Oh no, loves. Far from it!
Today, Saturday, July 31st, is the final day of my ACUHO-I Summer Internship with the University of Georgia. I laughed, I cried, felt a lil' awkward and random at times, reminisced about some awesome days, and most importantly I grew tremendously during my experiences with Freshman College.
I will certainly miss all of the interns I've gotten to know and their stories about futures in Student Affairs or elsewhere. I will of course miss the Pro Staffers and Grad Staffers in Housing who always made me laugh during lunch, dinner, or while watching a few episodes of True Blood. I will definitely miss my quick ability to learn the UGA Campus Bus System. East-West, AG Hill, and Russell Hall lines are my new besties when it comes to getting to where I need to be at UGA. I will miss the in depth and developing conversations with many of my new mentors, colleagues, and friends in Res Life who encourage me to do great things, be myself, and continue to learn all there is to learn in becoming a great Student Affairs professional.
As my supervisor reminded me, "All good things must come to an end." Indeed my life and times as a Bulldog for a summer was a good thing. I got a chance to sample UGA and the Athens area, take many a trip to Atlanta, and gauge where I might be if I were hired to join the department. UGA is definitely on my list of potential schools for entry-level positions during the 2011 job search.
I know I will have lots more to say in detail, but I shall save that for another post in the near future. Thanks for reading and keeping up with my posts. Have a fun and safe rest of the summer!!! Ta! (^_^)
~Steven
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
What. And another one... (^_^)
Hi friends!
Wow! I still can't believe that my life and times in Athens, GA is almost coming to a close. It's like a week and a half left, yet still so much to do. LOL!
Lately, I was able to poke my head in some training sessions with the new graduate student staff in Housing. At UGA, they are called "Graduate Residents", compared to our title at UF as "Graduate Hall Directors". (Not sure if I talked about that before, but I like to repeat myself for clarity's sake. *smile*) Interestingly enough, one of the Graduate Residents, or GRs for short, actually came from my hometown of Hopkins, SC and almost went to the same high school as me! We both went insane with how uncanny that was! Trust, she will be a new friend to keep in touch with for a long time to come! Plus, she may be interested in doing an internship with us at UF next summer as part of her grad program. Making connections! Excitement!
And now for your programming update! ("New Flash" music plays in background.) I went cool riving tubing for the first time and loved it! It was just what I really needed from a long few weeks of programming. Lazily floating down the Chattahoochee River in Helen, GA. Ah.....relaxing. Made friends with many of the FCSE students and learned a lot about how ambitious these students really are. One student is actually getting ready for lab work and research for the Genetics program, which is usually reserved for Sophomore and Junior students! Last night, we enjoyed an ol' fashioned movie night at the Tate Student Center, similar to our Reitz Union at UF, and saw "Death at a Funeral". Hi-larious movie! The only things left to do for programming is the "Flashback Dance Party", "UGA Jeopardy", "Moonlite Breakfast", and "Anti-Stress Nite". Sigh. It's all ending so fast.
I am also pretty excited that my supervisor, last year's FCSE intern, and I may be presenting the FCSE program at this year's ACPA and NASPA conferences! I almost fell to the floor in excitement when I was first asked to help with the presentation! (And of course I said, "YES!") More details about this later and during the next semester!
I plan to return home for a few days before I return to UF for GHD Training. Need some down time at home, see some familiar faces, and get a flat screen TV from my mom. According to her, it will make moving and transportation a lot easier. As they say, "Mother knows best!" (^_^). Let's just hope I don't take forever with getting my apartment situated. I still had some unpacked boxes in November last year. LOL!
Have fun, folks! I shall see you in my next post. Hopefully, I will have my internship pics in online album form by that time. Ugh. I never take this long with pics.....usually. LOL!
Wow! I still can't believe that my life and times in Athens, GA is almost coming to a close. It's like a week and a half left, yet still so much to do. LOL!
Lately, I was able to poke my head in some training sessions with the new graduate student staff in Housing. At UGA, they are called "Graduate Residents", compared to our title at UF as "Graduate Hall Directors". (Not sure if I talked about that before, but I like to repeat myself for clarity's sake. *smile*) Interestingly enough, one of the Graduate Residents, or GRs for short, actually came from my hometown of Hopkins, SC and almost went to the same high school as me! We both went insane with how uncanny that was! Trust, she will be a new friend to keep in touch with for a long time to come! Plus, she may be interested in doing an internship with us at UF next summer as part of her grad program. Making connections! Excitement!
