National Student Parent Month: Magreth Kakoko
Celebrating MIT’s graduate student parents
Happy National Student Parent Month! This month, the Office of Graduate Education is featuring one graduate student parent per week, highlighting their academic work and parenting journey at MIT. Stay tuned for more student parent features!
Family: son Villu (9 months) and husband Siegfried.
Degree program: PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Years at MIT: 3rd year (returned in 2024)
A Return to MIT
Meet Magreth Kakoko, a third-year PhD student in Civil and Environmental Engineering at MIT’s Rock Mechanics Lab. After completing her undergraduate degree at MIT in 2021, she headed to the west coast to do a master’s in Geosystems Engineering at UC Berkeley before beginning work as a geotechnical engineer. However, MIT never left her mind, and after a pivotal conversation with an MIT research mentor, she refocused on her earlier dream of pursuing a PhD.
“I felt like if I didn’t go back now, I might not,” Magreth reflects. She was accepted to MIT, and returned in 2024, this time with her husband Siegfried by her side. Now, Magreth is part of a research team developing analytical models for the stability of geothermal wellbores drilled using Millimeter-Waves– a novel drilling technology that aims to make geothermal energy more accessible.
Embracing the challenge of student parenting
Just as they started to settle into their new life at MIT, the Kakoko family began to grow. Magreth and Siegfried welcomed their son Villu during Magreth’s second year in the program– a momentous and uplifting event that required careful planning and flexibility.
“Finding a balance between the responsibilities and joys of being a new parent, while managing my research and other student responsibilities, has been challenging,” she acknowledges. “It has required me to learn to manage my time more effectively than before.”
Unexpected support
When Magreth first returned to MIT as a graduate student, she didn’t know much about the range of parental support available. Discovering these resources made all the difference.
“I found out about family housing after applying to the grad program,” she explains, which allowed Siegfried to move to Cambridge with her.
Beyond housing, the support has been comprehensive. OGE’s grants, childbearing accommodations, and communication about parental leave have made navigating her responsibilities manageable. Access to obstetric, midwife, and pediatric care through MIT Health also eased her transition from pregnancy into motherhood.
Magreth credits the MIT Campus Childcare Center as a valuable resource. She applied to the waitlist immediately after learning about it, and her son Villu started just last month.
“The on-campus childcare has been really helpful,” she says, noting that the proximity to her housing and work makes it the obvious choice. A strong referral from a former student dad she knew gave her confidence in the decision. For Magreth, having reliable, accessible childcare has been crucial to managing both her parenting responsibilities and her academic work.
“It definitely allows me to be a better student,” she shares. “I know my son is at a place where he’s being cared for and doing activities that foster his growth.”
Finding identity as a student parent
Beyond institutional support, Magreth has built a genuine community at MIT through other student parents. At the 2026 mothers day lunch hosted by OGE, she connected with other student moms. Now they maintain an active WhatsApp group.
“Being a student parent has enabled me to connect with new people within the MIT community,” she reflects. Through Westgate, where she lives, Magreth participates in family-focused activities including water play at the playground, international potlucks celebrating different cultures and countries, Halloween celebrations, and gardening events. She’s even started her own garden plot at Westgate’s community garden.
“Being a mom and a parent at a place like MIT is hard,” Magreth reflects on her motherhood journey. At first, the return to research and her lab was a real challenge. “Being a mom and being a student felt like two worlds that were too far apart,” she remembers. She spent the early months of motherhood reconciling these two identities, sharing that “months later, I’d say I’m in a better place when it comes to juggling these responsibilities.”
“It’s a learning curve, but it’s ok if it’s a steep learning curve. It’s a challenge that one can embrace. It’s manageable, and it’s possible to emerge on the other side.”
For more information on MIT’s support for students with children, please visit the MIT Families website or contact gradfamilies@mit.edu.
