I'm writing this from a hotel room, a state away from my daughter.

When I took a job nearly two years ago in another state, people thought I was crazy. I have a very specific PhD in a field that I'm passionate about. I started my journey to becoming Dr. Porter prior to adopting my daughter. It was a goal of mine and with the long process to becoming a parent, I knew I couldn't put my life on hold.

Photo Courtesy of Signature Studio

Several days a week, I make the trek to a job the I love and then work from home the rest of the week with a lot of flexibility to spend time with my little girl. We have amazing babysitters and I have a mutually hardworking spouse who relishes spending evenings with his daughter while I'm working, like I do when he's away.

Other people try to make me feel guilty that I spend time away from my daughter.

Other people try to make me feel bad about pursuing my own goals when my daughter is so young. Other people aren't me.

Though many people may only see that I'm away from home, what they don't see is that I'm teaching my daughter the importance of pursuing her passions. I'm showing her the value of working hard. She is learning by my example and I want to show her that it may be difficult, but you don't have to choose between a career and your family: you can have both.

Overall, I want her to know that people won't always get you, or understand why you do what you do and that's ok.

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