The Best!

Yesterday afternoon was by far one of the best intern orientation meetings I have ever encountered. (It took a whole day to post this. I needed time to absorb it all. It was that intense!) Wait, rewind for a sec. All of the UGA interns are given the opportunity to visit other offices and departments within the Division of Student Affairs at UGA. The most impactful was our meeting on Monday with Dr. Rodney Bennett, VP of Student Affairs, and two of his colleagues Dr. Thomas Burke. Assoc. VP for Student Affairs, and Dr. Jan Barham, Asst. to the VP for Assessment and Staff Development.

The representatives from the VP of Student Affairs Office shared a great amount of helpful words of wisdom and incredible insight on the Student Affairs profession. I remember Dr. Bennett commenting, "The profession selects you." Interestingly, that is very much true. Many of us who are currently in Student Affairs or making progress in entering the field never knew it existed when we were in elementary school desiring to be doctors, firefighters, and master chefs. I'm not sure if it's an undergraduate major yet, which would be amazing if it was. But eventually we do find our way at the steps of Student Affairs's home and invited in to stay.

Primarily, the important take-away from this experience is the advice given for entry-level professionals in this day in age.

"Work for the organization." - Dr. Bennett.

"Humility is important." - Dr. Bennett.

"Very little is accomplished on our own." - Dr. Burke.

"Student Affairs is institutionally defined." - Dr. Bennett.

This is only a small sample of what is important for entry-level professionals to dwell upon today. We should discover what we can do to advance the office or department we work for, not push our own ideas the moment we enter the first staff meeting. We should humble ourselves and be willing to do the "odd jobs" around the office that aren't written in the position descriptions. As Quinn Morgendorffer from "Daria" once said, "If not you, who? If not now, when?" Very little is accomplished on are own, because working in Student Affairs, and many professions, is a TEAM effort! I am a big supporter of teamwork, collaboration, and partnerships, and hope many other soon-to-be entry-level professionals of my generation are the same. Lastly, the conceptualization of what Student Affairs itself is can be very different from institution to institution. It's important to hone in on what Student Affairs mean at the university we work with and decipher it rather than maintaining one definition from our grad school days. Student Affairs, as with many things, evolve and expand with age.

There is SO much more that I can say about this particular meeting with members of the VP of Student Affairs Office, but I think it may be a little overwhelming. Very powerful stuff!

Until the next posting! (^_^)