In this article, the author shares the story of Kristin, a low-income single mother raising her six-year-old son Max in Southern California. Taking 13 college credits, Kristin bartended nights and weekends, while raising Max on her own. The author met Kristin while studying the experiences of low-income mothers enrolled in college in the Northeast, Midwest, and West Coast during her doctoral research. The themes and patterns raised in Kristin's experience exemplify the challenges faced by other participants, particularly the phases of the term, highlighting how priorities and crises shift and change. The phases are outlined, considering how they are shaped according to Kristin's current needs, challenges, and "front-burner" demands. These considerations allow higher education leaders, administrators, policymakers, and educators to develop appropriate interventions and supports, corresponding to dynamic shifts across the term. Higher education professionals have ample opportunities for interventions that can change the game in college success for single-parent students like Kristin. Reading through Kristin's timeline, provides an opportunity to think about how her college might ease her struggles to balance college, motherhood, and making ends meet.