Ummmm.....

Learning to Grow

I had my annual evaluation today, and boy did I learn alot. Overall, it was a very successful year, and I had the good fortune to glean quite a few valuable lessons from my supervisors, coworkers, students, peers, and other mentors. While I'm fully aware that there is plenty more growth to come in my future, I once again find myself falling in love with the cycle that defines this job: you work for a while, evaluate, and get to start all over again. This time I'll be starting with a new facility, new staff, new communities, a new supervisor, and other novelties; but the lessons from this past year must remain in the forefront of my mind. As it was said today: don't change who I am, but work on defining myself as the professional. Words to live by, if there ever were.

So then, here are the pieces I intend to work on over the next year. I'm going to plaster them in all kinds of obvious places: office, emails, around the home, in my phone's reminders, etc. I find that my most consistent methods of improvement result when I literally bombard myself in a message, theme, or idea. And this idea? Growth.

1. I've fallen into the buddy-buddy trap, and it's time to climb out. I've got a fresh start to work on my ability to be authoritative, professional, and "distanced" in a sense. Now that I've found a life and activities outside of work (thanks to my wonderful derby community and lovely girlfriend) I'm hoping that this distance comes naturally. The more active component, however, is going to depend largely on my consistency... not just from person-to-person, but more day-to-day. How am I consistently sending the right messages with my words and actions? How am I demonstrating authority and credibility while not seeming unapproachable? These are new balances I want (and need) to master.
2. Explore my creative side. I've looked at the amazing programs and events that staff across campus have put on, and I find myself intimidated. I'm no art major, but I know that some intentional time spent developing my "ideas and questions" for my students will help serve them in the long run. More purposefully asking deliberate questions ("have you considered xyz?" or "what's the community implications of this?") will enable my students to see the bigger picture, help bring clarity to our efforts, and in turn better communicate our messages to the community at large. I'll bring my own flair to publications, bulletin boards, door decs, etc. but ultimately I want to find ways to encourage that deliberate, creative thought in my students and staff.
3. Make every engagement educational, and redefine what is academic. If I'm holding a 2 hour staff meeting, it had better be a meaningful, engaging two hours. It should involve outside materials and presenters, opportunities for people to voice their input and lead sessions, etc. Using this intentionality as the example, I need to assist my staff in forming Educational Interactions (intentionally capital EI) to better fulfill the mission of why we're here.

These are lofty goals, but should certainly be attainable. The one deciding factor in these efforts will be ME. Am I devoting enough time to planning? Am I properly invested in my students, their development, etc.? Am I creating the proper environment for this learning to occur? I can only hope that a blog post one year from now will confirm these efforts, and that I'll continue to learn to grow.

Just a link, for now

SO, after a whirlwind time in Boston, I'm delighted to confirm that I did indeed meet up with my old friend Lauren, who is being published! She asked me to take some headshots for her, which I was honored to do. You can find the flickr album here. In return for my services, she hooked a brotha up with some SWEET wheels for my skates. They're used, but still FAR superior to the little dinky ones that came with the skates. I can't WAIT to get them tested soon :)

Student Conduct and other thoughts

Worry ye not, co-workers. I'm not giving away any of our conduct secrets here. Nor am I going to divulge any private or confidential information, kids. That's not like me.

I've come to believe some additional things in recent weeks about the student conduct process. Granted, my experience at Indiana with it was limited (I'll ne'er forget my first case... so young was I), but I thought I had a pretty clear understanding of it by the time I got to Mizzou. While I would argue that I wasn't wrong in that assertion, I would now say that I had no idea the breadth and depth of knowledge that I would acquire here.

Now, I'll also admit that my experience has been less-than-average when it comes to numbers. My particular hall (before this whole Master Plan thing kicked in) was definitely below-average in terms of conduct numbers; but I'm proud of the fact that I sought out opportunities to help other HC's with their halls. I'm glad I was able to consistently meet young men and women from different parts of campus, involved in the process for a variety of reasons. While the number one situation - alcohol - comes as no surprise to anyone, the variety of contexts in which I would meet these students is something I could have never predicted.

