Baby, it’s been a wild ride
Lena Eisen likes to describe life’s challenges as adventures. Moving from Colorado to Cambridge for an intense year of graduate study was one type of adventure. Doing it while expecting a child was another entirely. When she graduates today from the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), her husband and 4-month-old son will be in the audience. “I don’t think anyone would say, ‘Here’s the plan, let’s do grad school and have a baby at the same time,’ ” laughed Eisen, a former roller derby competitor with a “sassy” edge. “Nobody would say that’s a good idea, but it’s turned out to be good in a variety of ways.” Eisen accepted Harvard’s offer last April. She found out she was pregnant a month later. Her initial thought was that the graduate year would be “impossible,” but exploring the idea further, she concluded it could work. With backing from Harvard administrators and the support of...