What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 07/03/15

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Geek-and-proud

Greetings!

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

  • Massages

I celebrated my one calendar year work anniversary this past week, and it unintentionally coincided with some self-care I took upon myself. Part of this was getting a professional massage at a local spot, which was sorely needed (see what I did there? Because I was sore...). I always carry my tension in my shoulders and lower back, which isn't helped by hunching over a keyboard most days. I'll definitely have to look into making this a regular thing or maybe even doing yoga on a regular basis. Something would be helpful to ease my tension and keep me loose and nimble.

  • Counseling

I went to speak with a counselor this week as well. It is a part of an employee assistance program, where staff can get a few free sessions with local counselors to work out any issues they're having, which is certainly a nice benefit of working at my institution. While I won't go into the details of what I talked about here, just suffice it to say that it is so important in taking care of ourselves to not forget about our mental health. I always value the opportunity to work through things with someone whose job it is to listen and help. Massages are great too, and both are crucial to staying well, physically and emotionally.

  • 4th of July

I have the pleasure of coming down to the Greater Boston Area this weekend for the Independence Day celebrations to visit my partner, Jenn. There seems to be no shortage of festivities around here and it is always nice to hang out here and spend quality time with my partner. We're seriously considering moving ourselves down here in the near future so it is always cool to check out the scene here and continue to vet it as somewhere we could settle down and put some roots down. Be sure to check out my Instagram for photos from the weekend!

Thanks for stopping by!

Going to #SDCC2015? Come Geek Out With Me!

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geekEd. Logo For any and all going to San Diego Comic Con this year, I'm helping promote and cover a panel consisting of some awesome student affairs colleagues from across the country talking about the geek community within education.

Check out the program page here for more information, but I'll be there snapping photos, taking notes, and will also be at the convention for the rest of the time too, so expect some coverage of my experience (a first for me!) right here the week after the convention.

Hope to see some friendly faces there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Reflecting On All the Things I've Done

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Clist2 I have felt at some points in my life that I have had a tragically mundane, ordinary life that hasn't had much good or bad happen in it. It was a depressing thought to consider, especially in my darker moments, but recently, I've taken time to sit down and put my mental energy to work writing down all my "greatest hits" (just like with Charlie Pace in one my favorite television shows of all time, Lost). Moments in my life, big or small, that I'm proud of. They include the places I've traveled, the accomplishments I've achieved, and the small things we should all think of more. Here are some specific examples of what I'm talking about:

  • Smiled so much my face hurt
  • Presented at a national conference
  • Visited Las Vegas, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington, DC
  • Gone to a comedy club
  • Gave good lives to my pets

Some of these things are concrete experiences in my life that I am happy to have done. Even if they aren't that special to others, they're special to me. Others are things I look back and affirm for myself. People can have regrets, doubts, and think negatively about the experiences in their life, but I challenge myself to think positively. I can never know for certain if I gave a good life for my pets, they can't tell me, but I choose to believe that I did based on the memories I have and the things I did for my two wonderful dogs I had growing up.

I'm keeping a list of experiences I want to partake in before I turn 30 in a few years. I'm making intentional efforts to accomplish them and keep updating my list of "greatest hits". It will help me in my darker moments realize that I have lived a full life and have the ability to take actions to make change my life.

I encourage folks to do something similar to this to keep the positivity flowing in their lives. Things like this or a happiness journal can let us be more mindful of what happens around us each day, and what brings us joy.

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 06/26/15

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Geek-and-proud

Greetings!

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

  • New Student Orientation

This past week has been our summer New Student Orientation at my institution. It's always a fun, exciting time welcoming new students to college and this was the first time I've been able to go through the entire process here. I even helped plan and track everything ahead of this week, so it was really nice to be able to see everything come together. A great NSO can go a long way with paying dividends for the upcoming academic year. If we really a good job getting our new students excited to come to our institution, properly prepared, and generally just feeling like they have support for this big life transition, we can retain more students and have them thrive instead of just survive. I see myself easily (ideally) transitioning to a position with orientation in the near future. It's just so much fun as well as important for the rest of the institution's operations.

I was really excited to see the news this week that we finally have our Peter Parker/Spider-Man casting for the new Marvel Cinematic Universe iteration of the beloved character. Tom Holland will be portraying the webslinger, and since he is a relative unknown, there isn't much baggage coming for the actor, which is good. He has the look and physicality down, so I'm intrigued to see if he has the comedic chops, which is so important for the character, especially go along with the current vibe of the MCU. I'm we'll see much more of Holland ahead of his debut in Captain America: Civil War in May 2016.

