Studying, Career, Family – How Does That Work?

Part-time Bachelor's degree in Childhood Education for nursery school teachers and educators. Our alumna Meike Brühl shares her experiences.

When you are firmly established in your career, deciding to pursue a degree is a big step. Meike Brühl took on the challenge of balancing work, studies, and family, and took the leap into the part-time degree program in Childhood Education .

We asked her about it and learned a great deal about her experiences and impressions from the 2.5 years of her Bachelor’s degree at Alanus University!

Why did you decide to begin the degree program three years ago?     

I had reached a point in my professional life where I was experiencing a certain “career fatigue.” This feeling of burnout gradually began to affect my personal life as well. I needed a change without giving up my professional “calling.” I wanted to reflect, question, understand, and change. I wanted to help shape things, and for that I wanted a more solid background and new insights.

What positive effects did the degree program have for you while you were still studying?

The input and exchange with and from the wonderful lecturers and my fellow students was incredibly enriching for me. Studying strengthened me both professionally and personally. In addition, I was able to develop professionally while I was still studying. I took over management of the daycare center where I was employed.

What changed for you as a result of the degree program?

As I said, I changed professionally. Together with a colleague, I now co-manage a four-group daycare center with a family center on a part-time basis. From my new position, I can reach my colleagues better and, thanks to my more in-depth specialist knowledge, better convey the input I provide. My methodological skills in analysis, management, and counseling have also benefited from the degree program. What is more, I now naturally have many more professional “opportunities.” A reorientation toward self-employment or collaboration with the youth welfare office or other providers, all the way to working as a speaker, is now open to me.

What were the challenges for you in this part-time degree program alongside your career?

Quite clearly, not losing faith in myself and my abilities, and maintaining self-discipline, especially for the work I had to do at home. Studying on site was always well structured in terms of time and organization and very manageable for me. Preparing and following up from home was not always so easy. At the beginning of my studies, my daughters were 2.5 and 4 years old. So I had two small children and my husband (who was heavily involved professionally), as well as a household and my job, all to juggle. That was not always easy. I had to learn to let some things slide at home and focus on what was essential. One advantage for me was certainly that my supervisor at the time supported me 100%, making it possible for me to spread my working hours over 4 instead of 5 days so that I had a “study/household day.”

What do you especially remember from your time studying?

That I can achieve anything. There were many moments when I reached a point where I thought I couldn’t do it. I’m going to drop out. Whether it was because I had to write a term paper while I had a sick child at home and my husband was away on a business trip, or because one work appointment was chasing the next, or because I was simply tired. In the end, though, I always managed it. I did not have to postpone a single assignment or exam and was able to submit everything within the originally specified time. The encouragement from family, fellow students, and lecturers whenever I had doubts always brought out the motivation and perseverance I needed.

What advice would you like to give future students as a graduate?

Go for it! It can be done! By the end of my studies, I had a new professional role, a Bachelor’s degree, and I was pregnant with my third daughter. There is no such thing as “the right moment” to start a degree program – there is always something – and it is never too late to continue your education and develop yourself through a degree. I looked at several degree programs at different universities and colleges. For me, Alanus University was the right choice because its part-time concept, with the structure it offers, made possible exactly what mattered in that phase of my life: managing the balancing act between family, career, and studies.