It's time.
My name is Kim Vlasnik, and I write this blog.
*whew* That wasn't so bad. I have a last name! And there it is! And good luck pronouncing it correctly!
About a month ago, I wrote this post. Until recently, I have been pretty protective of who I am "in the real world" - and because of that, I've never used my full name anywhere on this site. I've frankly been a little bit scared to do so. (And don't call me Frankly?) But...
I've recently come to the decision that that's something I want to change.
This has been something I've been thinking about for a while, and now seems like a good time to make that edit to my blog (and online interactions). Why the change of heart? I've got a few reasons.
For one: there isn't much point anymore. Googling my name brings up a lot of diabetes stuff - which I'm starting to think of as a good thing. I'm friends with several DOC people on Facebook, so I'm "out" there, too. And with the addition of all the JDRF Government Day coverage, my name is all over the diabetes interwebz now. (I did realize that going in - and was waiting to decide until after I got back on how I wanted to proceed.)
Secondly, and more importantly, there's the whole "future employer" issue. (You might have heard me mention that among my points in the Blogger Roundtable video from JDRF Government Day. Even as I was saying that I don't use my last name on my blog, I thought "...but that doesn't make much sense, because I'm sitting here in front of you right now with my full name on the projector screen.") While I can be happy staying where I currently am job-wise for a while, it's not the sort of thing I will be making a career out of. The work I currently do will run its course, and unless I get hired to another department, I'll be looking elsewhere in a few years. What I'd like to do - what I'd really love - is to communicate about diabetes for a living. (I think that's the endgame dream for many who blog about life with diabetes, isn't it?) I don't know exactly what that means yet, or even what all of the possibilities are with that kind of goal, but I do know that I don't want to build a career doing something I'm not passionate about., At some point I need to take that leap. I realize there is risk associated with that plan, but it's one I want to take some day in the future. And people don't build work experience under a first name only (unless you're Cher).
And lastly - it just feels like a natural progression. I write about personal things here; it's a little weird that most of you wouldn't have recognized my name if you saw it. (Right?) I want to be as open and honest here as I can be, and to that end, here I am.
Here's hoping this doesn't come back to bite me in the butt.
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