Oh, hey! Welcome to the community.
Your work is significant
Your work is noticed
Your work matters
This blog is going to be like one of those awesome books that starts at the end, rewinds, then takes you through the story to get back to the end.
Thank You!
Residence Life is known for being a thankless industry where you devote a large portion of your life to your work yet your work continues to be overlooked. We want to change that culture. Together, let’s create a culture of appreciation and gratitude. Let’s thank our colleagues, mentors, staff members, and students for the impact their having and the work that they’re doing.
- Thank you for being patient when that plan changed a hundred more times.
- Thank you for the countless hours you’ve spent planning for a safe return to campus.
- Thank you for explaining to parents why you aren’t hosting social events.
- Thank you for your compassion when moving students to quarantine rooms when they made the conscious decision to go to that frat party with 100 other freshmen.
- Thank you for sticking with it, even when no one seems to notice how hard things are.
- Thank you for showing empathy for your staff and the work they’re doing to adjust to COVID regulations.
- Thank you for the countless “other duties as assigned” you’ve completed in the last six months. Often met without recognition or praise, you continue to showcase your resilience and dedication to students and your institution.
- Thank you for everything that wasn’t mentioned but you still did, never expecting gratitude or recognition.
- Thanks for your continued and seemingly endless resilience.
- Thank you for doing the work that matters. We see you, we see how hard you are working, and we see the impact of your effort.
The Beginning
“I think COVID has changed my brain. I feel different now.”
I was sitting at dinner with my daughter and she said, “I think COVID has changed my brain. I feel different now.” For context, she has not had COVID-19 and is only seven years old. I agreed that this experience has likely changed the way most of us now approach situations, view relationships, and experience the world. Combine that comment with the constant reminders from Instagram of advisor trainings in the past; images of team photos, social events, educational sessions at camp, and work parties have flooded my “memories” on social media, and it’s impossible to not think about how life is different.
The Reality Now
The reality (temporary or not is unknown at this point) is that the role of residence life and housing professionals has changed. You’ve been forced to adapt quickly, embrace change frequently and consistently, and lead in a new way. You may love this new role, but for many, it has been a difficult switch to more administration that lacks many components of the job that were previously rewarding. Instead of planning events, fostering teams, or developing up-and-coming leaders, you’re moving students to different rooms, hearing more conduct cases for unauthorized gatherings, and revising the plans that you made three days earlier.
Thank You
Thank you for putting the students and staff first. With all of the media attention on the true intentions of institutions, it’s clear that residence life and housing departments are taking into strong consideration the health and safety of their students and staff. Thank you for your resilience, your willingness to keep going, and for putting on a mask and making the best of an otherwise crappy situation. Your work is significant, your work matters, and your work is noticed.
Thank you.
Welcome to the community. We’re glad you’re here.
