Finding Yourself and Your People During a Pandemic

Finding Yourself and Your People During a Pandemic

Adrianne Verla Uchida

Nihon University, College of International Relations

When universities across the globe began canceling classes and sending students home mid-term, I was returning to full-time academia at a Japanese university after eight months away on maternity and childcare leave. As my daughter’s main caregiver and a first-time mother, I tried to juggle everything. I was learning through trial by fire. The same can be said about my professional life, shifting to emergency remote teaching and then continuing solely online for a year and a half has definitely been a learn as you go experience. Needless to say, it was what Munn-Giddings referred to as “a lethal cocktail,” or the “mixing [of] motherhood and academia,” (1998, p. 56). This presentation will share reflections of critical incidents from my academic year of teaching virtually by examining some of the challenges I faced trying to balance motherhood and an academic career as a first time mother. It will also highlight the critical role that communities of practice (CoP) played in supporting my professional development (PD) throughout the experience. It is hoped that through watching this presentation other caregivers, especially mothers, will be able to feel a sense of camaraderie and that everyone will be encouraged to seek out their own ways to become involved in CoPs around them, or take the initiative to create their own.