"Success if not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" - Winston Churchill
Sunday marks our 3 week anniversary of this NUFP/MISL journey, and it is mind-boggling to assign a number to the time we have been in Columbus thus far. Since arriving, I have attended the Asian Festival encompassing all the cultures that Asia has to offer, ate authentic Vietnamese and Indian food in the North Market, learned how to swim and float at the RPAC (Recreation & Physical Activity Center), cooked my very first Vietnamese dinner, had my first Jimmy Johns experience, presented a Disney-themed presentation that connected Mulan and Student Affairs, worked with my cohort to create a mock budget, brainstormed to create team builders and ice breakers for the BUCK-I-STAND retreat this coming weekend, sat in on my first hearing, listened to and sat in on conduct cases, and had meaningful conversations with people about our lives, our passions, and our fears. Three weeks of impactful professional development sessions and research assignments.
To be honest, it is a little overwhelming right now. We are essentially living the life of a graduate school student, and this internship is exposing me to the aspects of Student Affairs and Higher Education that are not dolled up and packaged neatly in a box with an outrageous bow on top of it. Brainstorming is an entirely different concept. I have to think on my feet much more than I had to before, and I am being challenged with the amount of work given to us. I found out the hard way that I will not be guided every step of the way, but I have to forge my own thought processes. I am realizing that more times than not, you are assigned a project or idea and you are expected to make it happen. This is INCREDIBLY new to me when it comes to programming since I was the visionary for many of the programs that my student organization implemented. And to top it all off, I have to work with 10 other student leaders to complete one goal. 11 student leaders. 1 goal. There has to be a joke about this somewhere. I am experiencing the good, the bad, the frustrating, and the life changing. I would not change a thing.
Most of all, it is still strange to hear us being called young professionals in the field of Student Affairs. When a member of my cohort said that “we are the future of Student Affairs”, he was corrected. “We ARE Student Affairs”. It was powerful, yet overwhelming. Me? A Student Affairs professional . . . like right now? I questioned whether or not I would be able to handle the demands of Student Affairs, anticipate the needs of students, balance my work life and my personal life, organize programs that seem bigger than myself, and voice my thoughts in a meeting with 30 other leaders. My mind was nothing more than grape jelly after our group meeting, and I don’t even like grape jelly. The voices became faint whispers as I reminded myself that I am still learning and that I would not be in this field if I did not love what I was doing. Honestly, I will be okay. I will be more than okay.
To be honest, it is a little overwhelming right now. We are essentially living the life of a graduate school student, and this internship is exposing me to the aspects of Student Affairs and Higher Education that are not dolled up and packaged neatly in a box with an outrageous bow on top of it. Brainstorming is an entirely different concept. I have to think on my feet much more than I had to before, and I am being challenged with the amount of work given to us. I found out the hard way that I will not be guided every step of the way, but I have to forge my own thought processes. I am realizing that more times than not, you are assigned a project or idea and you are expected to make it happen. This is INCREDIBLY new to me when it comes to programming since I was the visionary for many of the programs that my student organization implemented. And to top it all off, I have to work with 10 other student leaders to complete one goal. 11 student leaders. 1 goal. There has to be a joke about this somewhere. I am experiencing the good, the bad, the frustrating, and the life changing. I would not change a thing.
Most of all, it is still strange to hear us being called young professionals in the field of Student Affairs. When a member of my cohort said that “we are the future of Student Affairs”, he was corrected. “We ARE Student Affairs”. It was powerful, yet overwhelming. Me? A Student Affairs professional . . . like right now? I questioned whether or not I would be able to handle the demands of Student Affairs, anticipate the needs of students, balance my work life and my personal life, organize programs that seem bigger than myself, and voice my thoughts in a meeting with 30 other leaders. My mind was nothing more than grape jelly after our group meeting, and I don’t even like grape jelly. The voices became faint whispers as I reminded myself that I am still learning and that I would not be in this field if I did not love what I was doing. Honestly, I will be okay. I will be more than okay.