My Staff: A Rainbow of Colors

Thank you to my artistically gifted supervisors, Chelsea and Bernadette!  I love the necklaces you created as an expression of our community's social justice theme!

Thank you to my wonderfully diverse staff members who continue to make me smile, laugh, and cry as I reflect on the memories I have with each of you.

Jess: You are the mother of our staff.  I will always appreciate your advice and guidance during my first conduct incidents.  Your encouraging words when I was frustrated or overly critical of myself gave me clarity.  Thank you for taking me out to celebrate my internship and making me breakfast.

Corey: You are one of my best friends.  I am still surprised that we were put on a staff together because we have worked together as student leaders several times before.  However, I am so grateful that we got to share one last student leadership experience together.  I will always look up to you as a mentor, brother, and friend.  We have countless memories together.

Chevail:  You are the stylish comedian.  Your cool confidence and style say "Look out world!  Here comes Chevail!"  I can't stop laughing when I'm around you.  I enjoyed bonding over our bowling night.

Spencer: You are the genuine nice-guy.  Sometimes your honestly may get you--or others--in trouble, but you can't help it!  You backed me up during one of my most challenging incidents.  I admire your passion for "Donate Life", the 5k walk/run.  I was honored to participate with you and your friend's family.

Jeanne Marie:  You are the carefree spirit.  I love that you dance to the beat of your own drum.  You are truly beautiful from the inside out.  I am lucky to bond with another strong, confident, woman at Cal Poly Pomona.

Bernadette:  You have it all: beauty, brains, style, and class!  I loved our 1:1s during Spring quarter because they brought us closer as staff members and friends.  You always gave wise advice about Residential Life and life in general.  Next year I hope to be an amazing Assistant Community Director at USD as you were an amazing Assistant Hall Coordinator at CPP.

Chelsea:  You are the best SUPERvisor--emphasis on the SUPER!  I love that you challenged me to grow and supported me along the way.  I appreciated your honesty with our staff, so that we were able to open up and be honest with each other.  I can not say thank you enough for helping me with the application process for Student Affairs.  In the future, I hope to be a supportive Residence Life Coordinator as you are!

Opportunities Await...

Wow!  I have been extremely busy in the last couple of months with applying to several Student Affairs and Higher Education grad programs.  I have had five interviews for graduate programs/assistantships and it looks like I will have another interview next week for a new assistantship opportunity.  So far, I have been accepted into two amazing programs in California, Higher Education Leadership at University of San Diego (USD) and Student Development in Higher Education at Cal State University Long Beach.

I am so grateful for these opportunities and all of the support I continue to receive during the application process.  Applying for grad school has been a roller coaster ride as I initially received some disappointing news earlier from a couple of out-of-state programs. However, with help from my mentors, family, friends, and co-workers in Student Affairs, I have continued to remain positive.  I have faith that my passion for the student development process in Higher Education will lead me in the right direction.

When I talked to one of my mentors last week, I didn't realize I would become so emotionally invested in the application process until she validated my feelings saying that it is "my future".  A few days later, I received a mug from my mom that said: "The happiest people don't have the best of everything, they just make the best of everything." Thank you to everyone who has been by my side during this process as I wait to hear back from Cal State Fullerton and assistantships at USD.  Regardless of the opportunity I choose, it will be fulfilling because I will bring with me my passion for Student Affairs.

Cross Cultural Retreat

When I signed up for Cross Cultural Retreat I expected to learn more about other cultures but I had no idea that I would learn so much about myself.  I just got back from this weekend-long retreat yesterday and I have had some time to process and reflect upon my experience.  On Friday when we arrived we discussed what the theme "I am...:Claiming Identity and Moving Beyond Tolerance" meant to each of us.  Normally I am a very talkative individual who has no problem raising her hand in class when there is silence.  I decided that during this retreat I was going to be completely present and work on listening, only to share when I felt like it was important and beneficial to myself or the group.  As a result I was able to better understand my whole identity as well as connect with others who were brave enough to share their experiences.  At the end of this retreat I took away some important lessons:

1) Accept and carry my whole identity with pride

2) Color Blindness (or any kind of identity blindness) is not seeing the whole person 

3) Recognize my white privilege (and other privileges) and use it to advocate for others as an ally

Why I'm Grateful

The new year has just begun and I am about to start a new quarter at Cal Poly!  I can not think of a more positive way to begin than to reflect on the people I am grateful to have in my life.

1. My family & friends who support me through the process of applying to programs for graduate school
2. My mentors who have taken the the time to write me several thoughtful letters of reference
3. My co-workers in Residence Life (especially my own staff) who genuinely care about their residents and other staff members (and it show's it the work that they accomplish)
4. My amazing supervisor who has given me honest advice and critical feedback on my essays and other application materials
5. My residents who inspire me to make more personal connections and plan events and activities that will excite and educate them