What also amazes me is that I'll never hear it all. Even with our sub-7,000 residence hall population, I know that we will never run out of new excuses that we hear, new "reasons why I shouldn't be in trouble," and new instances of complete and total apathy. It's a good opportunity to reflect on my upbringing, I suppose, and realize that something my parents (okay, so it was mom, let's be honest) instilled in me - namely, shame for my misbehavior - is becoming all too often a rare thing. Don't get me wrong, I interact with plenty of students who show understanding and remorse, and they make the job abundantly more than worth it... But to know that there are just as many people out there who don't even feel the need to cooperate when they're already in trouble for doing something is just beyond me. It's a good reminder about the value of honesty and openness that I need to continue to push for in my interactions with others.

In a completely unrelated note, I now know an author! My friend Lauren (yes, the same Lauren who got me involved in Alternative Spring Break and Roller Derby) has announced her signing on to a Young Adult lit group. I'm uber-excited for her... and it's not just because she's asked me to do the Author Photo for the book :)

Oh, and for those of you sickened by outward displays of affection and lovey-doveyness, please cease reading now.

I LOVES MAH BOO!

Outside Pack Refereeing

Just got finished my first Derby practice where I tried my hand at outside pack refereeing. It's amazing how something you find yourself becoming more comfortable with suddenly changes completely once you move positions :)

Seriously though, I'm sore as hell. Skating inside was more about maintaining visibility... outside refereeing is half refereeing and half staying ahead of them. I'll learn more, eventually, and find ways to start ahead and maintain my speed. Dodging the girls was also a fun new challenge. However, I find myself in an odd predicament: I have yet to call a true penalty. I've called pack-related things (split pack, out of play warnings, calling off the jam, etc.). It's partially a hesitation to make the right calls, but also partially worrying about making sure that I'm making the RIGHT call. It's just one of those things that comes with time, I suppose.

Living with Zapps

I've now been a cat co-owner for a few weeks, and there are definitely quirks to living with a kitten that I could never have expected. I'm going to enumerate the few that resonate most powerfully, either because they're potent memories, or the most frequent occurrences, or simply because I find them the most hilarious.

1. Prepare to be licked. Alot. Zapps' tongue is her way of communicating many things: I want attention, Thank you, You smell like enchiladas, etc. It's a new experience too: that rough, gritty, I-love-this-but-hate-it surface that can really start to irritate your skin after a while. You get used to the frequency, but never the act itself :)

2. Much like a three year old child, anything can be a toy if used properly. Paper bag? Heavenly. Laptop cord? A real treat. Aggie Ring? Shiny, and therefore, desirable. Empty Cheerios box? A delight. Toy balls aren't just toy balls: they're outlets for pure kitten joy.

3. If it jingles, glows, vibrates, tickles, bounces, swings, or makes noise, it's exciting. Some of the toys that we have for pets now - climbing towers, electronic things that move at random, etc... they simply amaze me. We're in love with our pets, and rightly so. They dont' hold grudges quite as long as children to ;)

4. Poop is an experience. I'll leave this one at just that.

5. Showers are to be examined and probed, but never taken. So, this might just be a Zapps thing, but when I'm in the shower, she'll jump between the green and clear curtains, and watch the water splash and drip down (safely protected herself, though). Occasionally she'll try to poke her head into the actual shower zone, but the water quickly sends her bolting for the bathroom door. I'm not sure what our first bath experience is going to be like, but I have my apprehensions :)

6. Who needs a collar? There's a reason my cat's middle name is Houdini. She can get out of any collar. No matter how (appropriately) tight I make it, no matter how much I distract her, she has the ability to pop it off. That's actually how Laura and I first met her - at the shelter, with her blue collar resting on the floor, a curious smile on her face.

7. Teaching is, as I know from previous points of life, difficult and slow. Kids taught me this, but the cat has reminded me of it. She's not a terrible scratcher by any means, but she does have her vices: jumping on the dining room table, trying to chew on my MacBook power cable, etc. I know she'll break these eventually, but in the meantime, I find myself saying "No Zapps" quite a bit... and then immediately petting her again.

8. Laptops make great beds, beds make great caves, and the best home is a cardboard box. Seriously... cats are weird.

Holi-daze

Works is hard over the holiday season.

Not only is it the biggest and busiest time of year for society at large, it doubles when you're in charge of a residence hall. SO many things to do, not to mention trying to be on top of my normal human holiday activities. So harsh. SO exciting :)