What a difference 24 hours can make. Yesterday, I delivered the last paper and presentation of the semester. What a relief.
Even though I am so motivated and focused to finish my masters program, it just feels great to go off to work this morning knowing that there won’t be any academic obligations weighing me down (until summer session starts up in July). In fact, I think that at the end of the day, I might just come home, cook dinner for my family (a first in months) and maybe hang out and watch Glee! (is it on tonight?)
So today, I can go to work (what a FABULOUS thing to be able to say), and know that when I come home, I can just come home. When I leave at 5 or 5:30, I won’t be rushing off to a paper, or 6 chapters of mind numbing theory reading, or messing with power point to get the music perfectly synched with my slides, or wondering if I had researched deeply enough, or, or, or.
Of course there are always other worries to put on my list, - like, will my job be re-funded in July, am I up for the challenge, can I handle an office with no window, etc. etc. and so on…..but today – I am just going to focus on one thing. My new sparkly shiny job!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
First Week on the Job
I am in my first week as a Student Development Associate at a community college. I am involved with recruiting and reviewing admissions applications for educationally and financially disadvantaged students into a scholarship opportunity program.
Settling into my office is slow. My position is temporary through June, so I do not want to get too comfortable (although I am dying to set it up with pictures, a stash of bottled water, hang my favorite quilt on the wall, find the perfect inspirational quote for my desk, etc). It took a few days to hook up with the tech department and get my log ins all squared away.
I have met some people in my department, but I still have many folks to get to know. That's for next week.
Being the new kid in the office is fun, exciting and a little nerve wracking. I am old enough to know its okay to ask dumb questions. That's how you get un-dumb! And I'm also smart enough to get to know the folks around me and make those connections. But when the new job jitters act up, I do my breathing exercises and think about my kids. That always calms me down. Plus, I have only met fabulous people.
On our visits to the high schools, I have met with some very promising students. And that is very exciting to know I can be a part of lending them a hand as they reach toward their dreams. But, some of their stories break my heart. Yesterday, it was a sweet, bright, red head who is living with her grandparents. Youth Services removed her from her parents' home. Yet she remains hopeful about her life and has learned to over come a lot for having lived so short a time on this planet. When we meet with the high school seniors, they are smart, they are nervous, and they are hopeful. There have been some very happy experiences and I feel privileged to be in their company.
Today was difficult. We met with two students who live in the heart of darkness. Tough neighborhood. Tough personal and emotional issues. Somehow, they have kept themselves focused on their dreams and stayed out of trouble. But when I reviewed their transcripts, my heart sank. Terrible grades. As I walked to the parking lot, I realized that was a pivotal moment for those two young men. They had the dreams. They had the will. They still had hope in their eyes and sweet friendly smiles. But they did not have the grades and they did not have the financial resources.
I got in my car, drove away, and had my first good cry. When I got back to the office, I bucked up my reserve and decided I was going to have to find a way to care without letting it kill me.
Settling into my office is slow. My position is temporary through June, so I do not want to get too comfortable (although I am dying to set it up with pictures, a stash of bottled water, hang my favorite quilt on the wall, find the perfect inspirational quote for my desk, etc). It took a few days to hook up with the tech department and get my log ins all squared away.
I have met some people in my department, but I still have many folks to get to know. That's for next week.
Being the new kid in the office is fun, exciting and a little nerve wracking. I am old enough to know its okay to ask dumb questions. That's how you get un-dumb! And I'm also smart enough to get to know the folks around me and make those connections. But when the new job jitters act up, I do my breathing exercises and think about my kids. That always calms me down. Plus, I have only met fabulous people.
On our visits to the high schools, I have met with some very promising students. And that is very exciting to know I can be a part of lending them a hand as they reach toward their dreams. But, some of their stories break my heart. Yesterday, it was a sweet, bright, red head who is living with her grandparents. Youth Services removed her from her parents' home. Yet she remains hopeful about her life and has learned to over come a lot for having lived so short a time on this planet. When we meet with the high school seniors, they are smart, they are nervous, and they are hopeful. There have been some very happy experiences and I feel privileged to be in their company.
Today was difficult. We met with two students who live in the heart of darkness. Tough neighborhood. Tough personal and emotional issues. Somehow, they have kept themselves focused on their dreams and stayed out of trouble. But when I reviewed their transcripts, my heart sank. Terrible grades. As I walked to the parking lot, I realized that was a pivotal moment for those two young men. They had the dreams. They had the will. They still had hope in their eyes and sweet friendly smiles. But they did not have the grades and they did not have the financial resources.
