What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 05/08/15

Good day to you!

Here's what is going on in my world this week:

• Captain America: Civil War Plot Developments

We got some more details about the first Phase 3 movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe recently, as production began on Captain America: Civil War. We found out some of the notable folks who would be in it (some expected, others not) and got the synopsis of the film as well. I look forward to seeing this movie next year, as this ideological struggle is one of my favorite storylines in the comics. Check the link above for more details.

• Mindy Project Cancelled?

I was saddened to hear the news that Fox cancelled this show after three seasons. It was a pretty good network comedy and was one I enjoyed watching with my partner. It grew on me and stuck a bit better than it's spiritual sibling, New Girl. We may have some hope though, as Hulu may pick it up and continue it's run. I hope they do, since Hulu is hurting for a killer show in their streaming lineup.

• Flash/Arrow Spinoff Gets Series Order

I've been hearing a lot of random, sporadic rumors about this show, so I'm happy that now it is going to be an actual thing, and that thing is going to be called Legends of Tomorrow. Brandon Routh's ATOM seems to be leading the charge for this super-powered team up show with a time travel (!) element to the proceedings. No premiere or episode order has been set but it will be awesome to further explore the expansive DC universe on television, interestingly way before the movies get anywhere near the same depth. I'm a big fan of this DC TV Universe so I'm hopeful more is better when it comes to this new series.

Thanks for stopping by!

Summer Movie Musings: Avengers - Age of Ultron

This past weekend saw the wide US theatrical release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the much anticipated Marvel team-up film that continued the momentum of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) started all the way back in 2008 and has continued with several awesome movies and television shows.

It's hard to top the unique movie event that was the first Avengers movie, but Age of Ultron (AoU) succeeds at being a ton of fun, just like all of the entries in the MCU. With some amazing action set pieces, cool new characters, and a global scale to the proceedings. Ultron is a suitable villain, but these movies still are struggling to create as good a villain (and as persistent a one) as Loki.

Even with a stuffed cast of characters, a frenetic pace, and some universe building to do, the movie doesn't feel as unfocused as other superhero films were trying to do the same (Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes to mind). We get precursors to future solo movies (most importantly Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther) as well as the Infinity War saga. I appreciated these nods as well as the introductions of Vision, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. They're all cool new characters that fit right into the established MCU.

Ant-Man is the next entry in the MCU (which I am really curious to see) and it will continue to expand the history of the Avengers, SHIELD, and looks to keep the same vibe of action and fun. I'll continue to review all the movies I see this summer, which will (hopefully) include Pitch Perfect 2, Inside Out, and Ant-Man (there are other movies this year I'm looking forward to as well, they just come out way later).

What did you think of Age of Ultron? Did you see it in 2D/3D? IMAX?

Thanks for stopping by!

How Joining A Student Video Game Club Helped Me Find My Career

 

* This post is edited from an original entry at The Student Affairs Hub.

There are many types of events; workshops, concerts, speakers, and everything else that happens as well as the small moments on campus that can transform a student’s life. I remember one such moment when I was an undergraduate student, and upon recent reflection, I can see how it led me to become a more engaged and confident student and ultimately led me to my current, fulfilling career.

As a young, introverted undergraduate college student at a mid-sized public university, I wasn’t sure where to start to meet new people on campus, nor did I think I was particularly capable of doing so. I had my interests (video games, television, movies) but didn’t have people to connect with about them. I eventually stumbled upon a video gaming club that met frequently to hang out and play new and classic games. This provided a venue to have a social network of fellow students as well as some dedicated fun during the week.

What this club did for me (which I wasn’t fully aware of at the time) is that it helped me feel like I belonged at my institution, and it helped me feel more confident to pursue more involvements, like going to leadership development programs and digging in with all that had to offer as well as applying to be (and becoming) a Resident Assistant. Once I knew I could put myself out there and have a positive result, anything was within my reach. I still had a lot of areas of growth but it was a big moment for me to be outgoing at that time in my life, and it really helped to have that supportive group of friends. While we eventually drifted apart, I know that all the folks from that club came into my life for a reason.