Seinfeld is one of my favorite shows of all time. I've seen most of the 171 episodes of the show, but I know there are some I've missed. Hulu now has the entire series streaming as of Wednesday, June 24 (only for their paid subscribers). It brings so much more value to the table for people paying into their service, and now, with a Showtime add-on on the way, it is continually proving to be a solid competition (or companion like I do) to Netflix and the other up and coming streaming services.

Thanks for stopping by!

Why Graduation Isn't The End, It's the Beginning

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* This article was originally posted on The Student Affairs Hub.

Graduation is a huge life milestone that is a mix of so many emotions for college students: excitement, fear, accomplishment, sadness, and anticipation all come to mind. It can feel like the end of something, which it is, but it is also the beginning of an era of endless possibilities for students. Once you have the time, knowledge, income, and courage to do so, life after college can be even more full than one's life at their institution. The world awaits all the recent graduates to do whatever they so choose, and it's something students should work hard to take full advantage of.
As higher education faculty and staff members, here are three key pointers to give to your students in order to encourage their personal growth and their thirst for learning after college."Keep on Being a Student"

There are numerous ways to keep on learning in the classroom like you're used to. You can keep taking one off classes at institutions near you, you can take classes online with established colleges and universities, or you can take advantage of the plethora of other web-based learning tools. Everything from Lynda.com, udemy, Codecademy, or even YouTube can help you learn new skills, master new software or tools, or even just learn some fun trivia. A lot of things can be found for free too, which is even more awesome!

 
"Travel the Country (and the World!)"

 

Whether for business or for pleasure, traveling around to new places can be an amazing learning experience. Even just going to visit a friend in a new city locally can help you understand more about what makes us all different and what makes us all the same. You can take in local sights, museums, fairs, festivals, and shows to build a list of cool and unique experiences to the fabric of your life. It's hard to capture the immense importance of traveling, but it's such a great way to become more acutely aware of the world that you just can't replicate. I encourage you to get out as much as you reasonably can so you can learn and grow as a person (and have some fun in the process!).
"Read!"

Since graduating and being done with college for the foreseeable future, it's been nice to have the time to read for pleasure. Some of you may not want to see another book for a while, but trust me that it is a tried and true (and often cheap) avenue to better yourself. There are classic works, new writing by cool current authors, and even several comic books (I'm personally a big fan) that can convey some deep concepts that enlighten you to morals about life. I've always heard that it doesn't matter what you read, it's that you read. So by all means, it can be that you read a lot of articles online about any number of things, just make sure you're keeping current on the world and reading something every once in a while for pleasure. You'll thank yourself later for it.

If you follow these tips in whatever way makes sense for you, you'll grow, learn, and be active mentally (and physically) which will help you better achieve any other goals in your life or career that you might have.
 
Go forth and do good, Class of 2015!

 

 

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 06/19/15

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Geek-and-proud

Howdy!

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

I just finished this new season a few days ago (I promise not to spoil anything), and I was pleased with how it progressed. It wasn't great, but it was good and much better than a lot of other TV out there right now, I feel like. The slow burn character work is reminiscent of something like Mad Men or Breaking Bad, which I know isn't for everyone. I enjoy it (most of the time) but I found myself frustrated at times with the consistently dark viewpoint it had where nothing ever works out well. I also yearned for more coherent and deep back stories for the inmates. What they had was always great and I wanted more! I look forward to see where season 4 takes the story (and how long they can keep the show going).

  • Chicago

My long awaited trip out to visit my friend out in Illinois is happening this weekend. I'm really excited to take another adventure out to someplace I've never been, especially because I'm seeing my friend who I haven't seen in about a year. We'll have a lot to catch up on and I know it will be an awesome weekend. I don't really know what to expect of Chicago as a city but it is always neat to see new areas of our country as well as new college campuses specifically (which I know we'll get around to a couple over the course of the weekend).

I recently confirmed everything for what is an amazing, unexpected opportunity to help support some awesome student affairs colleagues who are putting on a panel at San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) this year. They've been doing this session for 5 years now (they've also presented at ACPA) and it's a great connection between the worlds of student affairs and geekdom (sound familiar?). I'm happy to help cover their session, check out San Diego, and soak in all of the convention that I can. I'll also be getting some things off my "Before I'm 30" list, which include dipping my feet in the Pacific Ocean, and going to SDCC. Be sure to stay tuned here for coverage of the panel as well as my adventures out to San Diego next month! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

What I Was Geeking Out About: May 2015

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Geek-and-proud

Hey there! Here's what was going on in my world last month:

Every Friday, I share what's on my mind from the past week. There was so much to geek out about last month, and to help you sift through it all, here's my monthly wrap up of all the stuff that was going on in May (I skipped a week last month for my birthday, just in case you're wondering where that week is):

Thanks for stopping by!