I got in my car, drove away, and had my first good cry. When I got back to the office, I bucked up my reserve and decided I was going to have to find a way to care without letting it kill me.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Gift of Student Affairs Interviews
So – for the last two weeks, I have been interviewing. Interviewing for jobs for pay, and interviewing for Internships that would fulfill my MSEd Student Affairs and College Counseling program requirements.
It is an exhausting process. All you job hunters know that. You have to get pumped up to sell yourself. You have to research and prepare. You have to figure out what to wear. You have to put your eyes and ears on steroids and focus, listen, learn, and get a sense of the culture, the personalities, the karma, and the office vibes. If you don’t have a GPS, and you are as directionally challenged as I am, you have to leave a good half hour for getting lost.
During the interview, you have one hour to collect enough data to decide, do I belong here?
After the interview, you process the experience on different levels. I find myself spending more time thinking about the second person in the room who said very little. The few questions she asked were incredibly focused. She also had the opportunity to sit back and observe me as I was engaged with the Director who was asking most of the questions. I’ll just bet she got a really good read on me.
This is my encore career and I want to make it count. I want to be happy, challenged, and find people and students to work with that light my fire. And I’m no dope. I know there will be good days and bad days. No matter where I land. But I want to make sure it’s at a place where it is okay to have bad day. And the folks around me will help each other out.
So guess what? Interviewing for Student Affairs positions is a gift. The self selection process means that on the whole, the people you meet on this interviewing gig are remarkable. Sensational. Amazing. They are helpers and problem solvers. They have been trained to leave their ego at the door….or to leverage it for the common good. They want to help students and they want to help their institutions. They are believers and they are excited about what they do.
My take away from this process has been the opportunity to meet many wonderful people. To all you fellow job hunters out there, what are your take aways?
It is an exhausting process. All you job hunters know that. You have to get pumped up to sell yourself. You have to research and prepare. You have to figure out what to wear. You have to put your eyes and ears on steroids and focus, listen, learn, and get a sense of the culture, the personalities, the karma, and the office vibes. If you don’t have a GPS, and you are as directionally challenged as I am, you have to leave a good half hour for getting lost.
During the interview, you have one hour to collect enough data to decide, do I belong here?
After the interview, you process the experience on different levels. I find myself spending more time thinking about the second person in the room who said very little. The few questions she asked were incredibly focused. She also had the opportunity to sit back and observe me as I was engaged with the Director who was asking most of the questions. I’ll just bet she got a really good read on me.
This is my encore career and I want to make it count. I want to be happy, challenged, and find people and students to work with that light my fire. And I’m no dope. I know there will be good days and bad days. No matter where I land. But I want to make sure it’s at a place where it is okay to have bad day. And the folks around me will help each other out.
So guess what? Interviewing for Student Affairs positions is a gift. The self selection process means that on the whole, the people you meet on this interviewing gig are remarkable. Sensational. Amazing. They are helpers and problem solvers. They have been trained to leave their ego at the door….or to leverage it for the common good. They want to help students and they want to help their institutions. They are believers and they are excited about what they do.
My take away from this process has been the opportunity to meet many wonderful people. To all you fellow job hunters out there, what are your take aways?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Encore Careers
I am preparing my next post, based on my untethered excitement on a freshly minted book, The Big Shift: Navigating The New Stage Beyond Midlife , written by Marc Freedman.
I have not finished the book, but I have highlighted roughly 95% of what I have read so far.
The basic premise is this: we are living longer and we are living healthier. The boomers are experiencing/defining/marketing a new age category, as yet to be named. We are at or past mid life, and we still have miles to go before our children decide its time to relinquish our drivers’ licenses.
Baby boomers have defined new trends throughout their lives from the 60’s social revolution on forward. This group has consistently displayed willingness to reflect upon the meaning and value of their lives and initiate changes.
There is potential here for all types of higher education institutions to serve this interesting, inspiring, and growing trend. And in fact, several already have.
I am eager to jump into this conversation, but need to finish the book first. I’ll be back.
I have not finished the book, but I have highlighted roughly 95% of what I have read so far.
The basic premise is this: we are living longer and we are living healthier. The boomers are experiencing/defining/marketing a new age category, as yet to be named. We are at or past mid life, and we still have miles to go before our children decide its time to relinquish our drivers’ licenses.
Baby boomers have defined new trends throughout their lives from the 60’s social revolution on forward. This group has consistently displayed willingness to reflect upon the meaning and value of their lives and initiate changes.
There is potential here for all types of higher education institutions to serve this interesting, inspiring, and growing trend. And in fact, several already have.
I am eager to jump into this conversation, but need to finish the book first. I’ll be back.
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Job interview invitation!
