Three Campus Community Connections to Enhance the Student Experience

* This post was edited from one originally posted on The Student Affairs Hub.

As the semester rolls on, I was thinking about how colleges and universities are a unique environment where there are a multitude of offices, departments, groups, and relationships that are hard to find elsewhere. These connections can last a lifetime and make a huge difference in a student's life. While some pathways like Greek organizations may be more common, there are plenty of other avenues to make connections on campus for your students that can be just as impactful, if not more so depending on what the student is interested in. I'd like to outline some of the ones I feel would be useful to professionals out there to recommend to their students or for students to take the initiative to do themselves.

Online Groups

Meeting new people can be tough, but sites like meetup.com, Eventbrite, and/or the myriad of Facebook groups all help to organize hangouts all across the country based on common interests like hiking, gaming, reading, or any other plethora of hobbies. I've found them to be a great way to meet new people in my community that are into what I enjoy. For students, this could be helpful to find other like-minded individuals in their local area that lead to possible job or volunteer opportunities. At the very least, it is a social involvement that is bound to have local staff and faculty members (as well as alumni) present, which leads into my next points.

Alumni

The graduates of any institution end up all over the country and in all sorts of different industries. They owe a lot of their success to their time at their alma mater, and are proud of where they got their degree. I can speak for myself and say that this is all very true. I can't make myself physically available and present at my alma mater so I make sure to support them financially. The Alumni Relations offices at any institution are going to have hundreds if not thousands of local connections with passionate individuals looking to connect with current or prospective students. This is a ripe pathway to great mentoring relationships which can lead to any number of other opportunities.

Faculty

While a lot of powerful, high-impact learning happens outside the classroom, I'd be foolish if I didn't mention the importance strong relationships with faculty can play as well. Students (or at least most of them) go to college to get their degree. They do this by attending classes taught by faculty. Unfortunately, it seems nowadays the relationship in the classroom is purely transactional. Faculty are a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be transformative to a student. Their position grants them a lot of influence and power as well as access to a lot of resources and opportunities. Faculty can give students engaging experiential learning opportunities through research or a being a teaching assistant. At the very worst, faculty can serve as their own sort of mentors for the students who find themselves drawn to academia.

I encourage you to think outside the box when looking to make connections with your community. There are some tried and true options out there but there are also so many more to choose from that may better fit your students' needs. In the end, it's these important connections we make for our students that help them stay and also help them succeed at college as well as beyond.

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.

Movies (and Television) Go to College

With the recent premiere of the Hulu original series, Resident Advisors, I got to thinking about how college is depicted in movies and television. It's something I think about often now working on campus and there are some very stark portrayals in different shows and films. Some I am a fan of, others I am not.

Some of my favorite depictions of college I know of out there are Undeclared, Community, Felicity, Accepted, Veronica Mars, Pitch Perfect, A Different World, and even Monsters University. They all are positive, fun, and realistic while avoiding the common pitfalls of shallowness that a lot of college movies fall into with showcasing parties, alcohol, drugs, sex, and shenanigans. While these are elements of all our stories of how we find ourselves and figure out who we are, they aren't the entirety of it. While I may be projecting some of my own experience here, I feel as though most people can agree with me that there is much more to college than just these things. While movies like Van Wilder or Old School may have a small glimmer of a positive takeaway, the way they convey their message is not something I can wholeheartedly endorse as indicative of the college experience.

I appreciate that most mainstream movies and television shows currently have veered away from these shallow portrayals of college (especially as this type of irresponsible behavior has been highlighted in the media lately). Resident Advisors feels like it is almost there (Amma Marfo contextualizes the show great on her blog) but we are still hurting for a great modern depiction of college life, especially as we are becoming ever more scrutinized.

I'm sure I'm forgetting about some great movies about college or just having to do with the college environment. It would take too long to list everything I've enjoyed for different reasons that have to do with college life. I just find things like this fascinating since what we put on screen can be directly connected to our common beliefs. The historical context in which we make any sort of media influences it greatly. Just like sci-fi from any given decade; their view of the future correlates to the issues and problems they had at the time.

I encourage you to watch, learn, and share from all the different portrayals of college life out there in movies and television. They can educate you on how our work and institutions are perceived, and you'll definitely have fun while you do it!

Thanks for stopping by!

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!

---

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

Geeking Out: “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”

I have a problem. I’m borderline obsessed with the new Netflix series, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” I am on my third round of watching the series and I am unapologetic. This has been incredibly easy to do since there are only 13, 30-minute episodes and the writing is so fast, and so funny, that it is easy to lose yourself in the series. Throw in the incredible Ellie Kemper in the lead role as Kimmy, amazing supporting characters, and the series being the brainchild of Tina Fey, and I was hooked.

