MOVE-IN Week All Over Higher Education!

Move-in week always reminds me of the many reasons why I chose Higher Education and Student Affairs.:

1. Students are finally back on campus.
2. Help is EVERYWHERE!!! Faculty, staff, and students helping first-years move-in.
3. Watching parents entrust their children to the University.
4. Watching students become young adults.
5. FREE FOOD!
6. Peer on peer mentoring, guiding, listening, and leading.
7. Increased student interactions.
8. Longer hours implemented at the gym, the library, and the student center, and other offices.
9. PROGRAMMING begins!
10. And most all, WE, student affairs professionals, are able to create more ripples and impact the lives of more students.

My Summer Experience

This summer I had the opportunity to work for UVM's Department of Residential Life under the supervision of Dr. Stacey Miller, la Directora! My colleague and I worked on several projects through out this summer and in particular the Restorative Practices project. This project is an initiative by the Residential Life department and is the first of its kind on a college campus. The simple basis of this program is a proactive approach to conflicts and disputes in a non-punitive way. There is A LOT more to these practices, but overall, this experience has taught me the importance of change and how change is appreciated and accepted at the University of Vermont. It has been a holistic experience that kept me grounded in my morals and values as well as reminding me of why I chose Student Affairs and Higher Education. I was treated as part of the team and the department with no avail and I felt as if my opinion was appreciated with out judgment. With no residential life experience, I took on this opportunity to expand on my knowledge and experience of residential life. As well as take advantage of the many opportunities that came with it, such as working with our NUFP interns, supervising SESP students, and working with university leaders, such as the Dean of Students.

I needed this experience to motivate me and pump me up for my last year. Being able to work with such an extraordinary department and group has been a privilege I will never forget. Initiating the first steps to implementing Restorative Practices was nerve-racking. The work may not have been hard labor, but emotionally the thoughts that raced through my head in terms of how others would approach it and accept it were draining. First, the RP trainers came in to train RET (residential education team) and other university leaders for two days. Then, as RET we worked in UVM'izing the RP approach for two days. Tomorrow, RP will be introduced to the 150RAs and all our summer work will finally be in full force once school begins in TWO weeks. Everyone knows that change is not easy, but the UVM department of residential life has taken the risk to bring about a hopeful positive change!

Overall, this experience brought to light strengths, and weakness, I never knew I had, as well as the type of supervisors I work well with and prefer. It has definitely prepped me for the job search coming up in March and motivated me for the year to come. Thanks to the department of reslife and the director for making my summer worth while. My culture shock curve slightly went up :)