![\"Graduation](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Graduation-Cap_blue-500x500-e1586882554282.png\")
<\/a>CELEBRATING SUCCESS:<\/strong> UToledo recognizes the Class of 2021 with a series of stories featuring students receiving their degrees at\u00a0fall commencement<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cIt was actually impossible,\u201d said Karen Gallagher, who is nevertheless graduating with her doctorate in spatially integrated social sciences in December.<\/p>\n Pandemic-related difficulties were the final obstacle for Gallagher, who began her academic journey at UToledo in pursuit of a bachelor\u2019s degree in exercise science with a concentration in athletic training. Intrigued by what she\u2019d learned in her work experience after graduation, Gallagher returned to the University focused on a simple idea.<\/p>\n \u201cI just realized that people had a really difficult time staying healthy, getting outside playing, recreating with their family, things like that\u201d she said. \u201cSo I wanted to kind of work on developing a better urban parks system in Detroit and the suburbs of Detroit because that\u2019s where I grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n A master\u2019s degree in recreation led to Gallagher enrolling in UToledo\u2019s spatially integrated social sciences doctoral program in the College of Arts and Letters, but in 2015 her progress toward a Ph.D. slowed dramatically.<\/p>\n \u201cI got pregnant with my first son in 2015, and I tried to continue working after I had him, but \u2026 less than a year later, I got pregnant with twins,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Having moved away from family support, Gallagher and her husband faced a tough question concerning the care of their children, and it fell to Gallagher to make a difficult choice.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was extremely difficult to step away, and it was extremely difficult to become immersed in being a mom, especially because I was really active professionally, and that all kind of just dropped off.\u201d<\/p>\n For five long years, she focused exclusively on motherhood, a busy proposition with three children under the age of 2.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were going through like 35 diapers a day if that gives you any idea of what life was like.\u201d<\/p>\n Gallagher<\/p><\/div>\n To make matters worse, when she finally got the opportunity to resume work on her dissertation five years later, she had to do it amid the still-ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Writing a dissertation under normal circumstances is laborious, time-consuming work. With the entire family house-bound due to COVID-19 restrictions, writing became nearly impossible. But Gallagher found a workaround.<\/p>\n \u201cI would go away for one week each month and a grandma or someone would come here and help my husband take care of the kids,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019d watch the kids while my husband was working and then I\u2019d be away at his cousin\u2019s house for about a week just working from morning until night.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t just her family that made her unique writing situation possible. Gallagher leaned heavily on support from The University of Toledo to complete her dissertation, often turning to Dr. Patrick Lawrence, professor and department chair as well as her dissertation advisor, for guidance. Lawrence had been the same faculty member who encouraged Gallagher to step away in the first place, and she says his advice proved useful throughout.<\/p>\n \u201cHe told me, \u2018You know your kids are only going to be young once, you don\u2019t want to miss it. Your degree is still here, and we\u2019ll be here when you\u2019re ready. I know you\u2019re going to finish,\u2019\u201d Gallagher said.<\/p>\n This month, finishing is exactly what she\u2019ll be doing, not that it\u2019s any surprise to Lawrence.<\/p>\n \u201cShe is a perfect example and role model for dedication and persistence in being able to take the huge challenges of raising a family \u2014 made even more difficult with young children during the pandemic \u2014 while never losing sight of her goal to earn her doctorate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Doctorate in hand, Gallagher said she hopes to work with a non-profit or with a government agency, putting to use the degree she spent so much time and energy pursuing. Wherever she ends up, Gallager knows she can overcome whatever challenge is in front of her \u2014 because she\u2019s already done it.<\/p>\n \u201cResilience and passion led to the completion of my doctorate degree,\u201d she said, \u201cand I know those qualities will serve me well in the professional world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" With three children under the age of 2, Karen Gallagher left UToledo to focus exclusively on motherhood. Friday she graduates with her doctorate in spatially integrated social sciences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":869,"featured_media":70555,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,60,69,1,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70552"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/869"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70552"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":70574,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70552\/revisions\/70574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/a>