I encourage you as student affairs professionals to nudge your students to get out and get involved with something. Even if it is a small club based on one of their niche interests, it could just be the first step on a journey that will help them grow throughout their time on campus. Even better yet, follow through after your orientation and welcome programs to make sure students actually go out to the clubs’ events or that the clubs themselves are engaging their new prospective members. Student affairs professionals, or even fellow students, can help facilitate transformative experiences for their students or peers respectively. We all just need to be engaged ourselves in the whole process to capitalize on the potential we have for helping each other grow.

Seeing Is Believing: Pop Culture, Representation, and Higher Education

I am a huge media consumer. From books to music to television to movies to web series, I am transfixed by entertainment. My habits border on addiction and often distract me from more academic pursuits. This piece is an attempt to mind meld both my passion for media and my passion for student affairs. Let's hope it comes out more like a hybrid striped rose than Frankenstein's monster.

Staying up to date on what is popular is a hobby for me. I always check the trending sections on Facebook and Twitter as well as entertainment magazines. As a woman of color it has been of interest to me how representation, particularly in television, has changed lately and the trends are reflecting that. We have seen many characters bring the variety American life to the screen in the past few years. There are two critically acclaimed shows, Orange Is The New Black and Transparent that focus and feature on the lives of transgender people. The biggest show runner in Hollywood is a black woman who heads up three hit shows with diverse casts ranging in ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and more. Shows like Blackish, The Fosters, and Fresh Off The Boat explore family life in ways that we haven't seen in years or maybe ever. Television is starting to try to reflect our society. Of course, it is by no means perfect and the majority of what is created is targeted at a certain demographic of viewers. The simple truth is that our media is still run by men and white men at that and they are the ones deciding who and what we see. However, we are taking a turn for the better and I only hope that this will continue until it is no longer a trend, but everyday reality on our screens.

Seeing is so very important, especially in the media. It is where we get a lot of our information and education. It is where we learn about other cultures and experiences we may not have access to. It is those views that help shape how we view ourselves and how we view others. When there is no one like you in the common places to look your view of yourself can become skewed. I know that I connect better with stories and characters that reflect aspects of myself whether it be my ethnicity, my gender, or my hobbies. When you can see yourself in the characters on your television screen it helps to affirm all sorts of possibilities. When characters that look like you or identity as you do are doctors or business people or just fully formed complex humans you have an easier time conceiving that these are things that you can achieve, that you can be. When I see characters like Cookie from Empire, and Maxine Shaw from Living Single, I get so much LIFE. This feeling of belonging and believing made me think about how I could apply this to my work.

I do a lot of program planning in my organizations, from academic panels to Disney themed socials, and one thing that has stood out to me is that students are more engaged in the work my groups and I do when they feel represented whether physically or in terms of interests. Diversity in programming and presentations is so important to students, just like it is to media consumers. The programs on campuses need to reflect their communities. I have helped curate a Nerd Girl Panel for the past two years of Geek Week at Rutgers University. With the help of advisors we were able to gather an amazing group of women from a bunch of nerdy fields from film to social justice bloggers to librarians to Buzzfeed authors. We had women of different ethnic backgrounds, sexualities and experiences. It was amazing to see the way students of all different backgrounds, genders, sexes, and interests interacted with the panelists and spoke about how wonderful it was to see themselves in the speakers we brought. Our programming has to reflect our students and their interests, not just in the entertainment we provide, but in the academic and networking areas as well. Students can only thrive when you affirm that they can achieve anything by showing them real life examples. Seeing truly is believing.

