Take Your Blogger to Work

Today I am linking up with the blog Hiya Luv  for her Take Your Blogger to Work Event.  So, here, you can get to know me a little better....

The first career I ever remember really wanting as a kid was to be an astronaut. 

I even got the "free video" for space camp and everything.  I must have watched it a hundred times.  I think it's a good thing that never panned out given my motion sickness...I can only imagine that getting sick inside that bubble helmet would pretty much be terrible. 

After that, I wanted to be a doctor.  My parents and I were all in and out of doctor's offices and hospitals as I was growing up and met many wonderful doctors in the process.  I thought that helping people would be wonderful, and hey, doctors get paid a lot right?!  That's before I knew about things like malpractice insurance, and the necessity of passing Calculus in order to get into med school.

Then at Seton Hall University (GO SHU!) I became a Resident Assistant.  I always held leadership positions throughout High School, and knew it would be a good fit for me.  Plus, free room and board didn't hurt.

I loved being an RA, and the summer after my sophomore year I became one of the department's Training Interns.  MARISOL was my boss, and not only did I meet someone who would become a mentor and friend for life, but she is the person who urged me to go into Student Affairs.  That woman is pretty much always right...just don't tell her I said that.

So I ended up working as an Area Coordinator at one University while getting my Master's Degree in Education from another.  I worked for a very small Residence Life Department and so not only did I run a residence hall and supervise a staff, I also planned RA Training, ran RA selection, saw judicial cases, and a whole host of other things that others in my field at the same level would never have the opportunity to experience.  I got paid pretty well, and loved working with students, although the University itself was never a great fit for me.

This past July I did a horrendously stressful job search.  Sean is still in grad school and so we were pretty much stuck in Philadelphia, and we have a dog.  That did not leave a whole lot of options for jobs considering my job is a live-in position.  Yep--I live in a residence hall.  While that can be a little crazy (lack of privacy, noisy students, etc.) the commute, and the FREE-ness of it all really can't be beat.  But my job search wasn't just for a paycheck, but a roof over our heads as well.  Talk about a lot of pressure!

I was beyond ecstatic, (and exceptionally lucky) to get the job at my current University.  I am able to have my furball, and my husband, and still live in Philadelphia so Sean is able to continue his grad work.  Not only that, but I actually work for a pretty great department.  My colleagues are smart and passionate, and we all get along...no real drama to speak of...imagine that!  My official title is Resident Director, and because the department is large, I actually get to focus on my staff and my residents rather than everything else under the sun.  I still have opportunities for professional development, and in fact I'm very excited to be attending THE NATIONAL HOUSING TRAINING INSTITUTE this June.  I love working in Higher Ed, and hope to be here for a long time.

The best part of my job is knowing that I am making a difference (however small) in the lives of students, and hopefully helping them to become better people in the long run.  I've also learned a ton from my students.  They teach me something every day--no two days in my job are ever the same.  And despite all the angry parents, the 3am crises, or the students who just aren't quite ready to receive the messages I'm sending, I genuinely love coming into work every day.

This is definitely not the career path I had originally intended for myself.  I never even knew that Student Affairs was a career path.  Now that I'm here, however, I am excited to see what will come of it.  Will I go back to school for a doctorate? Will I work in Res Life for ever? Will I wake up one day and decide to open my own cupcake bakery instead?  Who knows.  But I will continue blogging about all the adventures and twists and turns...I can't wait!