Prof goes the extra mile for grad student and her baby

• Prof Troy Littleton earned praise for helping a graduate student and her baby.
• He put up a crib in his office where Karen works, so she can bring her baby while working.
• The professor has since gone viral, commended for his kind gesture and raising awareness on the plight of working moms.

A professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) went out of his way to help one of his graduate students balance her work-life as a student-mom.

Troy Littleton, a neuroscience professor, runs a research lab at MIT where Karen Cunningham is a student in one of its graduate programs.

When Karen gave birth to her daughter Katie, she knew she needed to make an extra effort as she juggles her role as a student and as mom.

When Karen brought Katie to the lab for the first time, she got the kindest gesture of her life when she saw what’s been set up for her in Professor Troy’s office — a travel crib for baby Katie!

The thoughtful, kind professor said that he had the idea to put the crib in his office because he knows how challenging it can be to attend graduate school while nursing a baby.

Apparently, Prof Troy and his graduate students pooled their money to buy the crib.

“Usually in non-pandemic times we always have baby showers for expectant mothers and fathers where we give them gifts, and we weren’t able to do that with Karen because of the pandemic, so this was sort of the lab gift for Karen, 10 months later,” he said.

According to Prof Troy, he doesn’t mind tending to a baby girl because not only does he help his student get the job done, he is also able to spend some happy time with Katie, who surely is a bundle of joy in the lab!

“My favorite new equipment purchase for the lab — a travel crib to go in my office so my graduate student can bring her little girl to work when necessary and I get to play with her while her mom gets some work done. Win-win!!” said Prof Troy in his tweet, which has now gone viral.

Hi simple yet kind gesture made rounds on social media, tugging the heartstrings of so many people. He was commended for his act while raising awareness about the challenges that working moms face, which are being somehow sidelined by the society.

For Prof Troy, however, the purpose of the tweet was just to share his simple delight with Katie, every time Karen would bring her in to work. But to be able to create discussions about the challenges of mothers in the workplace, and how he’s been instrumental in it, was just a bonus.

Prof Troy may just have raised the bar in providing a great example of a support system for working moms as they navigate through the complex role of parenting. Way to go, Prof!

Source: Inspire More