And now for your programming update! ("New Flash" music plays in background.) I went cool riving tubing for the first time and loved it! It was just what I really needed from a long few weeks of programming. Lazily floating down the Chattahoochee River in Helen, GA. Ah.....relaxing. Made friends with many of the FCSE students and learned a lot about how ambitious these students really are. One student is actually getting ready for lab work and research for the Genetics program, which is usually reserved for Sophomore and Junior students! Last night, we enjoyed an ol' fashioned movie night at the Tate Student Center, similar to our Reitz Union at UF, and saw "Death at a Funeral". Hi-larious movie! The only things left to do for programming is the "Flashback Dance Party", "UGA Jeopardy", "Moonlite Breakfast", and "Anti-Stress Nite". Sigh. It's all ending so fast.
I am also pretty excited that my supervisor, last year's FCSE intern, and I may be presenting the FCSE program at this year's ACPA and NASPA conferences! I almost fell to the floor in excitement when I was first asked to help with the presentation! (And of course I said, "YES!") More details about this later and during the next semester!
I plan to return home for a few days before I return to UF for GHD Training. Need some down time at home, see some familiar faces, and get a flat screen TV from my mom. According to her, it will make moving and transportation a lot easier. As they say, "Mother knows best!" (^_^). Let's just hope I don't take forever with getting my apartment situated. I still had some unpacked boxes in November last year. LOL!
Have fun, folks! I shall see you in my next post. Hopefully, I will have my internship pics in online album form by that time. Ugh. I never take this long with pics.....usually. LOL!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
The Plot Thickens...
Hi friends!
Where we first left off, I was enjoying my 23RD BIRTHDAY AT UGA!!! I was very lucky to have an intimate group of colleagues and friends celebrate with me last weekend. On top of implementing the "Bulldog Carnival", I also received some birthday wishes and hugs from some of the Freshman College students. They were really just happy to see me in my funny birthday hat that I purchased from Party City. LOL!
Anyhoo, I just finished working with Professional Staff training here at UGA. (What???!!! You're working there professionally, Steven? Already???!!! You haven't even finished your Masters yet!!!) I know. I work fast. LOL! Seriously, I really had time for professional development on my hands and decided to spend it working with the Res Life Pro Staff here during their training sessions. We engaged in everything from diversity and communication, to crisis management and multiple opportunities for staff bonding throughout our time together. I really learned a lot about myself in association with the UGA Res Life Pro Staff, as well as learning a lot about some of the UGA Res Life Pro Staff themselves. This opportunity really reinforced how much UGA as a campus may really be a fit for me as one of my top entry-level position endeavors, but also a fit with the full staff in UGA Res Life. Excitement!
What really threw me for a loop was that I had ANOTHER "professional networking run-in"! The person leading many of our sessions was Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington of the Washington Consulting Group. Check out his website here: http://www.washingtonconsultinggroup.us/. We actually met before during the Maryland-College Park social at NASPA 2010 in Chicago, IL. We had a small conversation about the Student Affairs doctoral program at the university and his involvement in the Student Affairs profession. He is a great colleague and an amazing person. Can't wait to run into him again and continue our conversations.
At the moment, I'm kinda working on joining their Grad Staff training sessions and parts of their RA Staff training sessions, as well. Of course, I'm not forgetting about my primary duties as an ACUHO-I summer intern and my agreed upon responsibilities with the department. I just want to experience EVERYTHING here! ALL FUN STUFF!!! (^_^)
Well, that's enough of an update for now. Will be back later this week or next week with an update on my first tubing experience in Helen, GA. Ooooooooo! (^_^)
~Steven
Where we first left off, I was enjoying my 23RD BIRTHDAY AT UGA!!! I was very lucky to have an intimate group of colleagues and friends celebrate with me last weekend. On top of implementing the "Bulldog Carnival", I also received some birthday wishes and hugs from some of the Freshman College students. They were really just happy to see me in my funny birthday hat that I purchased from Party City. LOL!
Anyhoo, I just finished working with Professional Staff training here at UGA. (What???!!! You're working there professionally, Steven? Already???!!! You haven't even finished your Masters yet!!!) I know. I work fast. LOL! Seriously, I really had time for professional development on my hands and decided to spend it working with the Res Life Pro Staff here during their training sessions. We engaged in everything from diversity and communication, to crisis management and multiple opportunities for staff bonding throughout our time together. I really learned a lot about myself in association with the UGA Res Life Pro Staff, as well as learning a lot about some of the UGA Res Life Pro Staff themselves. This opportunity really reinforced how much UGA as a campus may really be a fit for me as one of my top entry-level position endeavors, but also a fit with the full staff in UGA Res Life. Excitement!
