There is a certain smell that residence halls have when no one lives in them. I don't know how to explain it except that it's a mix of drywall, clorox, dust, and wood. I think. Trust me on this one. My halls are a couple residents shy of being closed for the Summer. Closed for the Summer? When did it become May? The hall smells like it did when I arrived, but I am not the same. When I arrived in those halls for the first time, my car was packed to the brim. My mom and I walked into my hall and moved all my boxes in within 10 minutes. When she left the next day, I looked up and realized I did not know a soul. I was in Kansas. I was at KU. And I was completely alone. Now, of course, I had a supervisor (a name, a handshake), and a staff (names), and a roster of one-hundred students that would soon be living with me. But for the time being, no one.
Now, as I look around my almost empty halls I think to myself... it's been a while... a while since I've looked up and realized the web of connections that now surround me. I have not even been here a year. And I won't be leaving for another 12 full months. Two years in one place... for the first time. Back in the heat of July 2010 I had not even enrolled in fall classes. I did not know how I would fare. I had not read a page of a book. Now I am halfway through my course work. I have fared well in graduate classes. I have friends. I ache to think about the composition of my halls changing next year. If you follow my blog, you know how much my students mean to me. It is what makes me roll out of my bed everyday, pack my bag, and do what I do. They are the men and women who will become so much, and I am so lucky to be in their lives.
And tomorrow, at noon, I put up the bright orange signs on all the doors that say "This Hall Closed For Summer" and I lock the windows, throw out the last trash bags, hug my staff, and look at my car sitting solo in the eerily empty parking lot, and breathe for the first time in weeks. I'm sure some of the stress in my body will subside. I am sure I will have no idea what to do with myself. Graduate school, year one, complete. Hello... I'm a second year!
In honor of all the lists of check-out tasks to be complete...another list!
New things I have done/have happened in the past 10 months that I have lived in Kansas...
1. Supervised my first undergraduate staff.
2. Advised student organizations for the first time... three of them!
3. Served as a hearing officer on all sorts of judicial cases.
4. Survived my first Midwestern winter (Hats and mittens are to be praised.)
5. Learned the power of intentional programming (Student development theory!).
6. Learned how to de-lime an industrial dishwasher.
7. Held a pager (circa the early 90's?) for multiple weeks.
8. Went to my first professional conference in Omaha, Nebraska (first time in Nebraska!)
9. Made my first friends from South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Montana, Iowa, and Nebraska.
10. Learned how to two-step and learned that Kansans like country music just as much as Alabamians.
11. Negotiated with food vendors for 100 mouths to feed daily.
12. Recruited incoming grad students and planned the graduation ceremony for outgoing grads.
13. Fell in love with Lawrence, KS - the parks and shops and people and happenings.
14. Needed an airplane to get to and from my Alabama home.
15. Have had to hire, train, support, fire, and all around learn how to handle tough conversations.
16. Learned that I am capable.
17. Decided to be studious. Hey there, 4.0. Where was that resolve in undergrad?
18. Made professional connections via... twitter.
19. Fell in love with hot tea and cannot seem to go a day without it.
20. Got an iPhone after years of turning my nose up at them (don't worry, my life has been changed).
21. Was given the nickname Big Mama H.
22. Learned that eating too much sugar gives me a worse hangover than alcohol.
23. Studied at a nationally ranked university library.
24. Obtained a Kansas driver's license.
25. Learned how to pronounce Olathe, Eudora, and Tonganoxie corretly.
And look forward to my next update... which will undoubtedly be a mixture of opening two large residence halls and a 24 hour desk for summer conferences. That, and being a part of the lovely Taylor Payne's wedding festivities. Until next time :)
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