Being a parent while trying to complete your degree is no easy feat. Aside from finding the time to study, complete projects and reading assignments all while caring for a child, trying to find a sitter every time you have to attend class can be extremely challenging. Sometimes, the stress of it all can cause parents not to pursue their degrees altogether.
Morgan King is a 21-year-old single mom who is studying Child and Family Services at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Unfortunately, she had to miss her human development class when her child’s paternal grandparents were unable to babysit. Being informed at the last minute, she couldn’t find another sitter and had to stay home.
Morgan emailed her professor and let her know why she had missed class, but it was the response from her professor that left her in tears.
“We wondered where you were this morning :-(“ her professor’s email began. “I am so sorry to hear that childcare issues are what caused you to miss class today...In the future, if you are having trouble finding someone to watch Korbyn, please feel free to BRING HER with you to class. I would be absolutely delighted to hold her while I teach, so you can still pay attention to the class and take notes. I work for the department of CHILD and FAMILY studies-- so how terrible would it be, if I was unwilling to have a child visit our class? I am very serious with this offer-- just bring Korbyn with you!”
The professor ended the incredible email by writing: “Please let me know if there are other ways I could be supporting you!”
Needless to say, Morgan was bawling after she read the email. She posted the professor’s words on her Twitter page with the caption: “Told my professor I missed class yesterday bc I couldn't find childcare & this was her response. I'm literally crying. So blessed/thankful.”
Her post quickly went viral, and people couldn’t stop sharing their words of positivity, while also wishing that more professors were as kind and understanding as Morgan’s.
Beverly Davenport, the University’s chancellor even saw the Tweet, and posted her own kind words as well: “Morgan, thanks for showing us challenges college students face. Prof Hunter, thanks for being part of the solution.”
Morgan says that her professor is sincerely a kindhearted person, and doesn’t even have a Twitter, so she doesn’t particularly care about all the attention. She even received another email from Professor Hunt after finding out she had become “Twitter famous”!
“It seems you have made us “Twitter famous”- ha! I can’t believe so many people are reacting to the email I sent you earlier this week.” she wrote. “Seems to me that inviting Korbyn to class was just the decent thing to do. Hope you have a nice weekend.”
We think the Twitter world is right- we definitely need more professor like Dr. Hunt. What do you think?
