100th Post!

Hello loyal Blog followers! We have reached the 100th post, and it took a lot longer than I suspected it would. I blame that on workaholicism, netflix, and that age old, awful excuse that time escaped me. 

Today I got the opportunity to take three students who volunteered to attend a leadership conference with me. It is nice when students take advantage of professional development opportunities. When I was a Greek adviser years and years ago- I could offer to pay for the entire conference, hotel stays, transportation and food and I would still find it impossible to get students to attend. Even today while driving to this conference two of the three students were busy doing homework as to not lose time in the travel. But I wish that I could help all students to see the value and the transferable skills that can be gained by taking advantage of experiences like leadership conferences. 

Today there were students from a variety of schools with sessions to chose from about leadership and an awesome keynote by Vernon A Wall. If you ever get the opportunity to hear him speak or attend his summer Social Justice Training Institute I recommend it. His message about how we all live in one world and our identities influence everything, including how we treat one another. His message was full of energy and it was simple- just to the point about how we need to love one another and respect our differences. I really enjoyed it and so did the students with me. 

I was honored to have the opportunity to present today about the True Colors Personality Test and how that relates to leadership. I had a great crowd of students who seemed to enjoy it and participated fully. Those are my favorite kind of sessions, where the students talk among each other and seem to enjoy the topic. They understood the themes I was trying to get across and their conversations were so rich that I had to cut out one of my activities! 

I was also impressed with the students, including first year students, who presented today in front of the crowd of students and staff members attending the conference as well. I am getting softer as I age-I get so proud of students and their accomplishments that I tear up just thinking about it. This winter we had a case study in our RA training and when I hear them talking about it and what they learned it is another case of the proud mama tears. 

It is hard to be a student in college these days- I would imagine the feeling of being torn between  academic achievement and the pressure to expand the resume with extra curricular activities drives many of today's students bonkers. I really do appreciate the time they take to be RAs, participate in all the trainings and inservices we require and still find time to volunteer a Saturday to learn more about leadership. I appreciate it even more when they share with me on the way home how much they enjoyed it and what they learned.  

She Rambles and Rambles

I feel as though I have talked about perspective quite a few times in this blog. But it is so important. Today while I was browning ten pounds of meat for RA training meals on Thursday I had plenty of time to think. 

I am fortunate to work with many talented students and hall directors everyday. While at times I complain about the 18-24 year old crowd-they really are a very interesting bunch. I love to see new employees grow and change and I cannot speak enough about watching a college student move through four years of college and seeing those changes. That must be why aside from the occasional exclamation that I am quitting my job, I keep myself on the payroll. 

But even when times are challenging and we are dealing with mental health crisis or puzzling student behavior- I would not trade my team for anything. In my professional life I have been fortunate to work in residence life where the emphasis is always on the person. I have been able to get paid to build relationships and just have fun at times with some pretty awesome people. And believe it or not those times where we laugh at inappropriate poop jokes or probe too much into each other text messages to make fun of our scoompsie language make it easier to trust each other at three in the morning. 

I often think that a change in vocation would make the most sense. You know a crafty job where I can show off my Pinterest skills. Or as a professional Bob Ross instructor. Or even going back to my amazing skills in the local grocery or Bed Bath and Beyond locations. But I know I would miss that feeling that comes from working with my residence life staff. 

I know I am ten times more excited for my RAs to come back to campus then they are, actually ten times might be too low an estimate. And they make fun of me for taking so many pictures and loving residence life so much for the entire training. But I don't care. I am proud of my little team and what we try to do every semester for college students. 

So as we approach another hiring cycle of student staff members and professional staff as well I will keep my perspective. That while sometimes the day to day sucks quite a bit- it is worth it big picture. It is worth it for the perspective you gain in the position and for the amazing people you meet along the way. It is worth it when you see a staff support each other through hard things and they don't squabble over what is fair with duty- they just do what is right for the team. Or when one of us is not doing ok we all analyze what that person would appreciate as an introvert and respond accordingly. We know how the INFJ needs to be supported. We have done our homework. We also know about the ENTJ boss who jokes and teases but cares a whole lot.