It's the end of the school year as we know it! By now most, if not all colleges have closed up shop for the summer. I am sure it's such a good feeling. I know for me it is. For what will be a short month there won't be night and weekend obligations. I hope everyone had a good year and all those who started new jobs, either moved institutions or were starting your first jobs had good experiences at new places. It's kind of hard to decide if your year has been successful or not, well you survived so that is the first sign of success. If you made an impact on just one person's life weather it was a student, someone you were advising, or even someone you were working with, that would be considered successful.
I am sure all of you have had to do this at one point or another, close a building. As a wife, I don't completely understand all that goes into closing a building other then not seeing my husband for pretty much a whole weekend. Those experiencing this for the first time, trust me it's normal and it's all apart of the business. Yes, it can be hard because it's not something that happens, but the sliver lining is that it's only one weekend out of the year. Yes, on the flip side of that is opening but that's not as time consuming at most places as closing. When you have a significant other having to close a building the best you can do is be patient. Understand that even when they are home they might be call away to deal with something. They will come home completely worn down because they are walking the whole entire building and doing it multiple times depending on where the rooms that still need to be checked are. Also be prepared for what could be horror stories. College students aren't always as clean as you were in college(and if you weren't the cleanest person in your residence hall then you now have a new respect for your hall director). I am sure your significant other will complain about everything from the smell to the state of the bathroom. Unfortunately not everyone will think about cleaning when they are just wanting to get the heck out of dodge. Who you should feel for are the custodians who will have to get all of that cleaned up. If your college hosts conferences or camps most of the buildings will be used throughout the summer so will need to be completely cleaned in a timely manner.
Now is the time of the year that you can actually do most of your couple stuff. Over the summer before training starts there are not that many night and weekend obligations because student organizations don't meet, there are no events going on and unless they are coordinator for a camp or conference they spend all their time in their office and just meetings among other housing staff. For the first time they might come home at a decent hour, not have to go back to work after dinner, won't have to be up early on a Saturday to make an event. That pesky duty phone will barely ring. It will be a wonderful and glorious thing until training starts so take advantage of summer time while you can. It will go by fast and before you know it, your significant other will be knee deep in training and opening and then the regular school year will start and everything will start all over again.
A bit of good news is that it does seem to get easier as the years go on and of course as your significant other gets different jobs at different levels, there will be different obligations when it comes to all those different times of year and that will also make it a bit easier. Now it might never get to the point there they have no obligations at closing, only if they leave housing, but their level of participation will change as they change jobs. Just know that you can handle it. It's honestly only a small blip of time in the course of your life. For me, when my husband works late, it's time for me to watch those chick flicks I know he wouldn't really want to watch with me. I haven't done it yet, but if you have a lot of girlfriends, or are friends with other housing wives, then take this opportunity to have a girls night so you all don't feel alone. Heck go to bed early just so you can have the whole bed to yourself for a while. Just remember they are doing what they love and are passionate about and your love and support is all they need to get through the long days.
Hope everyone experienced a smooth closing and will enjoy their summer.
Friday, May 13, 2016
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Diversity
I have been thinking long and hard about if I wanted to post on this subject or not. I mean who am I really to talk about diversity. I am a middle aged, white female. There isn't much diversity in me but, it's all around me. It's all around everyone and with this day and age of social media it's getting more and more attention and people need to pay attention to it.
Working in a college or university setting you are probably exposed to the most diverse population. A university is made up of all types of people. All different races, genders, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, social status, emotional state, make up a university. As a member of housing you are probably exposed to it the most because you interact with all those students on a daily basis and are charged with making sure each and every student is housed and feels safe in the environment you are providing them. All of those different people are mixed together and honestly some are not use to such diversity and they need to be helped to understand the world around them.
As professionals it's up to you to set the example of tolerance and acceptance of all people. Especially this year being a presidential voting year there is a lot being said about all different kinds of people and the best you can do is the best to keep the negative out of both your work environment as well as the general student environment that you are charged with looking after. I am not discouraging not talking politics but I am encouraging that you do it smartly and carefully as to not offend anyone, especially those you interact with on a daily basis.
I honestly believe that the university system is the most diverse population in the world, no other place will have a blending of so many different kind of people. Just think about it, at any given American university there are obviously natural born US citizens, students who have come over from other countries in order to get the best education that they can get(especially those from countries who have limited higher education opportunities). You have whites, African Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, Europeans, Asians, Native Americans, people whose family has been living in this country for centuries, people whose family immigrated not that long ago. You have people of varying genders, you have obviously males and females, but you also have those who are transgender and going through major changes in their lives. You have all different sexual orientations, those who are homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, questioning their sexuality and all their supporters. You have people of various economic statuses, those who are lucky enough to come from wealthy families that might be able to afford to pay for college, those who have to take out loans in order to attend, those who are able to get scholarships to pay for all or help pay for college, those who have worked for as long as they can remember and continue to work in order to pay because they don't want to take out loans. You also have people coming in from different social status, those that were super popular in the last school they were in and expect it to be that way again. Those that were considered the outcast and will find it hard to fit in to such a large population. Those that are somewhere in the middle and are trying to find the right place. Everyone trying to decide where they will fit in to the dynamic of the college setting. Even people of all different emotional states come to college. Those that are always happy and constantly see the sliver lining and the best of everything. Those that struggle with depression and have a hard time finding the good in life, those that have anxiety that will only be magnified in the high pressure situation of doing well in class and getting that degree. I know I am missing groups of people, but those are all I can think of off the top of my head.
