Degrees of Impact: Erin Trondson
A Story Made Possible by CCTAP
Each year, the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program at UW–Madison helps parenting students do something remarkable: finish their degrees. Degrees of Impact tells the stories of graduates who did exactly that, and went on to do remarkable things.
For more than two decades, Erin Trondson has dedicated her career to removing barriers for children and families. That mission was shaped by what she experienced as a student parent at UW–Madison.
Erin’s undergraduate journey was not like that of her peers. Just three weeks after her 21st birthday and halfway through her undergraduate studies, Erin’s daughter was born, introducing new joy and purpose, along with a new set of challenges into an already demanding time in her life. While her peers were flying to Europe for study abroad programs, Erin was piecing together child care, waitressing shifts, and coursework, doing whatever it took to remain enrolled.
It wasn’t easy, but Erin stayed on her feet with support from the communities around her: student housing at Eagle Heights, a child care spot at Woodland Montessori School, and a part-time teaching position at Woodland that allowed her to stay close to her daughter. And of course, one of the most crucial pieces: funding from the Child Care Tuition Assistance Program (CCTAP) at UW–Madison.
“Finding CCTAP was a game-changer,” Erin said about the program that enabled her to afford her daughter’s care. “If the CCTAP support wouldn’t have been there, I don’t know what my life would’ve looked like… there’s a possibility that I wouldn’t have finished [my degree].”
Erin’s experience as a parenting student taught her far more than time management skills. It shaped the type of leader she would become. Her education in Women’s Studies and Anthropology gave her the framework for understanding privilege and power and the ability to observe what families actually needed, rather than what institutions assumed they needed. After graduation, Erin stayed at Woodland Montessori School, where she soon became the executive director. This role brought her path full circle, putting her in a position to provide the same kind of support that enabled her own success as a young parent. Through building scholarship programs and finding flexible, creative ways to support struggling families, Erin used her experience to strengthen a community that she knew firsthand.
She went on to earn a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from UW–Madison, develop and teach early childhood courses as an adjunct professor, and spend several years in a grant-funded role at Madison College addressing early childhood workforce challenges and supporting parenting students. Though her title changed, the common thread running through her work remained the same: remove obstacles, support families, and help parents succeed.
After nearly three decades in the early childhood field, the work began to take a toll. Erin realized that she had spent much of her career giving to others from a half-empty cup, and she needed to refill her own in order to keep giving. That realization led her to the role she holds today: executive director at Holy Wisdom Monastery, where her ever-present career themes of care and wellness intersect with sustainability and restoration. At Holy Wisdom, you’ll find Erin organizing wellness retreats and therapeutic sessions that invite teachers, nurses, caregivers, and the public to come and refill their own cups through the restorative power of nature and peace.
The experiences she had as a parenting student laid the groundwork for a lifelong mission of care and support that runs through everything she has done since graduation. And according to Erin, none of it would’ve been possible without the degree that CCTAP helped her to finish.
“Your impact on the world can be so much broader with a degree,” Erin said. “You can help more people. You can do bigger work that is life-changing.”
Today, Erin knows that the success that seemed nearly impossible as a 21-year-old with a new baby is achievable with the right kind of support. That support still exists at UW–Madison today, and it’s called CCTAP.
Stories like Erin’s are made possible by donors who believe that a little support can change everything. Help OCCFR continue to support the next generation of student parents—make a gift today.