With a New Building Comes New Woes

The past three days have been a hell of a three days. Being a Grad Assistant, I was able to move into my apartment early (which is very nice by the way) but I was not able to settle until today.

These past three days have consisted of a noreaster, 5 AM mornings and 1 AM nights, and a laundry list of problems that every new building has. The minor stuff, you know. And all on top of that- me being in charge of the entire building because my boss is actually out of town bringing his stuff down from his home state.

With most, if not all of our residents out of the hotel, we can actually adjust to the swing of things. We're on campus. But with that, comes a greater challenge. These first years have become spoiled. Spoiled by the "magic" of turndown service, and weelky room cleanings. At the hotel, you could simply place your trash outside your room, and the folling morning, poof! Its gone! They will soon find that this is not the case now that they are in their residence hall. Already, students have placed their empty moving boxes out into the hallway thinking they will magically disappear overnight. Such was the case on our third floor, that if a Fire Marshal had been in the building, he would've had a hay day writing us citations. You could not see the floor for so much cardboard.

However, added to this, come benefits. As I said, we're now on campus. Our students no longer have to worry about catching the bus, waking up extra early for classes, and every pain-in-the-ass problem you could ever think of. On a personal note, my apartment is pretty sweet. This is my first "official" space since the residence hall room, which by my standards is a HUGE upgrade. I thought I had so much stuff, but since I moved into the new apartment, my perspective of "stuff" has changed.

All that remains for us here in our new building is to become nestled, and once again, find our niche. *Sigh* It's good to be home.

A Welcomed Week of Worrying...

Ok, so I know that my past few entries have been about thoughts and observations about happenings in class. This blog won't be about that, I promise. Ok, not quite. This will still pertain to student life, but more specifically, mine.

As you may know, I am currently living out of a hotel. I have been for the past month and 5 days. (Who's counting now?) The reason I am living out of a hotel is because I, a Residence Hall Director, and 286 eager first-year students are awaiting the day our residence hall reaches a status of completion. That day is tomorrow. Well, for staff anyway. Tomorrow, the entire staff of my building will begin moving and making the transition into our new building. As exciting as this is, it also presents a great deal of stress and worrying.

There are still a few kinks to work out of the building. And I'm sure, because the building is new, these kinks will continue to be worked out. My assistantship is actually beginning to kick in. These past few weeks, I've had to hire a staff of 8 Desk Receptionists, train them, and schedule them to work. While most of this has been smooth, it has happened at break neck speed.

In a positive light, I was able to enter the building today and see my actual living space near its completion. Furniture has yet to be installed, but hey, at least I have a fridge. Yeah, I think that's all they've installed at this point. In addition to this, I got to take a look at my office. (I have an office?) This is a pretty sweet deal, I won't lie.

So, you may be sitting there in your seat, thinking, "Mark, you've got it made! You've got a brand new apartment, building, office...everything!" Right you are, but you also need to think about the transition into our new building. That's where the worrying kicks in. We're not doing this all in one day. No. That would be hell. We are stretching this over the span of the week. So, by Saturday, theoretically, we will be entirely out of the hotel. It doesn't sound like much, but we have a lot to focus on, and a lot of chances to drop the ball. I don't want to be the one who drops the ball. Although, I do have the innate fear that it will be me who drops it. I always sucked at dodge ball.

So, we'll see how this week pans out. As a student, I'm on top of things. Homework is pretty much taken care of at this point. My greatest concern is getting into my new building. I move my stuff in Tuesday, but I will not be able to settle until Saturday, when everyone is moved in. That sucks. All I want, is to get back in the swing of things.

Here's to worrying.

The Cost of Education

There's an old saying out there that goes something like this: "If you think education is expensive, consider the cost of ignorance."

While I think this is a witty and poignant quote, it was revealed to me today just exactly what may be the cost of education. Beside of all the student loans, books, homework, and time spent working on education, I believe I've found something that's a little less tangible when it comes to the cost of education- reputation.

In my classes this week, the topic is university leadership; specifically, the university president. Our professor handed out a rather interesting article that just points to how much a reputation can cost. Featured in a 2005 issue of The Chronicle for Higher Education, I read how former president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers made a somewhat generalized comment about women in the field of mathematics and science at a scholarly meeting. He suggested that this situation may be the cause of innate differences of ability from men. Upon hearing this, some women of the conference walked out.

Here, we have the president of a prestigious (not to mention, America's first) institution who makes a shrewd comment at a scholarly meeting. Later in 2006, because of this comment, President Summers steps down as president of Harvard University.

