A family affair

Children, jobs and school. It is quite a task to juggle such responsibilities, even with ample help from family members. \nThe problem for sophomore Sara Acres is her family has classes, too. \nSara, a 24-year-old with two children, is seeking a degree in education while her brother Jordan, a 22-year-old-freshman, is currently pursuing a B.A. in English. \nJamie, 54, is the maternal leader of the group and started her entire family down the journey of higher education after some jostling from her Cornell-educated husband, Mark. \n"I came to IU as a freshman back in 1967, I stayed for about a year, got married and I left school, but I always wanted to come back and finish my degree," Jamie said. "I got rid of my first husband because he did not want me to go back to school and then I married a childhood sweetheart who always encouraged me to go back to school, so I finally got the guts up and went back." \nWhile Jamie looked to her spouse for inspiration to make the jump to college, Sara had to look no farther than her two children, Sean and Elijah.\n"I had always wanted to go on to college, but I had a kid coming out of high school," Sara said. "However, my kids were actually my motivation to get here and accomplish what I wanted to do and get my degree so that I could support my family."\nJordan decided to come back to school after he left for one year to travel and write. He said a little peer pressure from his family members aided in his decision to return to school after his hiatus. \n"Their first day was coming and I decided, 'Well, I gotta go back to school,'" Jordan said. "I figured that everyone else was doing it, so I should, too."\nMark's presence in the education family did not end with the persuasion of his wife as he serves as the manager of the team.\n"Dad is the overseer," Sara quipped. "He oversees it all for us because he's already got his degree, unlike the rest of us."\nThe Acres' devotion to education runs deep through all members of the family, balancing other obligations with school. Jamie's devotion runs so deep even a serious injury could not derail her pursuit of a college degree, as she returned to school after a one-semester hiatus after a fall that left her with a brain injury affecting her short-term and long-term memory.\n"I can only take two classes at a time because I have to study twice as much as the other students," Jamie said. "I can no longer take notes like I used to because I can't process it as fast so I have to record the lectures and take notes as best as I can and listen to the lecture and take notes again when I get home."\nAs for classes, the Acres family has made attempts to schedule classes together in the past, but the clan faced trouble because of conflicting schedules and dissimilar majors. But Sara and Jordan managed to put together a study group with ties that could not be broken. \n"We had finite together -- M118 -- we really needed each other in that class," Sara joked. "We often hoped to take some classes together, but we have three very different majors."\nWhile the family hasn't been able to take many classes together, the team has managed to use its blood ties through study sessions and writing critiques.\n"(We) discuss 'What would you put into this paper?' or 'How do you figure out this math problem?'" Sara said. "We (Jordan and Sara) did our math homework together, we just set up a time and we would help each other. With papers, we would look each other's work and shoot ideas back and forth." \nJordan, the youngest of the Acres clan and the lone male among the students in the family, tends to spend weekends with his father in order to get away from his mother and sisters. \n"Every Sunday, my dad and I, we have our time where it's just us," Jordan said. "We play war games and do our guy stuff. We think alike and I think I'm basically turning into a clone of my father."\nSara has the most responsibilities to juggle with her children and full-time schedule. While Sara acknowledges her workload can be quite overwhelming, she said her eventual goals keep her motivated. \n"It's really difficult -- people ask me, 'How do you do it?' and I don't have an answer, I just do it," Sara said. "You just learn, you decide what you want and you just go for it. I want to do everything I want to achieve -- I want good grades, I want to teach and I always keep my goals in sight."\nThe Acres family hasn't relegated its IU presence purely to Bloomington, as another family member -- daughter of Jamie and sister of Sara and Jordan -- Dara (Acres) Crowder attends IU-Southeast in New Albany, Ind. \nWhile all four doggedly pursue their respective diplomas, there will be another Acres on the horizon for IU. Amy (Acres) Daugherty, who has a child of her own, is currently attending Ivy Tech studying early childhood education and will have to transfer to IU to complete her degree. \n"(Amy) works at Head Start, she just needs more child classes," Sara said. "She'll be transferring to IU within a year, you can't earn your bachelor's degree at Ivy Tech. It's foundation classes for this university and then there will be five of us at IU."\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.