After a whirlwind 6 weeks, fall semester has arrived. Again, it felt weird to not be actually opening a hall, but I certainly didn’t mind too much. I got a lot more sleep than I usually do at this time of year and my stress level was almost none existent! I did help out with Opening Day. My job involved directing traffic for the new freshman arriving at our largest residence hall, which has over 800 students. The Residence Life department does not have centralized desks or check in so each student checks in at their specific residence hall. It was a warm afternoon, and I ended up with a sunburn on my legs, but it beat opening a building in the 100 degree August heat of Texas!
The next day, I FINALLY got to meet the students that I will be supervising and working with this year. We spent the whole day in training, so I really didn’t get much 1:1 interaction with them, just a series of first impressions. Overall, I am excited about the group. As with any group of individuals, I have a detected a few that may be a little more challenging to work with than others, but that’s how it always works, right? On Saturday, we had some team building with both mine and A’s staff at the NAU Challenge Course. We started off with the high ropes challenges, and I fully went into it planning to just be a spectator and cheer the others on as I have a pretty healthy fear of heights. I can’t even jump off the 3 meter diving board. All of sudden, A came up to me, and said that he thought we should try it. After a momentary pause, I said, okay, let’s do it! I don’t think he fully expected me to be so agreeable, and I saw a little glimmer of terror in his eyes as we went to stand in line.
So, then it was our turn. The object was that we each climbed up separate poles to a wire extended about 20 feet high in the air in between the poles. We were to inch towards each other holding onto a rope that would allow for support until we got to the middle. We then had to use each other and a second rope to start inching across an intersecting wire to get to the end. The trick is that the middle rope does not extend at all, so one of us has to be the support and hold onto the rope while stretching out as far as possible so that the other can inch across the wire to the end and then follow.
I was in pretty rough shape once I got about ten feet in the air. I paused, and my leg started “doing the Elvis.” If you don’t know what that means, then just picture me doing my best imitation of Thumper the rabbit. After some deep breaths, I got myself under control, and started climbing again. The mounts to hold onto and put your feet on are spread pretty far apart. So, just the climbing itself was pretty challenging in trusting that I had the strength and balance to pull myself up from mount to mount. Often I would have to stretch up on my tippy toes and just barely be able to grasp the next mount and then have to pull myself up. I got to just below the wire and got intimidated again and stopped. I looked over at Aaron, and told him I didn’t know if I could do it. He and everyone on the ground kept encouraging me to keep going, so I got my shakes under control and kept going. Finally, I was on the wire and once again, I was like what the hell am I doing? With Aaron’s constant encouragement and pausing to refocus and balance, I kept going. Did I mention that time seems to creep along while you are doing this? We finally met in the middle and attempted to go down the intersecting wire. After trying to figure out the best method, Aaron asked to opt out, and I agreed. Of course, then he almost pulled me down with him as he wouldn’t let go of me as his person brought him down! Luckily, he realized that he needed to let go, and I didn’t go crashing to the ground! So, we didn’t complete the challenge, but it was still a victory for me. And, I am never doing that again!
The morning, did provide the opportunity for some great interactions with my CMs and continued to get me excited for truly starting my job. I started meeting with them this past week, which was the first week of classes. We had our first staff meeting, and I started biweekly 1:1s with half of them. I thought the staff meeting went fairly well, and the individual meetings went really well. This is not surprising as I enjoy those interactions much more and are more my style.
This week has brought many adjustments. The campus has changed completely, and I feel like it sort of snuck up on me. It is funny how quickly we forget what the campus should really be like and get used to the empty college campus of summer, especially when you start out a new job in the summer. Suddenly, the campus is full of life and people and noise. Everywhere you look, there are people everywhere at most hours of the day. There is the energy and enthusiasm that always comes with the start of a new school year. It is actually pretty cool to be on such a lively campus, even at night. As I have walked about campus, I see people lounging in the grass, playing sand volleyball, throwing Frisbees, smoking hookahs, biking, skateboarding, walking… I think you probably get the picture.
The other big adjustment is starting my classes and figuring out my new routine and schedule. I feel like I spent all week being late or almost late as I rushed from one thing to the next. The change time between classes can be a little crazy, especially if you are on a bike. As you approach intersections you have to look four different ways and assess for both pedestrians and other bikers. Once you arrive, then you have to find a place on one of the bike racks. The amount of bikes on this campus is surreal. Then you have to fumble with your lock, and after the whole fiasco with Robert’s bike, I am super paranoid and lock both wheels and the frame, which takes time to weave and secure. I guess it will get easier as the year progresses.
When I think about the classes themselves, I become both exhilarated and freaked out. I love what I am taking, and they are all aligning perfectly with my interests. However, I think I had forgotten about the work load of graduate level classes. All have an extensive amount of reading and an almost weekly writing assignment, interwoven with larger projects and papers. I am certainly going to be busy, but at least I will be enjoying the subject material. It is also really fun to be surrounded by such a diverse cohort that has similar philosophies but so many varying interests and passions. With each day, this feels more and more right. I hope that continues to be my semester.
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