Earth laughs in flowers. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Flowers are nice. If this student affairs gig doesn’t work out.
Category Archives: perseverance
Baby you’re a firework
New from the If this student affairs gig doesn’t work out files. Passed this building on Highway 71 somewhere south of Kansas City. Photo taken at a speed of approximately 80 mph. Leaning across the driver of the vehicle. If you look closely, it appears the original name of this pyrotechnic establishment was “Crazy Debbie’s Fireworks”. What the photo does not show you is that the north end of building has been blown out and a semi-trailer near the building was toppled over with apparent fire damage.
Never play with firecrackers.
Choose another street
I enjoy finding forgotten resources while organizing my computer files on a rainy Friday afternoon.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY IN
FIVE SHORT CHAPTERS
_________________________________
From There’s a Hole in My Sidewalk
By Portia Nelson
I.
I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I fall in.
I am lost … I am helpless.
It isn’t my fault.
It takes forever to find a way out.
II.
I walk down the same street.
There’s a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don’t see it
I fall in again.
I can’t believe I am in the same place.
But it isn’t my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.
III.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in. It’s a habit.
My eyes are open.
I know where I am.
It is my fault. I get out immediately.
IV.
I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.
V.
I walk down another street.
Not the Alice you were looking for
My partner and I have daily conversations about who can depart work at what time and transport our children from school to home to soccer/piano/library/name your favorite miscellaneous activity. I mentioned that we need an “Alice” to help keep our busy schedules.
The Dad: Alice? Do we have zombies running around?
Me: Huh? You know, Alice. Alice from The Brady Bunch.
The Dad: Oh, I thought you meant Alice from Resident Evil.
Lost my head
I thought I lost my head. But then I found it.
Resiliency in Student Affairs
Any individual who has dedicated more than a couple of years to a career in Student Affairs understands the power of resiliency. I was reminded of this during our weekly discussion with the Student Affairs Collaborative on the topic of “Duties as Assigned”.
In student affairs, evening and weekend duty are par for the course. Emergency calls and student crises in the middle of the night are routine. In my own career, I have had my position eliminated during financial challenges and once endured seven different supervisors over a five-year span. I have mourned the loss of students, including one killed on campus by a drunk driver (another student). And of course, I have juggled work commitments while spending time away from my family.
Dr. John Grohol writes about 5 Steps to Building Resiliency. He provides great tips for growing your own reservoir of resilience.
- Resiliency Means Accepting that All Things are Temporary
- Self-Aware People are Resilient People
- (Some) Adversity Helps You
- Our Social Relationships Bolster Us
- Goal Setting and Understanding Your Problems is Important
Student affairs professionals must be resilient to grow, advance and succeed in this field. This same resilience allows us to serve our students when they may be struggling. As you examine your strengths in preparation for an evaluation or interview, be certain to include the resiliency traits that you bring to the table.
Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them. ~H. Jackson Brown
November reign
November always seemed to me the Norway of the year. ~Emily Dickinson
That Emily. Always a kidder.
My nose is buried in school work and budget forecasting. Until I survive those tasks, enjoy this charming video. It made me smile. Be sure to stick with it, the best part is at 0:45.
New socks. Two socks. Whose socks?
There are some days that throw us off balance. How we react to those days is how we define ourselves.
We are in the midst of a One Week of Twitter assignment in our first-year seminar class. This is my favorite tweet of the week (so far).
May you wear no socks in the shower today.
Happy Anniversary #SACHAT
We celebrate a year of #SACHAT this week, our regular water cooler gathering of student affairs colleagues. Each Thursday we take time to pause in our busy workday to share thoughts, ideas, best practices, gripes, and whatever else in 140 characters.
It has been transforming (and frequently laugh out loud funny!) to read the touching accounts of our community members reflecting on their #SACHAT experience. I recall the blank stare that I likely gave Tom Krieglstein when he pitched this brainstorm over a cup of coffee in late summer 2009. The path that we have traveled in such a short time is amazing.
I was certain that I would expound something about MBTI and Type here, but really, at #SACHAT, we are about sharing resources. We are about Challenge and Support (shout out to Nevitt Sanford). And most of all, we are about community. So it is easy to connect what we do to Ernest Boyer and his six principles of community.
The #SACHAT community is…
Purposeful: We share goals to develop our colleagues, our students and ourselves.
Open: Freedom of expression is uncompromisingly protected and civility is affirmed.
Just: Individuals are honored and our differences are what make us great.
Disciplined: Individuals accept their obligations to the group and guide behavior for the common good.
Caring: #SACHAT is a place where the well being of each member is supported and where service to others is encouraged.
Celebrative: We know why we ritually gather around computers, laptops and Smartphones each Thursday at Noon and 6:00 p.m. CST for this goat rodeo™ which has become our student affairs tradition. It is why we celebrate this entire week. And it is why we don’t believe anyone who claims social networks have “weak ties”.
Lurk, Learn, Drink the Kool-Aid.
Love to you all,
Debra
Laws of Physics and College Transition
There is an amusement park near my home that has one of those lose your lunch inducing rides that spin faster and faster until the floor drops out. It leaves you stuck to the wall until the ride slows and you gradually resume your footing on solid ground. The science of this phenomenon is centrifugal inertial force.
My university is welcoming 4,356 new students to campus as we begin the fall semester; colleges across the country are welcoming thousands more over the next few weeks. Imagine the inertial force as these students navigate classes, new roommates, and campus cultures that are frequently in contrast to their personal experiences.
Now, imagine your campus as a giant spinning disk with a student planted firmly in place by centripetal force, moving along the curved path of the disk, going with the flow. All is fine as the student survives residence move-in, deciphers a schedule, and maneuvers the dining center. But soon the campus disk is spinning faster and the centrifugal inertial force can become greater than the centripetal friction force holding the student in place. A failing quiz grade, roommate argument, financial difficulties or homesickness can all be triggers to send our students flying right off the college ride.
As we in student affairs greet our new students and those who are returning, it is important that we keep these laws of physics in mind. Know what resources you have available to address student concerns. Advocate for your students when university networks are difficult to follow. Listen carefully for clues that a student may be struggling.
Understanding F = mv2/r may just save a student.
eighteen and life 