There is so much to geek out about this little gem of a series. The pop culture references, the hilarious turn of Jon Hamm in the most unexpected of roles, Tina Fey doing a spot on impression of Marcia Clark (one of the lead attorneys from the OJ Simpson trial, for all of those people not of age in the 90s), plus Kimmy’s roommate Titus Andromedon being one of the most entertaining characters in recent history, the series makes for pure fun. The premise of the show puts Kimmy as one of four women who were locked in an underground bunker as part of a doomsday cult since 1990. We meet Kimmy and the other women as they are rescued from the bunker and attempt to start their lives after being without TV, internet, phone, magazines, or music from 1990-2015. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues with the “Indiana Mole Women.”

Kimmy moves to New York City to start her life again. She is 30 years old, has missed everything from the past 15 years, and has to unlearn so many things about how the world works, but her positivity never wanes. Kimmy has a lot to be angry, resentful, and depressed about after being locked away for 15 years. She missed the Clinton era, Hurricane Katrina, *NSYNC, purple ketchup, and more. She thinks her boss’ MacBook was a giant iPhone, calls hashtags “hashbrowns,” and is thrilled that her closet of a room has a window.

If you haven’t seen the series, all you may know about the show is the catchy as hell theme song that [fair warning!] will be stuck in your head for weeks. While the jokes are funny and storylines are ridiculous, the best part of the series for me is Kimmy’s unbreakable spirit. She is positive, in the face of horrific circumstances, and that is what makes her simultaneously relatable and aspirational.

I have found my professional home in student affairs, particularly within residence life. There are lots of things that I love about my work, but there are so many things that are hard, jarring, depressing, and life-altering about the work of supporting students. On a typical day, we deal with physical altercations, or students who come to our campuses with severe psychological issues that only intensify once the added stress of classes and independent living descends. Students come to us experiencing gender-based violence, extreme financial stress, unrealistic family expectations, citizenship challenges, food and housing insecurity, and varying levels of parental involvement, ranging from suffocating to non-existent. And, on our worst days, we comfort families and friends in their shock and grief when members of our communities pass away.

Meeting students in some of their hardest moments takes a toll. It can be hard to find anything positive in a hard day, and yet, very much like Kimmy, student affairs has the opportunity to be unbreakable. It seems like every day there is another expose, talking head, or article pointing to the demise of higher education. Where the hell are we supposed to start? The ballooning student debt crisis? The rampant racism running throughout campuses? Gender-based violence finally seeing the light of day? Those in the academy who blame student affairs administration for the financial bloat which is contributing to these problems? It’s overwhelming.

And yet, I find myself enjoying my work. Having fun, laughing, taking moments to appreciate the moments of change and challenge. Does this make me a Pollyanna? An ostrich with her head in the sand? Hopelessly naive? Or does this make me like Kimmy, albeit it on a smaller scale? Could it actually be possible to hold both of those concepts simultaneously, that awful things happen on our campuses every single day, but we still have the choice, and perhaps the responsibility to approach our work with a positive attitude?

In one of my favorite episodes, Kimmy stands in her truth, fully aware of her traumatic history, in the middle of Times Square, and says to her roommate, “Life beats you up. You can either curl up in a ball and die or you can stand up and say, ‘We’re different and you can’t break us.’” Student affairs, take a lesson from this Indiana Mole Women: Let’s be unbreakable.

---

Marci Walton is a student affairs professional interested in residence life, social justice, service, and the intersectionality of identity. Passionately curious about social media, women’s leadership and finding the perfect spot to admire the Pacific. Current Californian, but a Buckeye through and through. Connect with her on Twitter and at her blog.

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.

#sabrews, Comradery, and Idea-Sharing: Geeking Out Over Craft Beer

As a frequent contributor to the #sabrews hashtag, it’s absolutely no secret that I can appreciate a good craft beer. “Small batch” brews? Love them. Enjoying a flight of Birmingham-made beers? Fantastic!

Choosing a different beer to try during each of my grocery shopping trips is a highlight of my week, and visiting local breweries and hole-in-the-wall pubs with large taprooms are some of my favorite parts about traveling. While my friends complain about the long, drawn-out tours, I savor observing and learning about each step of the brewing process before tasting the final product.

How does geeking out over beer relate to my work in higher education? For starters, my institution does send students to local breweries to learn more about the brewing process in addition to being immersed in the world of small businesses. Our students love working with Good People Brewing Co., and they get a lot out of the experience. It’s an internship opportunity for a certain type of skill set, and I am fortunate to have some great students to support our community as well as learn a great deal over the course of the term.