What really threw me for a loop was that I had ANOTHER "professional networking run-in"! The person leading many of our sessions was Rev. Dr. Jamie Washington of the Washington Consulting Group. Check out his website here: http://www.washingtonconsultinggroup.us/. We actually met before during the Maryland-College Park social at NASPA 2010 in Chicago, IL. We had a small conversation about the Student Affairs doctoral program at the university and his involvement in the Student Affairs profession. He is a great colleague and an amazing person. Can't wait to run into him again and continue our conversations.
At the moment, I'm kinda working on joining their Grad Staff training sessions and parts of their RA Staff training sessions, as well. Of course, I'm not forgetting about my primary duties as an ACUHO-I summer intern and my agreed upon responsibilities with the department. I just want to experience EVERYTHING here! ALL FUN STUFF!!! (^_^)
Well, that's enough of an update for now. Will be back later this week or next week with an update on my first tubing experience in Helen, GA. Ooooooooo! (^_^)
~Steven
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Happy Birthday to Me!!!
Hi friends!
It is 12:35am where I am on Saturday, July 10th. Today is my BIRTHDAY!!! Yay! (That's why I waited a lil' longer for this post. So I can add it on the day of my birth.)
Now, on to business. As you know my social programming is well underway and from what I could see, the Freshman College residents and student staff love my programming ideas so far. Even the little details. Take for example "Dawg-O", a Bingo tournament where we gave away UGA merchandise as prizes and the residents had to either bark or yell "Dawg-O" to be recognized. An RA helping with the program hugged me twice after finding out I purchased cheesecake and brownies as snacks for the program. Two of her favorite desserts, I believe. I was really glad I made a good call for that, because I was aiming for ordering chicken fingers weeks ago but changed my mind.
Today, July 10th (my birthday...*ahem*), is a very busy day for me. I'm working on running the "Bulldog Carnival", the next social program for Freshman College, and we start set-up at 12 noon. Note that this is a real carnival with rides, snack machines, and just about everything in between. Excitement! So I'm pretty much working on my birthday, but have plans to meet with other UGA colleagues and have dinner and fun times in Athens to celebrate after work is done. My supervisor is even treating me to a meal somewhere.
On a different note, I'm allowed to join the UGA Res Life professionals during their training time for the new academic year. This is a REAL treat for me! I'm getting the chance to interact with the new professionals in the department, learn about what's focused on/talked about during UGA's professional training time, and continue to have more engaging conversations with the professional staff members.
You know things are winding down during your summer internship if your supervisor and colleagues from your institution start emailing you about Fall training and moving back for the new semester of classes. It is indeed almost time to head back and see some wicked awesome folks again. GHD Training is SO gonna rock this year. Not just because I and two other colleagues are presenting Student Development Theory to the GHDs, but we get to meet new GHDs and RLCs and show them the RLE ropes.
Well, it's 1am now. I should probably get back to sleep so I can be fully rested for the "Bulldog Carnival." TTFN! Ta ta for now!
~Steven
It is 12:35am where I am on Saturday, July 10th. Today is my BIRTHDAY!!! Yay! (That's why I waited a lil' longer for this post. So I can add it on the day of my birth.)
Now, on to business. As you know my social programming is well underway and from what I could see, the Freshman College residents and student staff love my programming ideas so far. Even the little details. Take for example "Dawg-O", a Bingo tournament where we gave away UGA merchandise as prizes and the residents had to either bark or yell "Dawg-O" to be recognized. An RA helping with the program hugged me twice after finding out I purchased cheesecake and brownies as snacks for the program. Two of her favorite desserts, I believe. I was really glad I made a good call for that, because I was aiming for ordering chicken fingers weeks ago but changed my mind.
Today, July 10th (my birthday...*ahem*), is a very busy day for me. I'm working on running the "Bulldog Carnival", the next social program for Freshman College, and we start set-up at 12 noon. Note that this is a real carnival with rides, snack machines, and just about everything in between. Excitement! So I'm pretty much working on my birthday, but have plans to meet with other UGA colleagues and have dinner and fun times in Athens to celebrate after work is done. My supervisor is even treating me to a meal somewhere.
