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| Photo courtesy Julie Lundin / Home and Family Education |
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Julie Lundin poses for a photo with her family. Lundin works on campus as an instructor in the Home and Family Education department.
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BYU-Idaho loves moms. Why else would they dedicate an entire weekend to the mothers of its students? You can find students who are mothers almost anywhere on campus. A little less prominent are the mothers who teach.
Julie Lundin, a teacher in the Home and Family Education Department, is one such mother. In her second semester of teaching at BYU-I and in the process of obtaining her master’s degree from Idaho State University, Lundin has a full load to go with the responsibilities of motherhood.
With seven children, ranging from ages 15 to almost one, there are many different schedules to coordinate and work with.
“All the different schedules are pretty difficult if each daughter wants to take piano, dance and a sport,” Lundin said. “My oldest son is usually involved in a sport also. We try to carpool a lot. My oldest son drives now, so he helps a lot with the shuffling of the children.”
While managing all the schedules is difficult, Lundin’s job doesn’t affect it too much. Lundin currently teaches one Dating and Courtship class
“My older children seem to respect my teaching job, although they’ve been at school most of the time I’m teaching,” Lundin said. “The younger children love going to the baby sitter. She has tons of toys, so they think it’s pretty fun that I teach.”
With class preparation and the additional homework from her master’s courses, Lundin tries to put better time into getting it done to have her afternoons free when her children come home from school.
“It’s tricky making that happen, though. Sometimes in the afternoon when my homework and preparation drags on, I think they wish I would just play more,” Lundin said.
Spending time together has become a top priority in the family. They have set aside Monday night for family night and spend Saturdays together.
“We have a family ski pass and ski many Saturdays,” Lundin said. “We are trying all the time to find family time. We try to fit in time after dinner to read our scriptures and have our family prayer.”
Lundin also enjoys having her family interact with her students. “I love having my students to our home for an eternal marriage fireside,” Lundin said. “This way my husband and children can meet my students and the students can meet my family, whom I refer to quite a bit in my teaching.”
One of the most fun experiences Lundin has had was running into a past student in a step-aerobics class. This student had just had her first baby around the same time Lundin had her seventh. “It’s interesting having babies at the same time as my students,” Lundin said.
Her children enjoy spending time on campus, going to eat in the Manwaring Center, coming to see Christmas Tree Lane, and using the discount pass teachers receive for their families to attend Fine Arts events. They also enjoy surprising her husband, Kent Lundin, a teacher in the Business Management Department.
“Every Valentine’s Day and some birthdays, I try to bring my husband a balloon bouquet, decorate his office door, or bring him a surprise while he is teaching. My youngest three children come along of course,” Lundin said. Having both parents on campus has provided some fun opportunities for the family.
“Some warmer days, the younger three children and I meet my husband for a picnic and to walk through the beautiful gardens,” Lundin said. She has even swapped baby sitting with her husband, letting him take the kids for one of his lunch hours while she taught.
Though she strongly agrees with President Hinckley’s advice to get all the education we can, Lundin understands that every student’s situation is different. “My advice is to pray about every personal, career and educational decision. Then go with that decision, but put your family first,” Lundin said.