But I’d argue that the connection between student affairs and craft beer is far stronger in my own journey as a new professional. Navigating the world of higher education can be daunting, especially for professionals who are just beginning their careers. How do we “break in” to national organizations? In what ways can we network with and learn from professionals and students from our own region? How can we get to know our great colleagues outside of student affairs, beneath the surface level? For me, craft beer has been the answer. A week before I left for New Orleans to attend the NASPA annual meeting this year, I reached out to my colleagues on Twitter to gauge interest in meeting up at a local tavern to try some Louisiana-made beers and swap favorite craft breweries. I never expected any sort of response, but almost immediately colleagues from all over the country jumped at the opportunity for the #sabrews crew to meet up and talk higher education over good beer.

I made good on my tweet, and met up with some fantastic professionals to discuss our work and swap ideas on how to better impact areas such as advising and experiential learning. In one instance, I had the opportunity to finally meet with Sara Ackerson, a good friend from Twitter and fellow advisor. We frequently updated our Untappd accounts – an app dedicated to exploring the world of craft beer and sharing thoughts about different brews with the community. (In fact, I learned about the world of Untappd through a colleague from the #sabrews community!) We tried some great local brews in the Warehouse District while discussing different aspects of academic advising – in particular, triage and productivity. I came away from our time together with a lengthy to-do list of things that would benefit my office, including appointment calendars and referral sheets to make sure that students were aware of other experiential learning offices.

Sara and I had a fantastic meeting, but I learned so much from my colleagues over the course of the conferences. Better yet, I further developed relationships with a network of great people, got to know them as individuals within and outside of the context of their work, and the entire experience made the conference feel more personal. Professional development opportunities like national conferences can be overwhelming, but through exploring a shared love for craft beer, I was able to find a niche within a crowd of over 7,500.

---

Kimberly White is a 24-year old student affairs professional living in Birmingham, Alabama. She serves as the Internship Coordinator for the rise3 Initiative at Birmingham-Southern College, an experiential learning and critical reflection opportunity for students in the domains of faculty-student research, internships, and service-learning. She is also a BSC Campus Advisor to the Pi Beta Phi Fraternity for Women, Alabama Alpha chapter. Kimberly's blog can be found over at Leadership Development and Life in the Yellowhammer State or on Twitter at @whiteoi.

What is the Value of National Student Affairs Conferences?

ACPA

Conference Registration = $600 (less if done earlier, $450 for early bird)

ACPA Membership = $93-149 (2013-14 Membership Rates from ACPA)

NASPA

Conference Registration = $480 (less if done earlier, $430 for early bird)

NASPA Membership = $75-242

Hotel = $200/night (average for Tampa, higher for New Orleans)

Airfare = $200-700 (depends on several variables)

Total (average, estimated) = $1,900 cost per conference + food, parking, taxis, and misc. items

---

I'll be honest, I thought this would be a lot higher. While it could be a tad higher depending on individual variables, and food could also be a huge expense, I envisioned costs being much higher (and they most likely will be especially for ACPA in Montreal next year). With that being said, a lot of folks are not going to be able to just drop this sort of money on a conference without any sort of assistance. Many of us are going to have our own homes and families to keep afloat and a national student affairs conference (which has had dwindling returns and value in my opinion) just will not make the cut when there are plenty of cheaper (or free) and better professional development options out there. This goes too for the webinars I've seen out there for student affairs folks. Why are they so expensive? Is it assumed multiple people are sitting in on one registration? Isn't it just someone doing a presentation virtually? It seems absurd to me that it needs to cost professionals hundreds of dollars for at times just an hour presentation.

I'm very grateful to be able to have had the support of my institution to go to a national conference. This is a rarity though (especially to have most everything covered) and not to be assumed to be available to most folks. I presented at ACPA and appear to be one of a few in my Student Life office going to any conferences this year. I'm not competing for this funding with anyone so I haven't had to valiantly prove why I deserve to go.

I think what this high cost results in is an insular, privileged, select group of people that can afford conferences or are lucky enough to have their institution support them. This ends up with us having the usual suspects at conferences and leaving a lot of other amazing professionals out of the inner circles. It comes across as clique-y and oft-putting for people from the outside. What these conferences always do best is bring people together but it isn't doing too well at that if it is the same cohort of people coming together all the time. We need more voices included in these discussions. This will add value and return on investment for sessions, committees, and the entire experience when there is more diversity of perspective from different institutions and people from different backgrounds.

I've been wanting to capture my thoughts on this for a while now. I gave it a fair amount of consideration before posting and I appreciate any insight from others who may have planned conferences or just have something to share. I think this is a valid discourse to have so I felt it important to put forth my thoughts here. We need to do better to bring people in for these opportunities to move our profession forward. It seems like we all could really use it.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.