Bloodborne and Learning from Your Mistakes

For those who have not played the video game Bloodborne, it is a spiritual successor to games such as Dark Souls and Demons’ Souls. These games are well known for being incredibly difficult, and here is why. As you go through a level and destroy enemies, you get echoes. If you die at any point of the level, often you start at the beginning of the level (if you did not find shortcuts; sometimes it’s the luck of the draw) without all of your echoes. If you die while trying to get back to your echoes you lose them permanently.

You should expect to die a lot in this game because it is a part of the learning process. You learn the environment and levels more intimately each time and hopefully improve your performance.

I think Student Affairs is quite similar to Bloodborne. You need to be open to small failures in order to make progress, learn, and perform better over the long run. For example, I work as the graduate assistant for a tutoring center and academic intervention program. I’ve spent this first year learning the ins and outs of my position, and it is only after repeated “failures” that I now have a plan for next year.

I suspect this first year of learning and making some mistakes is also a part of being a first-year professional too. In your second year, you really figure out where you can make your mark and improve processes or policies in place and what you must do to enact these changes. Sometimes it is understanding the organizational culture of your institution, figuring out who are the key stakeholders, and opening a conversation with those stakeholders. Other times, it is evaluating gaps in the culture and figuring out how you can fill those gaps and thus bring value.

At this point, I think I have made clear how Bloodborne connects to the learning process and making mistakes. We should be open to making mistakes and learn from them. To follow my connection to Bloodborne down the rabbit hole further, I think it is equally important to note that making a mistake once is fine. If you make the same mistake twice, then you will likely lose all of your echoes in Bloodborne. In Student Affairs, you probably will not have leeway or sympathy for making the same mistake twice.

My comparison of Student Affairs to Bloodborne is made in mind of those smaller mistakes, things you couldn’t possibly know at the time, or things that you would want to improve. It does not need to be a mistake. My comparison is not made with high-level blunders in mind. It does not excuse morally reprehensible behaviors and diminish them as mere mistakes.

The key takeaway from Bloodborne in the work of Student Affairs is that we should be open to making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and improving on those mistakes. Generally, we should be open to learning and thinking about how and what we will do to do better. As Erik Qualman says, “Fail forward, fail fast, and fail better.”

Abdul Abad is a first-year graduate student in the Higher Education and Student Affairs program at the University of Connecticut. For his graduate assistantship, he coordinates an academic intervention program for students on scholastic probation and an associated walk-in tutoring center. His main interests include the access and retention of underrepresented populations, online education, technology and innovation in higher education, and various topics within organizational psychology such as personality. Outside of student affairs, Abdul is a composer, film lover, and avid video gamer. Connect with him on Twitter and on his blog.

Albus Dumbledore and Mentor Relationships

The more I learn about the field of student affairs, the more I have come to realize that there is no true or direct path into the field (duh). I find it fascinating to hear the different journeys that fellow #sagrads and #sapros have taken to come to where they currently are. The common thread? Having a mentor that took them under their wing, and introduce us to what the field has to offer. I am not the exception. I had so many positive role models that did amazing things at my undergraduate institution, and I wanted to be just like them. I often hear “then somebody told me that student affairs was a thing,” and the same thing happened to me. I discovered that this was a field, a career, and a community. Now that I’m neck deep in course work, professional development, and an assistantship (and you know, life), I’m at that point where I can give back, and I can be a mentor for the next generation of student affairs professionals. How do I do this? Where do I find all of that wisdom to impart onto others? Is there a course titled “How to be an inspiring Student Affairs Mentor, 101?” If that exists, please let me know where I should enroll.

I can only rely on what I know, and what has influenced me in the past. I am a firm believer that everything can and should be related back to the Harry Potter series. I was born in 1991, and I am in that lucky generation of millennials that grew up with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. In my opinion, they had the best mentor of all—Albus Dumbledore.

Here are just a few life lessons I’ve learned from him, and how we can use them in our work to mentor students.