So, what does this mean? What does this imply? Because he is the head of a highly acclaimed university, does it mean that the rest of the University thinks the same? I think one can certainly take it that way. I'm certain in the fact that what took years of a reputation to build up, in approximately 3 seconds, Dr. Summers destroyed. Easy as that.

Opinions mean everything. The thing is, everybody has one. However, the difference between a person and an educated person is that the educated person can back up what they say with tangible proof. If you can support your reasoning with solid and valid research it's good.

Watch what you say, and what you do say, be able to back it up. It could cost you everything.

The First-Years

A few things that I'm noticing particularly here on the ODU campus are certain idiosyncratic tendencies with our first year students. With these students growing up in a world of instant access and gratification, I am constantly seeing first-years buried in technology.

Let me run this down a bit. I am a Graduate Assistant in a residence hall that is currently under construction. While our completion date is fast approaching, we currently reside in a hotel in the downtown area. Because of this location, the University has arranged buses to commute back and forth to escort these first-years to campus and the hotel. I too take the bus, because it helps me to save gas and because of my "hippie" liberal arts undergraduate education, I realize that this is a great way to be green. These buses run every half hour.

In my commute on these buses, I constantly see these first-years completely absorbed in their high dollar iPods, shiny new smartphones, and super-techy laptops. When riding the bus, one simply hears the lone, constant rumble of the diesel engine, pneumatic pressure release from the air brakes, and the ever present sound of music coming from a student who has no concern for their abilities for hearing in their later years.

This situation perplexes me. Whatever happened to human interaction? What is wrong with verbal communication? These students just sit in silence, absorbed in tech world. And personally, this kind of scares the shit out of me.

I come from a generation before these students, where we had computers, and all the technology they have; it was just a little less refined. Yet, I cannot make myself walk across campus with earbuds in. I can't shut myself out from human interaction; I crave it. This world of fast paced information and instant results is nice, but some people are downing in it. Welcome to generational theory.

I am also drawing an analogy with these students. Really, to me first years can be compared to newborn puppies. They're cute. Cute in such a way that they are utterly helpless. Their eyes are still shut to the real world, and they huddle close together for warmth and support. This is where the analogy ends. These students act like the own the world. They know it all, and have a certain nonchalance about them. I'm not complaining about this behavior, but I certainly can see that they have a long way to go before they actually become "big dogs." I see it as my job, as a future Student Affairs professional to help these little pups open their eyes, get their shots, and grow up to be a healthy individuals.

That's what I'm here for, and that's what I love doing.

An Introduction

Hi there. Name's Mark.

Call it motivation, or procrastination from readings, (I prefer the latter) this blog is about my life, my odyssey. This blog will be free written, usually containg a general theme, or topic of the current happenings in my life. Sometimes, it will be written from a professional point-of-view, using complete and thorough grammatical style...as much as I have retained anyway. Other times, I may resort to my backwoods raising, and add a few explicatives, conjunctions, slang, and all kinds of shit. It's the nature of the beast. So, with out further delay...

I'm 23 years old, a recent UNCA graduate (GO BULLDOGS!) and a first year grad student at ODU. I'm working on my Masters degree in higher education. I love what I do, and do what I love, even though I'm working my ass off for it. I have an assistantship with the housing office, which is where I got inducted into the world of student affairs.

It all started out with being an RA. Who would've thought two years earlier when I first became an RA that I would soon be embarking upon my first year as a grad student working on a masters degree? Certainly not me. I got a BA in drama. Me? Grad school? What a hell of a joke!

But somehow, I'm here. Somehow, I was chosen. SOMEHOW, I made it a point in my life that I wanted to work with college students, and be a part of their life, whether they knew it or not. That sort of excites me. To know that I can make a difference.

To me, it all comes down to making a difference. It means passing it on. In my first year at UNCA, it was MY RA who reached out to me. Who helped me to adjust to the changing world around me, and who helped me with problems. That meant so much to me, I wanted to get in on the action. I wanted to help others, just like my RA helped me. How little did I know that the step I took in that direction would lead me to a twisting, winding, thrill ride of an adventure known as student affairs.

So here I am, in my own little world, no longer a freshman, no longer an undergrad, but considering myself something I never really do think myself to be: an adult. As much as I hate to deny it, I am one. But hey, I'm still a kid at heart. I still watch cartoons. I still sing and dance in the mirror to my iPod in my underwear. I still act like everyone is watching me when no one really is. I still try and steal attention. (Hey, I was a drama major.)

So there it is, a bit of an introduction. A little bit of me. I'll update this as I can. I consider myself to be a devoted student, which means I'm reading a lot, or doing homework. But if I'm bored, here I'll be, ready to invite you into my life, my odyssey.