On a different note, I'm allowed to join the UGA Res Life professionals during their training time for the new academic year. This is a REAL treat for me! I'm getting the chance to interact with the new professionals in the department, learn about what's focused on/talked about during UGA's professional training time, and continue to have more engaging conversations with the professional staff members.
You know things are winding down during your summer internship if your supervisor and colleagues from your institution start emailing you about Fall training and moving back for the new semester of classes. It is indeed almost time to head back and see some wicked awesome folks again. GHD Training is SO gonna rock this year. Not just because I and two other colleagues are presenting Student Development Theory to the GHDs, but we get to meet new GHDs and RLCs and show them the RLE ropes.
Well, it's 1am now. I should probably get back to sleep so I can be fully rested for the "Bulldog Carnival." TTFN! Ta ta for now!
~Steven
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The Real Fun Begins
Whoo hoo!!! My first program has come and gone!
Last night the Freshman College and I hosted an "Italian Ice Kick-Off" for the students and staff members in the program. It was a way of us saying, "Welcome to Freshman College! We hope you enjoyed your first day of classes. Here's a special treat to officially welcome you....and also to calm the nerves a little." You see, Freshman College is not so similar to other summer programs of its type. Most either focus on the academic preparation side of college transition, while others focus on the social/developmental piece. Well, Freshman College combines these two aspects for one holistic experience that I'm proud to be a part of. More or less, it's like my class conversations about Student and Academic Affairs working together for the development and success of our college students. Pretty cool seeing it unfold before me!
Tomorrow (Happy 4th of July!), I have the pleasure of experiencing fireworks at Athens's own Bishop Park with the students who decided to stay with us during the 4th of July weekend. I, myself, haven't seen a real fireworks show in person in a long while, so this will be an awesome treat for me. This program is really a chance for students to experience one of many off-campus locales that they may want to enjoy as a UGA student. It's similar to giving them a grand tour of Athens, GA and the local restaurants, shops, movie theaters, malls, etc. but also experiencing the locales first hand instead of reading about a few historical facts about them, which I know is good, too! (^_^)
The real fun begins on Tuesday the 6th when we have out first GRADED social program, the "3 on 3 Volleyball Tourney and BBQ". Yes, I said "graded", as in you attend this program for course credit. (I believe I explained that part of Freshman College before.) Students sign up to attend "Beyond the Classroom" programs about academics, culture, and socializing with others that count towards 10% of their final grade while in Freshman College this summer session. Incentives. Gotta love it.
I know I've been promising to post pics of experience lately, but I think I'm going to use an online photo album and post the link to it on another blog update. I have A LOT of pics to sort through and organize before they go public. Maybe I should be doing that now. LOL!
TTFN! Ta-ta for now! (^_^)
~Steven
Last night the Freshman College and I hosted an "Italian Ice Kick-Off" for the students and staff members in the program. It was a way of us saying, "Welcome to Freshman College! We hope you enjoyed your first day of classes. Here's a special treat to officially welcome you....and also to calm the nerves a little." You see, Freshman College is not so similar to other summer programs of its type. Most either focus on the academic preparation side of college transition, while others focus on the social/developmental piece. Well, Freshman College combines these two aspects for one holistic experience that I'm proud to be a part of. More or less, it's like my class conversations about Student and Academic Affairs working together for the development and success of our college students. Pretty cool seeing it unfold before me!
Tomorrow (Happy 4th of July!), I have the pleasure of experiencing fireworks at Athens's own Bishop Park with the students who decided to stay with us during the 4th of July weekend. I, myself, haven't seen a real fireworks show in person in a long while, so this will be an awesome treat for me. This program is really a chance for students to experience one of many off-campus locales that they may want to enjoy as a UGA student. It's similar to giving them a grand tour of Athens, GA and the local restaurants, shops, movie theaters, malls, etc. but also experiencing the locales first hand instead of reading about a few historical facts about them, which I know is good, too! (^_^)
The real fun begins on Tuesday the 6th when we have out first GRADED social program, the "3 on 3 Volleyball Tourney and BBQ". Yes, I said "graded", as in you attend this program for course credit. (I believe I explained that part of Freshman College before.) Students sign up to attend "Beyond the Classroom" programs about academics, culture, and socializing with others that count towards 10% of their final grade while in Freshman College this summer session. Incentives. Gotta love it.
I know I've been promising to post pics of experience lately, but I think I'm going to use an online photo album and post the link to it on another blog update. I have A LOT of pics to sort through and organize before they go public. Maybe I should be doing that now. LOL!
TTFN! Ta-ta for now! (^_^)
~Steven
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