It’s been a long winter in New Jersey. Lots of snow, lots of work. I have been interning several hours per week, working in Real Estate to pay the rent, and going to graduate school at night. I am lucky. My husband does the laundry and the grocery shopping and he and the kids cheer me on when I question my efforts.
But every morning, the first thing I ask myself is “how am I going to get everything that needs to get done today?” I am tired. Reading the headlines from the Chronicle or CNN doesn’t help. Gloom and doom. Will I get a job? Will someone hire a mid-life career changer? With wrinkles? Is this investment in time, money, and loss of living a normal life worth it? All my mid life friends are busy socializing. I am too busy with Power Point. Doubt haunts me at inopportune hours, wee in the night.
But today, Joy snuck up from behind and gave me a desperately needed shot in the arm.
If I played the lottery, I’d play the number 41111, today’s date. I would play it because today was a three star date for this mid-life career changer. As a mom, I was thrilled by my 16 year old daughter’s great news. She got accepted into a summer program she has been obsessed by. Witnessing her joy was a gift. She navigated the entire admissions process on her own and did herself proud. Made my heart squeeze with happiness!
An hour later, my cell phone rang, and it was an invitation to interview for a job I had applied to! Even though I have 18 credits to go in my graduate program, my internship supervisor, the Dean at the Center for Student Success, suggested that I start sending my resume out now. I am so glad I took her advice. The position is temporary (just for the summer) but it is in my area of choice as an educational counselor working with Educational Opportunity Fund students, (a NJ program with amazing support for low income college students.)
If I am lucky enough to get the position, you will hear my shouts of joy across the land. If I don’t get the job, it will be a great start. To get the phone call, validating my choice to go to grad school is fuel enough for today. And tomorrow. And hopefully enough to get me through the semester and beyond.
The third star? I logged into my email, and found an invitation for a telephone interview for an internship position for next fall. I applied three weeks ago, and had just about given up hope. It is with a wonderful college and is my absolute first choice. I am jumping around all over the house!
Joy, joy, pure joy. Hard work does reward. Developing great references pays off. Joining professional associations and volunteering for them makes a contribution, builds your resume, makes you feel good, and helps others who are dedicated to your field of choice.
My dad was right. Just keep plugging away. It will pay off in the end. If you are feeling discouraged, contact me. Right now, I have enough enthusiasm to raise the Titanic and will gladly help you build up enough juice to do the same! Peace out!
But every morning, the first thing I ask myself is “how am I going to get everything that needs to get done today?” I am tired. Reading the headlines from the Chronicle or CNN doesn’t help. Gloom and doom. Will I get a job? Will someone hire a mid-life career changer? With wrinkles? Is this investment in time, money, and loss of living a normal life worth it? All my mid life friends are busy socializing. I am too busy with Power Point. Doubt haunts me at inopportune hours, wee in the night.
But today, Joy snuck up from behind and gave me a desperately needed shot in the arm.
If I played the lottery, I’d play the number 41111, today’s date. I would play it because today was a three star date for this mid-life career changer. As a mom, I was thrilled by my 16 year old daughter’s great news. She got accepted into a summer program she has been obsessed by. Witnessing her joy was a gift. She navigated the entire admissions process on her own and did herself proud. Made my heart squeeze with happiness!
An hour later, my cell phone rang, and it was an invitation to interview for a job I had applied to! Even though I have 18 credits to go in my graduate program, my internship supervisor, the Dean at the Center for Student Success, suggested that I start sending my resume out now. I am so glad I took her advice. The position is temporary (just for the summer) but it is in my area of choice as an educational counselor working with Educational Opportunity Fund students, (a NJ program with amazing support for low income college students.)
If I am lucky enough to get the position, you will hear my shouts of joy across the land. If I don’t get the job, it will be a great start. To get the phone call, validating my choice to go to grad school is fuel enough for today. And tomorrow. And hopefully enough to get me through the semester and beyond.
The third star? I logged into my email, and found an invitation for a telephone interview for an internship position for next fall. I applied three weeks ago, and had just about given up hope. It is with a wonderful college and is my absolute first choice. I am jumping around all over the house!
Joy, joy, pure joy. Hard work does reward. Developing great references pays off. Joining professional associations and volunteering for them makes a contribution, builds your resume, makes you feel good, and helps others who are dedicated to your field of choice.
My dad was right. Just keep plugging away. It will pay off in the end. If you are feeling discouraged, contact me. Right now, I have enough enthusiasm to raise the Titanic and will gladly help you build up enough juice to do the same! Peace out!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Supervising and Being an Intern - training the trainer
In my evening class for Internship, we have an excellent professor who offers pointed advice and generous support. We speak about our weekly experiences, problems, questions, successes. It is a fantastic group of women in the class and a very supportive environment.
