Cafe Victoria

Yahoo! I’m excited to share that I published my first grad school paper. For my Foundations in Education course, I had to research and write about a current issue in Higher Education. I chose to write about the rise in Veterans attending college and lack of funding from the GI Bill. After finishing the paper, I felt so good about it that I sent it to the online journal for CA Community College Student Service Administrators called “Ijournal”.  They agreed and published it in their Winter Issue Vol. 18, February 2008. The article is titled: Higher Education’s Critical Role in the GI Bill

All of us, in some shape or form are balancing something. Sleep, meetings at work, love, homework, our next big adventure. As I walk this fun yet a bit overwhelming balancing beam to graduation, I think about the journey. Along the way I must stop for ice cream, drink green tea and play the game Sorry. Homework will get finished. Projects at work will come and go. But in the mist of it all, I must throw in a road trip to my sister’s in SLO. Ahh…the destination is near but it will be the journey that will stay with me.

Thank you everyone who has heard me stressing about all the papers I have to write this month. I am doing much better. I can’t believe the Capstone Final project is really here. On the 30th, I turn in the first part of it. Wow, that means I am really finishing my Masters.  I remember in the beginning thinking how far off Capstone was. I also remember thinking, damm..that is a huge project. Now, I am more excited about gathering all the work I’ve done and sharing it. Please keep Matthias and I in your thoughts and prayers. This last semester will be fast and full. In the end, my blog will turn into a sweet Capstone project showcasing the last three amazing years of becoming an Student Affairs Professional.

This week in my program we have been writing about practical wisdom on our ecollege site. One of my co-hort’s shared this quote she got from a Dean of Students.

“I was somebody before I was a dean. The title does not make me who I am, it just give me more to accomplish.”

The most surprising thing about being in student affairs is no real job title will explain the impact we can have on college students. We often are a listener, coordinator, advisor, cheerleader, realist and motivator. We often are the ones who see the bigger picture and at the same time try to keep everyone on task. To keep with the flow of my class this week, I ask does it take a certain kind of wisdom to do this work? I think I will go with Meredith’s quote. If you are going to work in student affairs, you need to go where you can achieve and trust you have wisdom to share with others around you. But most important, you help make the students and the place better.

For my Administraiton in Student Affairs course, I just finished “The Art and Practical Wisdom of Student Affairs Leadership” (2002). I have to write about practical wisdom for our discussion board. The main theme and advice was balancing. Many of the Chief Student Affairs Officers interviewed in the book talked about how challenging it was to balance their love for their work and to enjoy life outside of work. I feel fortunate that I found a field of work that I love being a part of and spending my day at. Ironically, my time doing jury duty has helped me realize that as much as I love working with college students, there is a world outside of higher education.

Right now as I write this blog entry, thousand of Community College students are writing their personal statement for the Nov. 30 University of California transfer application deadline. Many will work all through the night and might even see the sun rise before they hit the send button. The question they must answer is described yourself in 1000 words or less.

While meeting with my ASB President Susana today, I thought of a great personal statement answer for this generation of university bound students. “For more information please visit my Facebook page, Myspace page or my blog at www….com”. Think about it. Many of these students share who they are every day over the Internet. They share their interests, goals, and even hardships.

Come on University of California Admissions! All you need to do is ask for a web address and there is your personal statement. Just think about all the energy and time our college students spend talking about themselves on Facebook. I bet it would save admissions counselors tons of time reading applications.

For those students still writing your personal statement. Let go of the pressure and write what comes to you. And if you need motivation just plan on posting a copy of your personal statement on your blog.

Last night, my co-hort and I had our monthly conference call. It was a great turn out. I have been setting up these call ins for almost 2 1/2 years now. The regular callers are Tira, Liz, Heather and Shauna. Susie from Seattle calls in almost every time. Depending on how crazy her floor is that week. It was nice hearing her voice last night. I had not heard her call in a while. Heather got tied up putting her amazing Caroline to bed so we did not hear her fun voice but I did get to hear Shauna right at the end. My regulars called in Liz and Tira. This year, I have a new member of the 2^nd year co-hort who has now called in twice. She advises college students on 1 semester leave in the “high Sierra” of CA. So, welcome Meredith. (Hey Erin, if you are reading this blog, call in girl, the program is almost over! Love to hear from you.)

I have to share this story though. Last night, Liz remembered about a one of my co-hort’s first conference calls. Her boyfriend at the time was really curious about this “call in” thing she was doing. So, she gave him the conference call number and he called in. When I heard the sound for a “new person” I said “hello” and so did the rest of the girls. We just thought it was a tech mess up and went on with our stories. Little did we know we had a listener?

Now, when I have my monthly call ins I will introduce everyone and Liz’s boyfriend. :>)

This year’s ASB Fall Overnight Leadership Retreat was a huge hit. I have to share the great theme the students came up with. They went with a reality television theme. The workshops were titled “Real World” Breaking Barriers, Americans Next Top Leader, Fear Factor on the Beach and Surreal Life. For breaking barriers, the students watched Babel and had an amazing post film discussion. I lead the America’s Next Top Leader workshop using StenghtsFinder. Then we went out to the beach for some Fear Factor team building. Hey, got to love those water balloon fights. To top if off, we had a Surreal Life workshop were students scheduled out the events for the 2007-2008 school year. They created one surreal school year. Special props go out to Susana, Lora and Greg for planning an excellent retreat.

My favorite part was staying up late to play Taboo and officially becoming known as “too old”, “A generation out” advisor. The word I had was “Toad”. So..I said “Blank the Wet Sprocket”. They all yelled, “Move on. No one knows”. Got to love it! Here we are only 10 years older and already old school…sweet!! Anyone up for playing Duck Hunt?

Last Saturday, Aug. 18 was the first NVC Welcome Day for new students, their parents, community members, and returning students. You probably been reading about me not sleeping, over thinking and talking about how much I was looking forward to NVC Day.

We had a steady flow of students and parents. We aimed for 200 and had just about half of that attend. Overall, it gave the Outreach committee, staff, and faculty an idea of what this kind an event could give to our students and the campus.

Special Thank You,

• To Martha for her amazing talent for detail, leadership, and her amazing energy on the day of the event. Martha, you are the best and I always have a blast working with you.

• To Martha’s husband and family who added all the extra touches such as umbrellas, set up, putting together bags and much more. Gracias!
• To Matthias for volunteering to be in the ASB Office to make Student ID’s. He made 16!! It made a huge difference for so many students and myself. I love that I got to share the day with you.
• To the outstanding 2007-2008 ASB Board for being part of the Student Panel, set up, working the ASB table, being ready to give a tour or help a student in need, and clean up. You guys stepped up and showed true leadership. The best part was you made it fun!!
• To Robyn, Beth and Michael for always keeping me real and seeing the bigger picture. I learned a lot from you.
• To Bob, wow, your energy and spirit moves mountains and makes things happen for students. It was great working with you.
• To the rest of the Outreach Committee, thank you for always stepping up, working hard this summer, and believing in NVC Day. We all make a great team!
• To Gwen, Lauralyn, Hector, Mary and Laura for being our presenters. Thank you for offering your advice and knowledge to the students and parents who make it out.
• To Oscar and Jill for giving me the chance to co-lead NVC day. This was an amazing opportunity for me and I greatly appreciate it. I learned that when you empower others and let someone else shine, you naturally glow
• My favorite part of the day was co-facilitating the Student Panel workshop and the meet the faculty lunch. For me, I always believed the college experience comes to life every time a student gets the chance to eat lunch with a faculty, or learn from another student.