As people who work in Res Ed, you are probably exposed to every single one of those people at some point throughout at least the college year. You talk to students on a daily basis and you probably know more about the population of students living on campus then those individuals actually living there. You have to help those students get along with one another. Most students will not have been exposed to all those types of people before and they will not completely understand or know how to interact with certain types of people. It's your responsibility to help them. Encourage them and guide them through their years of living on campus and hopefully teach them a thing or two about what is going on around them.
Best thing I think anyone working in Res Ed can do for themselves and for the students living on campus is to educate yourself and your students. Education yourself and your students on all the different groups of people that may inhabit within the residence halls. You might not be able to cover them all but you can do as much as you can. Best way to educate students is through programs. Programs that help students learn about the various groups of people I honestly believe will help those students become more well rounded and accepting adults. You are usually scared of the unknown, and so if you educate yourself and others about things that they might not know hopefully they won't be as scared and can have a better understanding of life and be more accepting. By educating on the various groups of people you are teaching tolerance and acceptance, not only of other people but of yourself. You honestly don't know who is struggling with what. If you teach students it's OK to be who you are and to be accepting of those who are different then them, then you are honestly creating a better living place for everyone. Will everyone be moved to change how they behave towards others, of course not. But if a program educating the students on a certain group of people even helps one person be more accepting of another then I would call it a success. With the way society is being divided, it's up to us to help bring people together and understand and accept people who are different then us. What better way to bring people of different backgrounds together then on a college campus where diversity runs through it all.
On a different note, I know it's spring break season, so safe travels to all who are going on adventures for spring break!
Working in a college or university setting you are probably exposed to the most diverse population. A university is made up of all types of people. All different races, genders, ethnicity, sexual orientation, economic status, social status, emotional state, make up a university. As a member of housing you are probably exposed to it the most because you interact with all those students on a daily basis and are charged with making sure each and every student is housed and feels safe in the environment you are providing them. All of those different people are mixed together and honestly some are not use to such diversity and they need to be helped to understand the world around them.
As professionals it's up to you to set the example of tolerance and acceptance of all people. Especially this year being a presidential voting year there is a lot being said about all different kinds of people and the best you can do is the best to keep the negative out of both your work environment as well as the general student environment that you are charged with looking after. I am not discouraging not talking politics but I am encouraging that you do it smartly and carefully as to not offend anyone, especially those you interact with on a daily basis.
I honestly believe that the university system is the most diverse population in the world, no other place will have a blending of so many different kind of people. Just think about it, at any given American university there are obviously natural born US citizens, students who have come over from other countries in order to get the best education that they can get(especially those from countries who have limited higher education opportunities). You have whites, African Americans, Latinos, Hispanics, Europeans, Asians, Native Americans, people whose family has been living in this country for centuries, people whose family immigrated not that long ago. You have people of varying genders, you have obviously males and females, but you also have those who are transgender and going through major changes in their lives. You have all different sexual orientations, those who are homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual, questioning their sexuality and all their supporters. You have people of various economic statuses, those who are lucky enough to come from wealthy families that might be able to afford to pay for college, those who have to take out loans in order to attend, those who are able to get scholarships to pay for all or help pay for college, those who have worked for as long as they can remember and continue to work in order to pay because they don't want to take out loans. You also have people coming in from different social status, those that were super popular in the last school they were in and expect it to be that way again. Those that were considered the outcast and will find it hard to fit in to such a large population. Those that are somewhere in the middle and are trying to find the right place. Everyone trying to decide where they will fit in to the dynamic of the college setting. Even people of all different emotional states come to college. Those that are always happy and constantly see the sliver lining and the best of everything. Those that struggle with depression and have a hard time finding the good in life, those that have anxiety that will only be magnified in the high pressure situation of doing well in class and getting that degree. I know I am missing groups of people, but those are all I can think of off the top of my head.
As people who work in Res Ed, you are probably exposed to every single one of those people at some point throughout at least the college year. You talk to students on a daily basis and you probably know more about the population of students living on campus then those individuals actually living there. You have to help those students get along with one another. Most students will not have been exposed to all those types of people before and they will not completely understand or know how to interact with certain types of people. It's your responsibility to help them. Encourage them and guide them through their years of living on campus and hopefully teach them a thing or two about what is going on around them.
Best thing I think anyone working in Res Ed can do for themselves and for the students living on campus is to educate yourself and your students. Education yourself and your students on all the different groups of people that may inhabit within the residence halls. You might not be able to cover them all but you can do as much as you can. Best way to educate students is through programs. Programs that help students learn about the various groups of people I honestly believe will help those students become more well rounded and accepting adults. You are usually scared of the unknown, and so if you educate yourself and others about things that they might not know hopefully they won't be as scared and can have a better understanding of life and be more accepting. By educating on the various groups of people you are teaching tolerance and acceptance, not only of other people but of yourself. You honestly don't know who is struggling with what. If you teach students it's OK to be who you are and to be accepting of those who are different then them, then you are honestly creating a better living place for everyone. Will everyone be moved to change how they behave towards others, of course not. But if a program educating the students on a certain group of people even helps one person be more accepting of another then I would call it a success. With the way society is being divided, it's up to us to help bring people together and understand and accept people who are different then us. What better way to bring people of different backgrounds together then on a college campus where diversity runs through it all.
On a different note, I know it's spring break season, so safe travels to all who are going on adventures for spring break!
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