I know I’ve been MIA lately and with good reason I promise. I’ve been working on new things both for this blog and for Hook Smart, my crochet business. I’ve really been struggling with still using my pen name and wanting to feel like I’m being completely genuine on this site. How can I be genuine if I’m not using my real name?

When I first started Mamademics, it was on a bit of a whim. I wrote a few guest blogs for a friend and she encouraged me to start my own site. At the time, I was pregnant and still trying to figure out what I was going to do about graduate school and my career. I was experiencing a lot of changes at once and I feared using my real name here because it might damage potential career goal. It’s been over a year and now I see how this blog will fit into those career goals. One major thing I learned while studying for my exams is that my academic background causes me to approach parenting in a unique manner. More on that later…  In addition, my name is super popular, so who knows what someone will find if they Google me. Plus, this blog is not something I am ashamed of in any way, so if a future student/employer happens to come across it then it will just give us more to talk about in conferences/interviews.

So, with that being said… Hi, my name is Danielle S and I’m a mamademic . *shakes hands* It’s nice to meet you all again! I am a wife (newlywed), first time mom, and doctoral candidate in English (and my grammar still sucks). Mamademics is a merging of my two “careers”–motherhood and academia. I am an advanced PhD studying Rhetoric and Composition. The majority of my life has been dedicated to achieving my academic and career goals, but after finding out I was pregnant a bit earlier then expected I’ve reevaluated my career goals. I realized that my job as an academic will no longer be my only “career.”  It’s no longer my one and only focus. I am now responsible for another life and that may very well be the most important job I will ever have. This site will chronicle my life as I attempt to balance my roles as a wife, mother, and academic.

At the present time, I am a WAHM. I take care of my son while finishing my doctoral studies, teaching online, and running my crochet business, Hook Smart. After finishing my studies, I plan to start working on my first book, continue teaching online, and we’ll hopefully expand our family. You will frequently hear (read) me refer to my husband and son as Mr. S and Sesame. I’ve chosen not to use their first names to give them a little privacy.