Each time I write a query or send an article to print, I have to write a bio to accompany my work. Typically brief, they never seem to really capture all the ground I feel I've covered in 39 years.
People evolve. As we grow, we collect social identities. Over time they become personal. My becoming unfolded like this.
As an infant, my parents called me the cross-eyed wonder. I’ve known this since childhood and it made me believe they loved even my imperfections. Of course, crossed eyes don’t last forever. When I didn’t cut a single tooth by my first birthday, they renamed me the toothless wonder.
My first word was cookie. I was (and am) a lover baked goods, and I’m an award-winning baker. In 4th grade, I won a school cake decorating contest. Last year, my 6-layer chocolate hazelnut cake brought $110 in the Little League dessert auction. I’ve also made birthday cakes for my niece (swimming pool, complete with teddy bear sunbathers) and nephew (skateboard with chocolate donut wheels). Any occasion is a reason for baking.
I earned my B.A. and M.A. in Psychology at Fresno State where I was an undergraduate workaholic, completing my B.A. in only 3 years. The only “B” I earned was in Women’s Studies, and I slept through a lot of it. When I went to the University of Illinois to get my doctorate in 1992, I became the deserter.
My family (well, my mother at least) thought I’d earn my degree and come home. What they (and I) hadn’t realized is advanced education makes you a specialist in a niche so tiny only a handful of people understand your work and want to hire you. I’m a personality psychologist. That means I study traits and beliefs that make each person unique (and interesting).
Dr. Smith – yep, that’s me – taught college from 1997 to 2007 at several schools from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY to Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. I met my husband in the midst of the US Air Force Academy’s sexual assault scandal. We were both on the faculty and in the eye of the political storm. I became Dr. Mrs. Luedtke when we married. Hubby has deployed three times in four years and currently works at the 5-sided military headquarters here in DC.
My son was born in March, 2007 and so was I (again). Becoming a mom is intense, sweet and exhausting. Each time I think I have mothering figured out, a new challenge rises up to meet me. I know you know what I mean.
These days, I work mostly as a mom. I'm also a freelance writer (at naptime or whenever else I get the opportunity!) I write about personality and people skills for parents and business managers. I blog about parenting and leadership. I look for opportunities to learn new things and share them with others. I am, and always will be, a teacher at heart.
Somehow these things never make it into my one-sentence bio.
