Learning To Fly - Post 20

Quote of the Day:
"There is real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocracy and accomplishment."
- Anonymous


I love conferences. There's nothing like spending several intense days with thousands of excited colleagues, sharing ideas, learning about best practices and new research, meeting new people... You get back so energized and excited. And you remember again why you were interested in this field and why you love this work.

I just came back from the ACPA/NASPA Joint Meeting and I had a fabulous time.
Many of the sessions I went to were very interesting and I picked up some good ideas for my new living learning community for next year. Five former grad students from my cohort were also there, as well as a lot of other colleagues, and it was great to connect again. And then the Dance and the Drag Show...
What else could a girl want? J/K. I know it's really about the sessions and not about the social aspects, but let's be honest, those social things are also great. :) And we all deserve a break once in a while and to just have fun.

I definitely enjoyed the conference a lot more than last year, when I was job searching. Let's be honest, last year I didn't really go to the conference...I was at placement. This year, I actually got to enjoy and experience the different aspects of placement. It helped that I wasn't on the recruitment team for my school...because I don't think my colleagues really got to attend many sessions and get much out of the conference.

I volunteered for Placement one day (Oh how wonderful it was to be on the other side...I wrote cards to the grads from my graduate program going through placement as well as the grads from my current institution...after all, I remember the anxiety and pain well enough); participated in sessions for the directorate body of the commission that I was recently elected to (lots of new things to learn but again, very interesting...I'm still not 100 percent sure how this will all shape out but I'm excited and I've met a lot of great colleagues and that's what matters, right?); and like I said before went to sessions and lots of socials.
I even presented a roundtable together with the program coordinator from my grad program and two other new professionals. It went really well...we had lots of people come (way more than we thought) and they seemed to really enjoy it. It was great! I was so nervous and anxious before (even though I tried to play it off)...after all I had never presented at a national conference...and a joint meeting...I still can't really believe I did that. Crazy! It's like I said in my last post...sometimes you just try to catch up with what's happened to you. Like being an adult...or a new professional...or someone who has presented a roundtable at a Joint Meeting...haha.

Okay, I need to get some sleep soon, but one more quick thing...
So I loved the Joint Meeting thing. I know it was huge, which made logistics challenging...and the food was way too expensive! But it was just nice seeing everyone there and not having to a make a choice for once. And I'm also a big advocate for combining the two organization. I mean, they both do the same thing, so why do they have to be separate? I know there are some philosophical differences, many structural differences and and and...but in the end, both organizations are here to support and educate Student Affairs Professionals. And wouldn't we have a much stronger voice, if we all worked together in one big organization?
And let's be honest, I don't think anyone would complain if we only had to pay one membership fee, right?