"It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

Having hopes and dreams are absolutely necessary to give us something to aspire to and work towards. Unfortunately, we often live up in the clouds and forget to think realistically. Students have fantastic ideas, and are truly creative, but as mentors, we need to work with our students understand to take practical steps to reach those big, lofty goals they have. SMART goal-setting anybody? Additionally, how often do we see students run themselves ragged with their involvement? This quote speaks to the notion of self-care and finding happiness. As mentors, we can share some of our experiences and model the way in how to deal with life/work balance.

“It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends.”

Student leaders are in such a difficult position, battling between friendships with their peers, and managing and working with those same peers to get a job done. As mentors, we have the ability to give our students the challenge to assert their beliefs, and increase their capacity for self-efficacy. Mentors can talk through situations with mentees, and give them tips and tricks of how to navigate these challenges.

"Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open."

I can’t begin to recount how many conflicts I’ve seen occur between students that stem out of not understanding different working styles. As mentors, we can give our students the tools to understand how they can effectively work with those that are different than they are. If the end goal and purpose is the same, we can help our students navigate through the journey. The college experience can be the first time where students are exposed to difference. Mentors have the opportunity to challenge our mentees to be more culturally competent, and uncloud the biases and preconceived notions they come in with.

"We must all face the choice between what is right, and what is easy”

I wish the right thing to do was the easiest. Unfortunately, when our students are faced with ethical dilemmas, the right thing to do is not always the most natural thing. All of our students will be at a different stage in their moral reasoning development, and it is up to us to help them think through different decisions, and understand how and why to make the right one. We are setting up our students for success after graduation, and without our guidance, this is something that is difficult to learn. As a mentor, we can be supportive when we know they are struggling.

"It is a curious thing, Harry, but perhaps those who are best suited to power are those who have never sought it."

One of my favorite parts of being a mentor is helping students see their leadership potential, and it’s not always the student who is the loudest, most extroverted, or most charismatic. We have the ability to push them outside of their comfort zone, and encourage them to take chances. As mentors, we have the ability to see things in them that they don’t. We can make our community better by empowering those who would be truly the best for the job, not just the ones who want it the most. As mentors, we can also prepare our mentees for situations in which their leadership abilities might be challenged.

“Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

Life can get really overwhelming and stressful. We need to remind ourselves and our students that looking toward the positives and remembering the impact we are having at our institutions can turn any negative situation into a positive one. No matter how bad things get, we can find happiness!

"Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?"

Last but not least, this teaches us to stay weird and be true to who you are!

Albus Dumbledore had a way of inspiring his students to be greater human beings. As champions for Student Affairs, we have the ability to connect with our students and help them live up to their full capabilities. Mentor relationships have the ability to influence student development, and prepare students to be productive citizens after graduation. If Dumbledore can give Harry, Ron, and Hermione the confidence to defeat Voldemort and save the entire wizarding world, we have the ability to give our students the confidence to be change-makers in their own communities.

If you have yet to experience the greatness that is Harry Potter, I encourage you to dive in by reading the novels or watching the movies. I recommend both!

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Hannah Torrance is a West Coast native, finishing the first year of the CSPA program at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY. She is passionate about Greek Life, Student Activities, Leadership Development, and facilitating meaningful college experiences. She is a lover of books, social media, Netflix, and dry humor. Check out her blog, and follow her on Twitter: @HannahT_SA

Movie Review Monday: Atari - Game Over

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2014 documentary, Atari: Game Over, directed by Zak Penn.

The premise of this adventure surrounds the urban legend of millions of Atari 2600 game cartridges being buried in the New Mexico desert due to the collapse of the company which was caused by the ill-fated E.T. The Extra Terrestrial video game. So the legend goes, but in this documentary, the full story is explored and we learn that there is more to the nerd folklore than is thought.

We get a pretty fun history of the Atari company, it's meteoric rise and fall, and how the rumor even came to be in the first place. We find that there are many people fascinated and obsessed with finding these supposedly buried pieces of video game history, and we see what they have to go through to even begin to try to dig them up and find them to put to rest the debate once and for all.

