Graduate School is Hard. So is Fatherhood. Meet the Grad Student Dads Mastering Both
As Antonio Bizarron Jauregui grew up in a community of immigrant farmworkers in Fresno, California, his walks to school with his grandmother were lessons of their own. He would tell her what he learned in class, and she, a Mexican laborer whose formal education stopped in middle school, would encourage him to dream about where that knowledge could take him.
Years later, Jauregui (G’25) has taken his grandmother’s lessons to heart. He is a National Urban Fellow in Georgetown’s McCourt School of Public Policy, pursuing a career in public service and advocacy. And he carries these values forward to his 15-month-old daughter, Soledad.
Jauregui graduated in May with a Master of Policy Management. As he held Soledad on his lap and his grandmother watched virtually from Mexico, Jauregui knew that he was fulfilling a family legacy and setting an example.
“Thinking about the promise of America, for me, the promise is in my baby,” he said. “The promise is in my daughter and in the opportunities that this degree will be able to offer us.”
Jauregui jokes that Soledad deserves an honorary degree for going through the program with him. He said she was the fiercest critic of his schoolwork, pulling faces at him when he’d read his essays aloud. (Photo courtesy of Catherine Young, Cleveland Public Library)
Just a year before, Jauregui had wondered how he would balance graduate school and his fellowship with fatherhood. But like many Georgetown graduate students who are dads, he discovered a supportive community of fellow students, mentors and professors who helped him find a routine and understood when parenthood disrupted that schedule.
João Bevilaqua Basto (G’26), a dad in the McDonough School of Business’ Executive MBA program, feels similarly embraced by his colleagues at Georgetown. Both he and Jauregui said the education and hands-on training they gained at the university have opened up new pathways for their families and pushed them to become better versions of themselves.
“Focusing on education, I think that’s the best thing you can do for yourself,” said Basto, whose daughter Camila is 2 years old. “My dad said that to me, and that’s what I’m trying to pass to her by example. I know if I just study a little bit more, be a little bit better and invest in myself, that also will help her.”
Back to School with a Baby
Jauregui was focused on community organizing from an early age. His grandfather was an agricultural worker who came to the U.S. on a labor contract through the Bracero Program and knew everyone in their town, Jauregui said, because he cared so much for his neighbors.
Jauregui, now 28, grew that mindset into a career in political advocacy and service. He worked in voter engagement around California for several years, and immediately before coming to Georgetown supported residents of East Orosi, California, in securing access to clean drinking water through the Community Water Center.
Jauregui’s drive to channel this advocacy into change-making policy brought him to the McCourt School’s National Urban Fellows program, a 14-month curriculum that emphasizes leadership development for social impact.
Last summer, Jauregui and his wife, Evelyn, packed everything they could into their Honda Civic and drove from California to DC with 3-month-old Soledad in tow. They moved again just four months later when Jauregui matched with the Cleveland Public Library for his program’s fellowship residency.
Moving his young family twice in quick succession was challenging, but Jauregui said he’s glad to show them more of the country and find community in new environments.
“Because of this fellowship, Soledad has been to 18 states,” Jauregui said. “Last year, we took her on a White House tour and traveled to Atlanta, where she got to ride in a plane and go in the cockpit.
“Those are experiences that I want for my family and was able to give them, and it makes all of the late nights and the sacrifices worth it.”
Antonio Bizarron Jauregui (G’25)
Jauregui and Soledad visit the White House during Father’s Day 2024. (Photo courtesy of Antonio Bizarron Jauregui)
He jokes that Soledad deserves her own degree after becoming an honorary classmate. Jauregui’s mentors welcomed her guest appearances on Zoom classes and at the Cleveland library’s infant storytime events.
“A lot of the professors at McCourt were just so gracious and understanding when my baby would cry and I would have to bring her into the Zoom,” Jauregui said. “It changed the dynamic a little bit. A lot of us who were stressed out during finals relaxed when they saw a baby.”
Jauregui remembers many times when he sacrificed sleep to take care of Soledad between work and school. Thinking of the purpose behind his work kept him motivated.
“This experience has given me a scaffolding to my dreams,” Jauregui said. “I never thought that I would leave Fresno or be in DC, and this program has helped set my goals in stages where I can learn about how to build network and community and overcome challenges. Now when I’m thinking about what I want to accomplish, I have a blueprint for that.”
True to his community-building background, he has already started paying forward the hospitality he received at Georgetown. After another student in his program became a father, Jauregui has been giving him advice along with outgrown onesies and baby toys.
‘You’ll Find Your Own Balance’
Basto knows many student-parents in his cohort in McDonough’s Executive MBA program, which is designed for mid- to senior-level business professionals.
The 37-year-old is part of an active fathers’ group chat with classmates, and the larger cohort invites families to group outings, like a recent baseball game.
Basto, who is originally from Brazil, said many of the students in his program are from different countries or areas of the U.S. Creating this tight-knit community has been key to making Georgetown and DC feel like home for their families.
“We’re a really distinct cohort, but the one thing that we have in common is that everybody is trying to make a better life for themselves and for their family.”
João Bevilaqua Basto (G’26)
The Executive MBA program’s professors are used to working with busy businesspeople and are happy to accommodate things like a last-minute pediatrician appointment, Basto said.
The program is flexible by design and offers weekend classes that suit students like Basto, who works full-time at Capital One in a supply chain manager position he found through a Georgetown colleague.
“A couple weeks ago, I told another father who’s talking about starting the program to just do it,” Basto said. “You’ll find your own balance and what works for you. You can keep waiting for when your kid is older or when they go to school, but there’s never going to come a perfect time. And if you have difficulty, you will find a support system that you never knew existed.”
Basto with his daughter, Camila, and wife, Renata. (Photo courtesy of João Bevilaqua Basto)
Basto hopes to use his master’s degree to launch initiatives with social impact — “doing good business and business for good,” he said. His program has connected him with similarly motivated students with whom he is already developing a new business venture.
Basto’s wife, Renata, is pursuing a graduate degree at another university, and Basto said their daughter talks about how excited she is to start school soon, just like her parents.
“When my wife puts Camila to sleep, she says, ‘Daddy is going to school,’” Basto said. “So she learned that Daddy’s going to school and she’s going to school.”