Banks-LSU...Tigerland Review

Greetings from Tigerland everyone!

Activities:
- Graduate Resident Director (GRD) Training
- Meeting with Associate Director
- Working on Study Group & Time Management Initiative
- Assisting interns with #liveGOLD initiative


      Where has the month of July gone? I feel like it just started and now it is already dwindling away. It has been a busy week for me and still learning a lot. For the first time, I finally felt out of my league. I participated in some sessions of GRD training. I was so lost, I didn't know anyone, I didn't know what they were talking about...AHHHHH can we say scary? :) Then I was reminded that aside from a handful of returners...the newbies were just as scared as I was hahaha. I quickly got comfortable and learned a lot. One of the ADs spent some time talking about organizational culture and the way the office works. This was interesting because from the beginning he wanted them to understand that they were apart of this chain of command and how important their role is to Residential Life at LSU. Hearing that allowed me to reflect on the fact that this is something I KNOW I want in whatever job I am in. I like that another AD when through their job description and broke it down according to what was expected of them and appropriate and inappropriate behaviors. This session was already allowing me and the GRDs to get our minds on what type of professional do you want to be and are expected to be.
       I had my big meeting with Mr. Johnathan Hyde, Associate Director. My entire plan for my life changed after that meeting. I will share in our last post (maybe). He was such a wealth of knowledge. I took away from that meeting that this is my life and no one...can write it but me. That's a hard pill to swallow especially as student affairs practitioners, we are used to being told what to do. Now...I have to tell myself what to do. I think sometimes I forget to remember that this is my journey and you are only going to get out of it as much as you put into it. I enjoy my meetings with my supervisor, she is so precious and even though she is LSU some of her heart is with our beloved MSU. I like that she is so open to my ideas, she pushes me to think outside of the box. I wish I could pack some of these people up with  me LOL.
       My projects are coming along nicely. We are currently deciding on a name for study groups. We did a voting on them last week. I hope to be able to share my projects with you all soon. The coolest thing about them is that they will be implemented this fall. I believe I have said it before, but do you think it's cool how our supervisors have trusted in us with major things for their institutions??? I do... :) The last thing I will be doing is finishing up information for the new initiative....#liveGOLD. I am working on some information for the staff such as calendars and survey questions. I have also created the evaluation surveys for the RAs. This was really neat because I had to challenge myself to think about questions for training that I honestly have never experienced before. I hope they enjoy them.

Inside of LSU South Hall, Living Learning Community

Call me a Geek but I thought it was cool

I really hope everyone is enjoying their practicum sites. I miss yall!

~Dejanae