I liked the nerdy angle to this story and the depth that they go into it for the documentary. Penn (a legitimate nerd in his own right) gives a full history of what led to the rumor as well as the people and choices behind Atari's infamous game. I never knew any of the full story involved with this whole debacle so it was neat to hear it from the people who lived it back in 1983.

The documentary is short (it only runs a little over an hour), fun, and captures the geek spirit of being obsessed with things and needing to have answers. I remembered always hearing about this legend so I was excited to watch this and finally get an answer!

You can catch Atari: Game Over streaming right now on Netflix.

Thanks for stopping by!

Finding My Post-Grad Geek Nest

The zombie head cookie jar perched on our filing cabinet, the row of Avengers bobble heads gathered for a strategy meeting at my supervisor’s desk, the Spock and Groot figurines guarding my bookshelf like a science-fiction power couple…these are the images that greet me every morning and confuse the hell out of anyone that walks by our open office door for the first time. The Pennoni Center for Interdisciplinary Inquiry is located at the bottom floor of Hagerty Library at Drexel University—what we lovingly call the Dungeon (during sunny days), the Bullpen (during busy days), or the Wall (during the summer when the air conditioning in the building is somehow set to “Wildling Country”). “What is this place?” the brave few ask while they search for a quiet study space. Whenever I do have the chance to explain the programs and initiatives coming out of our office, I am rewarded with a still half-confused “oh, right” and then on their way they go. While one of our primary goals involves service to students, casual library foot traffic doesn’t realize how this environment has played a critical role in helping me to develop a feeling of belonging in this, my first “new professional” position. Having faced some challenges in prior experiences, finding a workplace that I could feel welcomed and be myself was a priority.

The buzz words “organizational fit” loomed over me throughout the post-graduate school job hunt. Somehow convinced that I was the only person of my 24-member Student Affairs cohort to not obtain gainful employment left me in a constantly panicked state. I was faced with a dilemma that many encounter leaving school: Do I take the first thing that gets offered to secure myself financially? Do I wait for a place that feels right, among other variables, no matter how long it takes? Armed with the privilege of temporary financial support from family, I made the conscious decision (risk) to be selective about the places I would apply and interview for.

My Drexel interview happened late into the summer and drew frighteningly close to the beginning of the academic year. My then potential supervisor and I covered the job responsibilities, the student expectations, all the nitty-gritty work details…but we also made jokes, discussed the Philadelphia foodie scene, and touched on the inevitable zombie apocalypse (surprise-surprise, we’re Walking Dead junkies, too). These are my people, I remembered thinking. Eight months later I couldn’t be happier with my position in an office that was created to be an incubator for independent thought and innovation. The value of our initiatives paired with the physicality of our environment sends a very important message—that we have created a space that is judgment-free: a place that you can be yourself and–by golly—even us professionals can give a glimpse of our personalities to our students and our higher education institution does not implode as a result!

Now, leaving behind our individual unit and going to meet coworkers for lunch is always a treat because I’ve realized that the break room is filled with others also deeply interested in the most random array of things—and that folks somehow understand and accept your obsessions too. And by understand, I mean understand. Without a single spoken word, I walked in the day after Leonard Nimoy passed away and was greeted with a silent hug by our Director of Administration and Finance...that level of understanding. I started off bonding with them and continue to bond over these different passions. Of course, beyond our displayed toys (*ahem, collectibles) and morning check-ins about the latest episode of this or that, I also happen to work with very progressive, caring, and dedicated professionals with a number of shared values regarding education. That, most importantly, is the core of what makes my office a great place to work. The fact that they also have a great sense of humor and always (ALWAYS) dress up in a group costume for Halloween is just the cherry on top.

