By Meredith Bonham/reporter

   Women in the 21st century fill many roles, and balancing each can be overwhelming.
   To help such women, Flo Stanton, coordinator of health services and nurse on South Campus, will present “Balancing Multiple Roles” Wednesday, Feb. 8, 6-6:45 p.m. in the SSTU Forum Room on South Campus.
   “ It’s not easy, but you can do it,” she said in an interview last week.
   Today the majority of American women have escaped the traditional nuclear family stereotype of a stay-at-home mom with a husband who works and provides for the family.
   Stanton said because of the high divorce rate and the burning-of-the-bra movement, women are more likely to be, or eventually become, working mothers or women with a household to provide for while performing as professionals.
   This era has encouraged women to battle many different roles, resulting in high stress and little time to get everything done, Stanton said.
   Shania Twain’s hit song of 2002, “She’s Not Just a Pretty Face,” recognizes some of the roles women may play:
   “ She has a fashion line/a journalist for Time/Coaches a football team/She’s a geologist—a romance novelist/She is a mother of three/She is a soldier—she is a wife/She is a surgeon—she’ll save your life.”
   Stanton will speak more specifically on adding student to the list of roles a woman may play.
   “ How do I fit being a student in my life without maximizing everything? It’s just draining,” she said.
   Stanton said it is difficult for most women today to go to school for the first time or return to school and make good grades while having to balance school, work and life at home.
   “ You have got to study for a test and kids to feed, you know,” she said.
   Stanton has several strategies and suggestions to answer questions such as “then how do I deal with these other roles to be effective?”
   Stanton also has suggestions for single women trying to balance school and a dating life.
   “ Stay home, study and miss out on a date because it’s what you have to do,” she said.
   Being a woman in the 21st century requires a lot of time, energy and sacrifice, but it does not have to require a lot of stress, Stanton said.
   Women, or men, trying to balance multiple roles should attend this workshop.
   “ Take on responsibility along with change; it’s okay to do that,” she said.
   Although Women in New Roles is sponsoring the program for its students, the session is free and open to the public.
   Stanton also will present “Positive Self-Talk” March 8.