CiSA 2013: A Lesson on Personal Growth

On this past Sunday, I put on an event called the 2013 Careers in Student Affairs (Un)Conference  [CiSA for short] here at Rutgers University. I had been planning it for the entire calendar year amidst all the other things I’ve been up to so it was amazing to have it finally have it happen.

The journey to the actual fruition of this event has been an interesting one, with my original feelings on it all being very negative, since it was not what I had thought I’d be doing with my year. It just fell into my lap since no one else wanted to take it on. Although it was hard to swallow at first, it came to be something I could be excited about once I made it my own.

Making it my own took some time to plan out, with many details that had to come about from scratch, and it was hard since I am not a particularly detail-oriented. It was a very educational experience in making a large-scale event happening and fulfilling the experience it is you have envisioned. I know it will be something I can talk about in the gauntlet of interviews I have coming up about all the challenges and successes I went through.

My biggest takeaway that I feel like I can talk about now is getting over this paralysis I was getting into planning the event. I was so concerned with the event being perfect and how many people were going to come but after some pep talks and inspirational podcasts, I was excited to just get it out into the world to help people rather than be just an idea in my head. Also, when you think about it, it doesn’t matter how many people come since the people that came got something from it and that’s the most important thing.

I am very glad to have had this special experience and to have met so many awesome student affairs people in the process. Stay tuned for CiSA 2014!

Spider-Man & Life/Work Balance

Greetings, true believers!

In an attempt to blog more regularly, I'm going to pour out some of my brain juices on a fun connection I talk about often and has even been mentioned on the episode I did for the Life/Work Balances Podcast earlier this year (check it out here). The idea is using Spider-Man as a foil for these discussions about how to find a more perfect balance in our lives.

Spider-Man is one of favorite superheroes for this reason, he always has to struggle with being Peter Parker and his job of being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. He has to go to class, see his Aunt May, try to date Mary Jane (or Gwen Stacy), make sure to get some photos into J. Jonah Jameson, and just take care of himself. His workload is comparable to some of ours as student affairs people, so the juxtaposition gels.

Where I feel I can connect with the Spectacular Spidey is that he comes to a better balance when he doesn't put up a wall between his personal and "professional" lives. When he tells the people he cares about that he's this amazing hero, the walls come down and it is easier to live his life when he is authentic. The people in his life can help him and be there when he needs it.

I feel as though you can't ever really block off what's going on in your life from your work. They should blend together so that you are always genuinely you in everything that you do. Your passions should be on display and your colleagues able to know the true you since they see you all the time. This will lead to better work, I feel, since this schism would go away that you feel like you always have to have a mask on with as much as our work overtakes our lives. I say we flip it the other way around; bring your interests, passions, and transparent self into the work we do for students. It will be a refreshing change of pace.

I learn lessons and make connections from my geeky passions often, and I joke that I take my entertainment very seriously so I hope this was helpful to you all out there. So take this in, reflect, and go out being the most ultimate you that you were born to be!

As always, remember; With great power, comes great responsibility.

Star Trek: Boldly Going Where No Student Affairs Professional Has Gone Before...

I've just started exploring the Star Trek universe lately. I am a fan of the two newer films by J.J. Abrams and have seen two of the original series movies. Only now though am I starting to work on Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix. As far as geekdom goes, this is a pretty established bit of sci-fi.

I write with Star Trek as a foil for all of science fiction. The genre as whole is a great place to gleam learning that is overtly delivered, just like in the comic book realm of storytelling. It gives a certain glimpse of what might come in our future either moving past our current issues or being symbolic of them. I always find it fascinating the different perspectives on what lies ahead for humanity in these shows and films, especially since Star Trek focuses a lot on diversity. While humanity has united itself, there are still growing pains with acclimating ourselves with all of the varied aliens out in the universe, so it still provides teachable moments for the viewers.

Whether it is Klingons or Romulans, these struggles of understanding and accepting the "other" showcased in Star Trek as well as the deep moral questions always posed by the show make it a greatly entertaining and educational show for this emerging student affairs professional to partake in when I have some rare free time. I highly recommend it and the other complete series that are out there to stream for free. If Star Trek isn't your thing or perhaps you prefer another medium, there is so much awesome science fiction out there that deals with diversity as well as many other important issues, like the growing role of technology in our lives, or how it will be best to govern in the future, just to name a few. It's also just a great guilt-free way to spend some free time! You'll have some fun and learn something too!

Take care, folks!

When I Grow Up I Want to Go Into Student Affairs

As I plan CiSA 2013, this sort of stuff is definitely on my mind. It is important to share our stories!

Why Choose Student Affairs?

So this post aligns a bit with I wrote about in the "Geeking Out" post a little while back. Something that I am passionate about and am making my life's work is college student affairs. I'm currently finishing my second-year of graduate school studying how to best serve the dynamic need of today's college students. I have a background studying history education as an undergraduate student, so I bring this passion and reverence for education in any form to my work with college students. We educate them in the ways of life outside the classroom as well as how to apply what they learn in the classroom to their lives.

Why I chose to do this as a career is because college gave so much to me and I think there is so much potential for growth during one's time in college. Aligning work with my passion for the college environment just sort of found me when I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do with myself as graduation loomed on the horizon. I work to do good in other people's lives, and that gives me happiness.

I write on this to reflect on where I've been and where I'm going with my life. I also hope to share the great things about this field with others with a project I've had the honor to help organize, the 2013 Careers in the Student Affairs (Un)Conference.

This event is taking place on November 3 from 10am-4pm at Rutgers University. For more details, check out our website, cisa2013.weebly.com and engage with us on Facebook and Twitter. Hope to see folks there!

