Chapter 12: Late Night Pillow Talk: A Couple’s Reflections on Balancing Marriage, Parenthood, and PhDS

Aloha and Osiyo! My name is Daniel “Bubba” Lipe and I am married to Kaiwipuni “Punihei” Lipe. I am Western-band Cherokee and grew up hunting in the woods and fishing along the rivers of Oregon. Punihei is Native Hawaiian and grew up on the island of O‘ahu dancing hula and immersed in her language and culture. I moved to Hawai‘i in 2005 when we got married. We now have two amazing children. Hā‘ena Echota is our five-year-old daughter and Lamakū Noquisi is our two-year-old son. I defended my dissertation in February 2013 and officially graduate in May 2013 with a PhD in Education. During my six-year doctoral journey, I was a part-time student and worked full-time, first as a charter school teacher and then as an educational specialist at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Punihei is ABD, having defended her comprehensive exams in October 2012. She is currently finishing data analysis for her dissertation in the College of Education and is scheduled to defend in May 2014. She is a full-time student and a graduate research assistant at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Since begin-Beyond the Pride and the Privilege: The Stories of Doctoral Students and Work-Life Balance, pagesning her doctoral program she took care of her elderly grandmother and is also the full-time caretaker for our son.