When Marsha Peterson walks into her new home in December, she will open a door she once thought would always remain closed.

After this week’s Blitz Build, the Habitat for Humanity home at 2501 Hoover Ave. will be one step closer to completion, and Marsha will be one step closer to making her dream a reality.

Like everything else in her life, however, Marsha’s dream demands hard work and sacrifice. She is required to put in 500 hours of “sweat equity” building her home and other Habitat houses.

“If I’m going to put my soul into something, I want it to be good for someone besides me,” she said. “That’s why Habitat is such a good program. I put in my sweat equity and money, and it goes into the next house.”

Marsha’s mother, Bernie Peterson, said she is helping Marsha reach her goal with every board and nail she pounds at the Habitat site.

“Something Marsha has always wanted is a home of her own,” Bernie said. “I’m very proud of all the work she has done for Habitat.”

Although the new house will add to their lives, Emily Peterson said her family doesn’t need its own home to make life special — her mom has been doing that for years.

Emily said one of her favorite memories is of last Thanksgiving, when she went to Chicago with her mom and siblings Nathan and Elizabeth. The only restaurant open served Chinese food, which was part of the fun, she said.

“Now we’ve started a tradition to try new foods and new places every Thanksgiving,” Emily said.

Their Chicago adventure was only one of the many ways Marsha finds to have fun on a limited budget.

“My mom always says, ‘We can go anywhere on a dime,'” Emily said. “Even though she doesn’t have a lot of money, she always finds cool things for us to do.”

A junior in accounting, Marsha carries a 14-credit class load and juggles campus activities with a never-ending battle against sleep deprivation.

When classes end, Marsha balances a job as manager of Gateway Apartments with building her new home and raising six children.

On a typical day, Marsha wakes up at 5 a.m. to check her planner, do homework and collect her thoughts for the day.

By 6:30 a.m., Marsha’s 16-year-old twins, Elizabeth and Emily, are off to drivers’ training.

After seeing off Nathan, 18, Marsha waits for the bus with Christina, 10, Ryan, 9, and Morgan, 5. At 7:45, the bus drives away and Marsha heads for Carver Hall. She takes her seat seconds before her 8:00 class starts.

Marsha juggles repair calls from tenants with studying and tutoring in math. She is also active in Business Council and teaches a section of Accounting 284 Supplemental Instruction.

By the time Marsha walks through the door at 8:30 p.m., her kids are ready for a bedtime story.

“My kids form a line at the door when I get home,” Marsha said. “We sit down at the kitchen table and have a snack. I sign any papers they have and they tell me about how their days went.”

With the kids in bed, Marsha prepares for her next SI session and reviews notes. By the time her head hits the pillow after midnight, Marsha’s alarm counts down the four or five hours until the next day begins. The cycle will continue until Marsha graduates in May 2004.

“When this is all over and I’m only working a 40-hour week, I don’t know what I’ll do with myself,” she said.

Penny Rice, director of the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center, said Marsha’s hard work sets an example for other non-traditional students.

Rice met Marsha at Transitions, an off-campus adult services program, in 2000. Rice spoke about her experience attending college at age 31 with two kids.

“I must have touched a real, live nerve because as I was telling my story, [Marsha] sat there and tears poured down her face,” she said. “Right away I thought, ‘You’re going to be one of my favorite students.'”

While balancing mother and student roles can be exhausting, Marsha has secrets for her success.

“I’m a detailed worrier,” she said. “I worry about everything.”

It’s not necessary — her kids have organization down to a science.

Nathan chauffeurs younger siblings to and from activities while Elizabeth, Emily and Christina fix supper. The three oldest children have part-time jobs and everyone helps around the building.

“They’re good about taking turns and being responsible,” Marsha said. “They’ve never failed to do what they say they’re going to do.”

When the weekend arrives, Marsha keeps moving by working at the apartment complex and the Habitat site. She reserves Sundays for “mom stuff,” like laundry and baking cookies and brownies to stash in the freezer.

Marsha said she wants her kids to get their college educations before they have families and jobs.

“Education is important enough to me to be going through all of this,” she said. “I want [my kids] to prove to themselves that they can do it themselves.”

Marsha’s dedication to school earned her the treasurer position of Older Adults Succeeding in School. “I want to take every opportunity I can to do well in school,” she said. “I want to be an asset to campus.”