Thompson - Week 7

Team Practicum,

Hello hello! I am up and running with my computer. I accidentally spilled Gatoraid on it and needless to say, it stopped working.  Thanks to the Geniuses at the Apple Store they fixed me right up.  Anyway, last week was a very interesting week for me because I used the time for a significant amount of personal reflection.  I also managed to finalize all the details for the mascot policy manual.  Lastly, I assisted in Saint Leo's final orientation.

As far as the personal reflection goes, I walked outside one night to the sunset pictured.  The sunsets here are phenomenal! -- jaw dropping, if you will.  The sunsets also have had the ability to make my worries, concerns, and fears drop by the wayside.

Sometimes in student affairs we need to find our sunset.  Don't get me wrong, we need to be proactive and accomplishing our goals as professionals.  However, the less we are consumed by our pressure to succeed and the more we embrace our desire to serve the better we will be both professionally and personally.  I challenge each of you to find time in your life to sit back, relax, and reflect on why we got into student affairs.  Find your sunset!  I'd love to read or discuss with you what you discover.

Moving forward, I'm loving my experience at Saint Leo.  I have been privileged to work with some great people.  The students, staff, and faculty all have a desire to see this school succeed.  This was very apparent while I assisted in developing the mascot manual/policy.  Some of the most interesting and productive conversations I have had at Saint Leo have dealt with the mascot.  The student leaders know they have a duty to represent the student body's  opinion, and the staff/faculty know they have a duty to ensure that the students' ideas align with Saint Leo's core values and mission.  This cooperation can be related to any school regardless of the size, demographic, or history of the institution.

Working with both sides during the policy development has allowed me to see what student affairs professionals undergo while working with students.  Yes, student affairs practitioners want to provide students with every resources available.  Yes, they want every students'  event to happen.  And yes, they want to carry out all student idea.  However, they must keep in mind the institution that they serve.  Every institution is different.  That's what makes higher education so unique.  Each institution has their own mission, their own values, their own purpose, and their own culture.  Professionals must know this information in order to fully serve their students.

At Saint Leo, their core values are rooted in every aspect of Saint Leo life.  From their orientation (community style), types of water fountains they install (promotes reusable water bottles), to the relationships they have with their students (my supervisors are called mom and dad).  It has been an interesting 4 weeks, and I hate that my time is drawing close to an end.   I'll take what I have learned here and apply it to my both my professional career and personal life.  Because I really believe that this experience has shaped me into a better professional and person.