. I get anything I want. My parents spoil me.” She chose Frostburg State University because it gave her some distance from home, while still being relatively close.

While raising Parker, Morgan is still involved on campus with “Generation Investigating God,” a religious group that meets Wednesdays on campus. More information on this group can be found at http://organizations.frostburg.edu/gig/. Morgan is a Psychology major and Public Relations minor. When asked what she wants to do with this, Morgan responded, “I want to counsel adolescents and young children with problems.” Problems with people she knows and people in her family made this a very easy decision for Morgan.

From this information, it was very easy to realize that Morgan is a very goal oriented person. She is going to school full time, raising a child, and still finds ways to be active on campus. Morgan is a very brave girl, and will go very far in life if she keeps her ambitions where they are currently.