The environment you choose to occupy, the people with whom you choose to surround yourself; these things are indicative of the kind of experience you can offer to students and colleagues. I can’t emphasize enough how impactful it has been for me to be able to work in a place where I feel safe both as a professional and as a person. Being in a place that allows me to love my work and be successful with the people I work with every day—it has given me the power to be a better advocate for students and keeps me energized in a way that an office saturated by passive aggression, judgmental attitudes, and resentment simply cannot. With the understanding that not everyone has the luxury of passing over offers, the best decision I made after graduate school was to wait until I found a job that connected with my values and personality. When students walk into my office I hope they know they can talk about transcript audits, internship decisions, and roommate troubles without issue. In the event that they have the pressing need to debate the deeper philosophical ramifications of Star Trek the Next Generation Episode 125 The Inner Light---hey, I’m ready for that too—and they should feel completely at ease bringing it up.

Ana Castillo-Nye started as the Program Coordinator for the Pennoni Center For Interdisciplinary Inquiry in September of 2014.  After completing her B.A. with a concentration in Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Rutgers University in 2011, she continued with graduate studies at the School of Education where she received her Ed.M in College Student Affairs/Higher Education Administration in 2014. She believes in cultivating student personal and professional growth with the goal of facilitating leadership development that approaches problem solving in the systemic mindset. She tries to challenge students to learn how to move between  “small lens” and “big lens” thinking. Within and outside of academia she is interested in issues regarding educational access, specifically related to immigration advocacy/reform as well as educational and leadership opportunities for women globally.

Movie Review Monday: Unbreakable

Welcome to another awesome edition of Movie Review Monday!

This week's film is the 2000 thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, Unbreakable, starring Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson.

The movie surrounds David Dunn (Willis) as he begins to discover that he might possibly have superhuman abilities with the help of Elijah Price (Jackson) otherwise known as "Mr. Glass". Dunn has never been sick, has never been injured, and can sense danger when it is around him. Price bases his guidance on his encyclopedic knowledge of comic books.

In true Shyamalan fashion, there is an intriguing twist at the end, which happens in pure comic book fashion. The entire story is more focused on Dunn's personal struggles, discovery, and acceptance of his abilities. Robin Wright has a solid supporting role as Dunn's wife. Dunn's son also provides a strong push for him to accept and use his gift for good.

I have always wanted to see this movie so I'm glad I had the opportunity. It's a simple, interesting, and unique movie which holds up after over a decade past it's initial release. I like the different take on the super-powered, comic book inspired story. It also has some awesome cinematography, with very interesting framing for shots and neat camera angles. I recommend folks check this one out.

You can catch Unbreakable streaming right now on Netflix.

Thanks for stopping by!

How Board Games Helped Me Make New Friends

Making friends as an adult is tough. When you're in college, you're in an environment that lends itself to connections. It's easier to meet people your age who share your interests. As an adult working full-time, I've had to make more of a concerted effort to connect with people. I have made friends at work, but it is different to meet people completely outside of any context you have like work or class.

I've mingled in some social meetup groups in my community recently and have made some awesome friends in the process. When we hang out, we typically have game nights where we play different card or board games together as a social activity for our small group. It's been a fun way to help get to know each other and just have fun outside our normal routines. While I was not one to play a lot when I was younger, board games have helped me solidify my first adult friendships, and I'm eternally grateful for that.

Some of the games that my friends and I play have been Cards Against Humanity (a common favorite), We Didn't Playtest This At All, Geek Battle, Man Bites Dog, and various others as well as just other random card games that some of us know of that we use a regular deck of playing cards for. It's been a lot of fun to discover new games like these since board games are experiencing a bit of a Renaissance now it feels like. Games like these just help us put down our phones and interact with each other through a simple and fun activity. Some of the games are mindless fun, others are competition based. A bit of friendly competition though is never a bad thing!

I highly recommend exploring this world of board games with your friends, if they're old or new, you can find a fun game to engage with. There are so many different types now that you can definitely find something you'll enjoy.

Thanks for stopping by!