A 45-minute commute, the weather, home life and class availability are all things that stand in the way of one nontraditional student and her degree.

Crystal Trotter, a junior political science major, commutes from Paris, Ill., every day she has work or class on campus.

Trotter said she has run into issues with being a nontraditional student, like the financial issues of commuting and scheduling her class in a certain time period.

She said she originally moved from Tennessee, where she attended school for a while before moving to Illinois.

Trotter is the mother of three children: Austin, 13, Karleigh, 9, and Noah, 8.

She said she tries to be active on campus by working and being a part of the Student Supreme Court.

“It’s crucial for a career, especially for an older student,” Trotter said. “By the time I get through with all the school I want, I’ll be close to 40 years old, and without that experience, it’s harder to get a job.”

She said she is also active in her community by being a member of the United States Humane Society and a foster parent of the Edgar County Humane Association.

On top of the organizations Trotter is a member of, she is also the Room Mom for her daughters fourth-grade class.

“Over all that, I am a mother; that comes first,” Trotter said.

Trotter said because of her children, she has faced difficulty completing her degree.

“It’s going to take me almost five years to complete my degree,” Trotter said. “I’ve had to drop some classes this semester; it’s just harder.”

Trotter said she has run into problems with the weather or issues that stop her from attending her class.

She said the real issues she has commuting is the amount of gas it takes to get back and forth. She said it take one-quarter of a tank to commute a day.

Trotter said increasing the nontraditional voice on campus will help the school alleviate issues they have.

“Nontraditional students have different needs than traditional students have, but I don’t think a lot of offices are aware of that—professors are not aware of that because the majority of students are in their late teens, early 20s,” Trotter said.

She said one issue is online classes. Online classes are important to nontraditional students, especially those who are farther away because they allow them to take classes without the commute, she added.

Trotter said she has taken all but one of the online classes available within her degree and will have to be on campus more.

“That’s a vital key to me being successful on this campus and having three children and being a room mom and all the other things I do,” Trotter said.

Trotter said she has to have her children at school by 8 a.m. and has to leave campus by 2 p.m. to be home when they get out.

She said she has difficulty making the classes she needs fit into this specific time period, which is why she prefers online classes.

After being a mother, Trotter said she is more determined to do something with her degree.

“There is more determination there now than there was 10 years ago because I have to be responsible; I have a family to take care of,” Trotter said.

She said one of the main of the reasons she is active is to help increase the nontraditional voice on campus.

“If you don’t speak up, nothing ever gets done,” Trotter said. “I think there are a lot of areas that nontraditional students can get involved in.”

Trotter said there needs to be a push for ways nontraditional students farther away to be active on campus.

She said one example would be to have them participate in organizations through video conferences.

“We have students who are in the military who are taking classes from another country and other states too,” Trotter said. “It’s not fair for one of them trying to get even a political science degree or whatever kind of degree; it’s hard for them to get the experience they need.”

Samantha McDaniel can be reached at 581-2812 or slmcdaniel@eiu.edu.