Klout and the Curious Case of Social Media Engagement

Oh Klout, you fickle tool you, made for measuring one's total influence on social media. I recently discovered you and thought it would be cool to see what my score was. Little did I know I would become overly intrigued by your premise and the value of your numbers.

I have a moderare case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), I'll admit it. This tool doesn't help with my growing overall obsession with connectedness. Now I can see how my engagement score is going up or down based on what I'm putting out there. At best, it is helping me stay faithful to tweeting, posting, and sharing anything and everything I think others will find useful and relevant. At worst, it is making me hyper critical of what I am posting and how often I'm putting out posts, so it may not be all that bad. I just know I get frustrated when my score doesn't go up for weeks at a time. It makes me feel as though I'm doing something "wrong" on social media and I need to do "better". 

My dilemma is if I should be putting a lot of stock into this single number that is supposed to showcase my entire online presence's engagement with my networks. Perhaps I should just take it for what it's worth as a simple tool for a complex aggregation and try to do the best I can with it. 

How do you all feel about Klout? Do you even use it?

Self-Reflection: Moving Forward by Looking Back

So I write to you all tonight a month after my last post, fresh from my summer work and thrown right into the thick of training for the next academic year. Not having a break to speak of at all was frustrating on some levels but I am thankful for the opportunity to be doing some great work consistently with even greater people. That being said, I wanted to get some more thoughts down as I sit here in my apartment after a long week of training.

Something I think a lot about is the past. I was a history major as an undergraduate student so I appreciate the story that every person has and the fact that everything that happens around us has some sort of context through which it happened. A professor shared a fun anecdote that explains this. He described the discipline of history as a "turtle on a fencepost", as to say that turtle could not have gotten up there on it's own so there is some story there to explore. History is the same way. Whether it is something that happened yesterday or two hundred years ago, there is a story there to learn and grow from.

Another great quote is "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." It applies to the history of us as humans but also our own personal stories. To simply forget whatever came before deprives us from an amazing learning experience. Granted, one has to be comfortable enough to take a hard look at themselves, but I think the results are very powerful. Being able to analyze and scrutinize our own behavior and choices, especially with the help of a trusted confidant, is really one of the only ways to constantly grow and develop to be the most good, prudent, and self-aware person we can be.

So, in order to be the best professionals and best people we can be, I think we all need to stop every once in a while and take a look back at where we've been in order to better get where we're going.

Dr. NerdLove - "Leveling Up: Giving Up Control"

"Accept rejection. Learn from it whenever you can. But don’t waste time trying to avoid it."

This recent article from the fantastic site, Doctor NerdLove, goes into a topic that can resonate for a lot of people for different reasons. Learning to let go can be one of the most challenging tasks, no matter what it is you're holding on to. With this struggle however, comes great rewards. The feeling of freedom from negative thoughts, suffering, and generally unnecessary brain baggage can allow for success in all parts of your life. Accepting challenge as an opportunity, rejection as a teachable moment, and focusing on what you can control (yourself) rather than holding on to everything else outside hoping it will change will make you into a more confident, productive, and happy person. I guarantee it!

Check out Dr. Nerdlove on social media and at his site for plenty more romantic resources. 

Take care!

Need Some Fresh, Positive Energy? Follow These Folks!

Happy Saturday, everyone! Just a brief post I've been wanting to do to continue to share what I'm into in hopes of making the world a little brighter. Here is a taste of some great people who are putting out great vibes daily. Most of them have links on their Twitter pages to their own sites with a plethora of more content but what I really enjoy is that by following them, I always get more than enough positivity in my news feed to keep me feeling optimistic and ready to tackle any challenges. Whether that is in the form of inspirational quotes, fascinating stories, motivational tips, or explorations of the human experience, there is something for everyone coming out of these fine folks' pages.

Positively Positive (@PositivelyPositive)

Brene Brown (@BreneBrown)

Happier (@happier)

The Good Life (@GMPGoodLife)

Highrise Habits (@HR_Habits)

Share any more pages you like in the comments! Enjoy!

Great Higher Ed. & Nerd Literature!

So, I don't read often, but when I do, I tend to try to find light, relevant, and engaging books to breeze through quickly and get something out of them. All of these books fit that mold and I have read them within the past few years as I formed the desire to make this blog. Hopefully you enjoy them as much as I did and let me know in the comments if you have any other recommendations!

1. The Introverted Leader by Dr. Jennifer Kahnweiler

This book was given to me by a past supervisor who helped me start to realize my potential despite my introvertedness, which I had originally saw as a setback. It's a fun read that has a a lot of useful activities in it. It's also a useful book for anyone who works with introverts, which is everyone! Check it out!

2. The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick

My love for Chris Hardwick has been noted here previously for his great YouTube channel of the same Nerdist namesake. I met him recently and had him sign a copy of this great self-help book that is full of his signature comedy. This book also has some great practical tips and tricks as well as geeky activities to maintain your interest like making your own D&D "character sheet" for yourself. It will change your life is you ever felt less than for being a nerd!

3. My Freshman Year by Rebekah Nathan

I read this book a short while back for a class I was taking called "American College Student" and this anthropological look inside the world of current undergraduate life is a fun read from an outsider's perspective. The premise is an anthropology professor (Nathan) at a public research university goes undercover as a first-year student and chronicles her journey through a semester living in a residence hall and taking classes. It's an affirming detail of many of the aspects of modern collegiate affairs so for anyone looking to get an inside look, give this book a read! It's a quick read too and can also be just appreciated by anyone who loves the world of college.