What I took away from last night's class discussion, was that we all, at times, feel like the 16 year old kid at our first job. The boss barks out from his or her office to get a cup of coffee and you are like, sure.....where's the coffee pot? or how do I use this thing? or omg, why am I making this guy/gal coffee? I came here to learn how to ____________(fill in the blank). Not be a waitress!
So, as it turns out, some internships are better than others. Some internship supervisors are better at training interns than others. I am lucky. My supervisor is always available when I ask for some of her time. She has been as accommodating as possible, and has been kind when I have asked for experiences that she cannot supply due to confidentiality issues. I am sure in the future I will look back at some of my questions and realize I was asking for inappropriate things. But hey - sometimes learning takes the form of mistakes.
And it is truly up to me what I make of it.
At one point last night, I felt frustrated by one of my classmates. She and her supervisor have not really gelled and it sounds like a tense situation for both. This classmate has had several weeks of sharing with us her frustrations. I finally said last night that I thought she should relax and lower her expectations of the experience. We are really as much there to observe as we are to practice.
however, this morning, I was thinking about her again and realized maybe I was wrong. We should set the highest of expectations for our internships. If the site supervisor signed up for this, they too should set their expectations just as high. However, the reality is, these folks are busy. Some, on overload. Maybe they never received training on how to train?
If you are supervising an intern, how have you tried to make this experience meaningful for your intern and for your department?
What I took away from last night's class discussion, was that we all, at times, feel like the 16 year old kid at our first job. The boss barks out from his or her office to get a cup of coffee and you are like, sure.....where's the coffee pot? or how do I use this thing? or omg, why am I making this guy/gal coffee? I came here to learn how to ____________(fill in the blank). Not be a waitress!
So, as it turns out, some internships are better than others. Some internship supervisors are better at training interns than others. I am lucky. My supervisor is always available when I ask for some of her time. She has been as accommodating as possible, and has been kind when I have asked for experiences that she cannot supply due to confidentiality issues. I am sure in the future I will look back at some of my questions and realize I was asking for inappropriate things. But hey - sometimes learning takes the form of mistakes.
And it is truly up to me what I make of it.
At one point last night, I felt frustrated by one of my classmates. She and her supervisor have not really gelled and it sounds like a tense situation for both. This classmate has had several weeks of sharing with us her frustrations. I finally said last night that I thought she should relax and lower her expectations of the experience. We are really as much there to observe as we are to practice.
however, this morning, I was thinking about her again and realized maybe I was wrong. We should set the highest of expectations for our internships. If the site supervisor signed up for this, they too should set their expectations just as high. However, the reality is, these folks are busy. Some, on overload. Maybe they never received training on how to train?
If you are supervising an intern, how have you tried to make this experience meaningful for your intern and for your department?
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Resumes
How can something so apparently simple be so difficult?
I absolutely break out into hives whenever I sit down to work on my resume. I also get a headache.
So, I understand what purpose a resume fulfills. I understand the rules. I understand no typos.
However, if you have several years experience in a different career field, are in graduate school and changing careers, how do you package the "previous work experience?"
TO begin with, I feel proud, very proud of my recent graduate work and internship work. It is a joy to work on the EDUCATION, SKILLS, and RELATED EXPERIENCES. I am the queen of volunteering, and so much of that fits right in with Student Affairs. I also have a few professional presentation presentation notches on my belt and its great to include them on my CV. I feel good about all of that.
However, I have covered a lot of miles in my life, and acquired a lot of "easily transferrable: skills and experiences. But, I don't want to confuse the reader. And I do NOT want someone to walk away with the feeling that I might be..........too old.
If anyone has any thoughts, or has been in this situation, how would you advise?
I absolutely break out into hives whenever I sit down to work on my resume. I also get a headache.
So, I understand what purpose a resume fulfills. I understand the rules. I understand no typos.
However, if you have several years experience in a different career field, are in graduate school and changing careers, how do you package the "previous work experience?"
TO begin with, I feel proud, very proud of my recent graduate work and internship work. It is a joy to work on the EDUCATION, SKILLS, and RELATED EXPERIENCES. I am the queen of volunteering, and so much of that fits right in with Student Affairs. I also have a few professional presentation presentation notches on my belt and its great to include them on my CV. I feel good about all of that.
However, I have covered a lot of miles in my life, and acquired a lot of "easily transferrable: skills and experiences. But, I don't want to confuse the reader. And I do NOT want someone to walk away with the feeling that I might be..........too old.
If anyone has any thoughts, or has been in this situation, how would you advise?
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