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

Fall Quarter Reflections

Today in RA class we read "Reflections from the Semester Past...Starting the Second Semester Strong"  by Jenn Thorpe, Director of Residence Life, Chestnut Hill College.  As the quarter winds down, I have been reflecting on my successful programs, challenging incidents, and many learning experiences.  In this article there is a list of 15 questions I used to ask myself how I'm doing as an R.A.  In our RA class I was asked to pick one point in which I excel at and one point in which I need to improve upon.  I can confidently say that "I feel I show the residents I have genuine care/concern for them".  I take the time to visit my two floors of residents at least once a week.  I use this time to bring them treats I baked while checking up on them to create a positive connection with my residents.  Hopefully, when I knock on their door and they see me, they remember me as the RA who takes the time to do something extra for them.

I take the time to make extra visits to my residents and plan interactive programs because I enjoy seeing the connections and feeling a sense of pride in my community.  However, I do have to remember to "do my job as a resident assistant and still have a social life".  Dedicating time to my residents comes naturally because I live beside them, but I have been learning to consciously make time for my friends outside of my community and myself.  I am taking this evening to relax and focus on my needs after a busy and tough week as an R.A.  I'm a resident too!

The Longest Journey

I am applying to University of San Diego's M.A. in Higher Education Leadership and I planned a trip to their campus to attend an information session and sit-in on a graduate class.  The stars seemed to align just for me in preparation of my trip.  My class at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday was cancelled and I had no school on Friday because of Veteran’s Day.  Brittany, my friend lives in San Marcos, just 30 minutes away from USD, so I planned on meeting up with her afterwards and spending the night.  

According to the directions on Google maps, my GPS and friends who have driven to San Diego from Cal Poly Pomona, it should have taken me around 2 hours to get to San Diego.  Just in case, I decided to leave by 2:00 p.m. so that I would have 3 and a half hours to get there in time for my information session at 5:30 p.m.  However, someone decided that my will power needed to be challenged during this trip and traffic was horrendous.  Unknown to me at the time, there was a Chargers game in the stadium off the 5 freeway in San Diego and it took me four hours to finally get off the freeway.  It was dark, I was already late for my information session, and I had gotten off the freeway early to avoid the traffic.  Needless to say I was worried and disappointed that my plans were not going smoothly.  I finally decided to pull over to call my supervisor from San Diego to get a better idea of how to get to USD.  Together we finally figured out that my GPS was correct and it was still about 30 minutes away via side streets.  

I finally arrived at the information session late, but I was not the only one as a result of the traffic.  Even though my journey getting there was not the most ideal, I had finally arrived and I decided to make it count. I talked to a faculty member for the program after the information session and sat in on the Leadership and Organizational Change graduate class.  This class was truly hands on as the students created their own organization and worked on a project which encompassed several organizational theories and the "occupy" movement around social justice and change.  As part of their project, the class is involving the community through a "Occupy ?" Facebook and blog and closing with a meditation/prayer event.  I was inspired by the passion behind this learning process and I could envision myself as a graduate student in USD's program taking that class.  

Seeking Independence

The dynamic of teamwork and friendship seems to be consistent throughout Residential Life because it's important to have a good relationship with those in your community, including your co-workers.  There is a balance between professionalism and personal connection with my coworkers, but sometimes I have to remind myself about the second part.  I can't forget that life does not have to be so serious all the time!  Sometimes I still have to remind myself that I'm not Super Woman, even though I would like to be invincible.

This epiphany came about after having some much needed one-on-one time with my Assistant Hall Coordinator and friend, Bernadette.  We talked about the struggles we have both faced as young women who have grown during our college experiences while still being viewed as only daughters through our parents eyes.  We both recognize the love and care that comes from our parents concerns but we also both identify with the frustrations that come along with being only daughters.  I am so grateful for living on campus at Cal Poly Pomona because it has given me the opportunity to become extremely involved and gain some independence.   As an undergraduate I have mostly put myself through college with loans and working at University Housing Services, in addition to some supplementary help with books from my parents.  At the same time, I am grateful for my parents who are still a 45 minute drive away and willing to help me when I turn to them.  

However, as a 21 year old graduating senior applying to graduate schools I have come to the realization that I need to take the next step as frightening as it may seem.  This is a really complicated situation to explain to anyone who is not in my shoes, but I am both scared and determined to grow more independent.  I am seriously looking at a range of graduate programs for Student Affairs and Higher Education.  Some are commuting distance, some are farther away in California, and some are out-of-state.  In order for me to build more independence and to diversify my experience in graduate school, I need to go just a little bit farther away from home.  I realize that I need to leave my comfort zone and actively seek the adventures I have always dreamed to take.  

Once again, I remember another reason I want to work with students, specifically residents, on a college campus. I want to provide them with a similar growth experience that I was able to attain while living on-campus and going to college.  I would not be the woman I am to today and aspire to become, if it were not for all of the mentors and experiences in college.