Law School student Robin Olson holds up her son, Hunter, to applause from the Law School Convocation crowd in Bailey Hall May 17. President Hunter Rawlings looks on. Robert Barker/University Photography
Shortly after her "Trusts and Estates" class, Robin Olson felt the pain. Contractions had started. That night, last Oct. 2, the third-year Cornell Law School student gave birth to her first child.
Olson's decision to start a family while in law school is not unusual. Several Cornell law faculty members had children while studying for their juris doctorates, and this year three other Cornell Law School students became mothers, some for the first time.
"Starting a family in law school makes sense for some women. The law school is very accommodating in helping to meet the needs of new and expectant moms," said Anne Lukingbeal, dean of students at the Law School. "Assuming good health of the baby and mother, there is nothing about law school that makes this an impossibly."
Olson's story, however, is a bit unusual. She is a single mom; the dad is a best friend who lives in California, and there are no marriage plans. "I wanted to be a mom and felt that my law school schedule, especially in my third year, would allow me to have more time with my son than if I decided to have a child in the beginning of my law career," said the 31-year-old New York native.
For one thing, Olson believed that she could not find a workplace that would be as sympathetic and accommodating to a new mom as the Law School. Olson was allowed to bring her baby to class and to breast-feed in class as well. In addition, the Law School provided her with a locked study carrel where she could have some privacy when changing her son or expressing milk.
"The faculty and students could not have been more supportive," Olson said. "When I would breast-feed my son in class, students would help me with note-taking and often I would find complete sets of notes in my folder at the end of the day."
When Olson didn't bring her son to class, she would leave him in the care of a family near where she lives in the town of Ithaca.
One of the toughest times for Olson came early on in the pregnancy when morning sickness made sitting in class uncomfortable. "There was no hiding my pregnancy because every morning I'd come to class with ginger ale and crackers," she said. "But morning sickness for me lasted all day for eight weeks."
Olson had an uncomplicated delivery and was back in class a week after giving birth. "The physical recovery for me was not a problem," Olson said. "What was difficult was the sleep deprivation."
All-nighters for Olson took on a new meaning. Instead of staying up all night poring over law texts, Olson spent the early morning hours calming a fretful baby and nursing every two hours. "I can't imagine how I did that and still had time to study for exams," she said. "Once before a First Amendment law exam, I went for a run just to wake myself up."
Olson's mother comes to town every chance she gets to see her grandson, but her visits are sometimes timed specifically to various of her daughter's assignments. Olson's mother takes over the child-care responsibilities when Robin has a paper or other time-consuming law-school related projects to complete.
Olson grew up on Long Island and later moved with her family to Brant Lake, a small town in the Adirondacks about 30 miles north of Glens Falls.
She earned an undergraduate degree from Cornell in 1988 and then went west, where she managed a real estate portfolio for a high-tech company and did the same for the Staubach Company, a real estate concern owned by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach.
"It has not always been easy to juggle motherhood and being a law student," she said. "Just getting to school with law books, infant car seat carrier and diaper bag can be an exasperating experience, but I tell myself to keep smiling through the adversity."
Acknowledging the importance of Cornell in her life, Olson named her son Hunter -- after Cornell President Hunter Rawlings, she said.
"I've never met the man, but I admire him and think he is doing a great job leading Cornell," Olson said.
After graduating May 24, Olson will stay in Ithaca and study for the Massachusetts bar exam. She's already lined up a full-time post with a prestigious Boston law firm.
"I made a promise to myself that I would never let Hunter suffer. I wanted to have a child, because I wanted to be a mom, not because I want to say, 'See I can do it all,'" she said.
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