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One teacher’s heartfelt reaction to a missed class has touched thousands and inspired thousands more.

Finding and affording childcare in the US is one of the biggest struggles parents, particularly mothers, face these days. Finding and organizing childcare as a single mother can be even more challenging.

RELATED: Single Mom Asks to Bring Sick Baby to Class – Her Professor Gives a Surprising Response

One young student from the University of Tennessee found out her childcare struggles went viral when she posted about an interaction she had with one of her professors, explaining why she would have to miss class.

Why a Single Tennessee Mom Had to Skip Class

teacher and students in university classroom
Photo by Kenny Eliason on Unsplash

Morgan King is a 21-year-old student at the University of Tennessee as well as a single mother to an infant, her 3-month-old baby Korbyn. Usually, she relies on her parents to help her out with Korbyn while she attends classes. One day, however, the baby’s grandparents were unavailable and Morgan was left scrambling. She realized she would not be able to find anyone to help her that day, and emailed her professor, Dr. Sally Hunter,  to explain why she would be missing her Human Development class.

The response that came from Dr. Hunter stunned her. The professor responded to Morgan’s email explaining that she should never let childcare struggles to be the cause of missing class. As a professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies, Dr. Hunter explained that she would be more than willing to welcome baby Korbyn into her class and would even be happy to hold the baby while teaching so that Morgan could pay attention.

The professor went on to explain how Morgan could catch up on all of the material that was covered during class, reassured her that the quiz she missed would not count towards her final grade, and promised to mark the absence as “excused.” 

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 that you can still pay attention to the class and take notes.

Dr. Sally Hunter

How a University Professor’s Kind Response Went Viral on Twitter

Photo by Colin Maynard on Unsplash

Morgan shared the story on Twitter, where it quickly went viral. It turns out that not only is Dr. Sally Hunter an amazing person and professor, she is also social media savvy! Before Morgan even got the chance to email her teacher to let her know she had shared the wonderful story on social media, Dr. Hunter reached out to let her know she was excited that the story had gone “Twitter famous.”

RELATED: Professor Interrupts Class To Soothe Baby And Support Hardworking Mom

Her hope for the viral story, and our hope as well, is that her generous offer to help Morgan with childcare inspires others to do the same. In doing so, we hope that we can take the burden off mothers everywhere!

More Uplifting News from Goalcast:

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If you see someone struggling, do not hesitate to extend a helping hand to lighten their load.