Somewhere Between Scared, Nervous, and Excited, You’ll Find Me: Jacob Goldstein

For this blog, Nathan wanted us to share the thoughts we are feeling regarding the annual conference – more specifically, whether we are scared, nervous, or excited. I don’t know about you, but I’m simultaneously feeling all three of these emotions! At the risk of sounding cliché, preparing for the conference has been an emotional rollercoaster.

To begin, I can’t believe that the conference will be starting in less than a week. When I first applied to the Golden Key scholarship, March seemed so far away; after months of speaking of the conference as an abstract future event, its reality is finally dawning on me.  Unfortunately, with this reality comes fright and nervousness. I’ve never attended a Student Affairs conference before; in fact, I’ve never attended a professional conference of any kind! I’m throwing myself into a whole new world, and being so outside of my comfort zone is a frightening prospect. Then there’s challenge of learning all this new NASPA lingo – I can’t be the only one who had never heard of a “Knowledge Community” until a month ago!

Florida and the Windy City don’t mix!: Kelly O’hara (TPE Guest Blogger)

The first thing I notice when I landed in Chicago was 1) I packed entirely too much stuff and now I have to carry it everywhere through the city to get to my friend’s apartment and 2) it is VERY cold. My Florida blood is not used to being anything below 40 degrees. Besides the cold and heavy luggage, I was thrilled to be back in Chi-town! I had sent the summer here as an intern at DePaul University and had the time of my life for the short 6 weeks that I spent here. I was hoping to run into every DePaul staff that I knew to catch up and report back my life post internship.  I am not going to lie, I was not nervous at all about the Placement Exchange until I got here and I sat down for my first orientation session. I attended the second one available on Wednesday and unfortunately for me, the room with the multimedia, sound, and power point presentation wasn’t working so we were crammed into a smaller room with no sound. The two ladies giving the orientation were extremely apologetic and tried to speak loudly but it was still impossible to hear them, which definitely did not help the nerves. Luckily, after the presentation was over, I realized I already knew everything that she had presented to us! I have to give out some credit to my professor who took a week to mentally, physically prepare us.

Gearing up: Get Ready, Set, GO!

It has been a very fast past couple of weeks.  They have been busy and yet fun.  As I am finishing out my semester student teaching at SUNY Fredonia it has been a new and exciting challenge for me to work with middle and high school students.  In the middle of the hustle and bustle of daily life at public school, I have been busy with applying to graduate school.  Hopefully by the time NASPA hits, I will have made a decision!

Attending my first NASPA conference has been in the back of my mind ever since I first got this exceptional opportunity to attend.  I am looking forward to my trip Chicago. Why? I knew you all would want to know. I feel this is a great opportunity to meet new people in the same career path in student affairs.  I am eager to meet new, young, and seasoned professionals in the field.  The conference in itself will give me knowledge and growth potential for my future endeavors ahead.  The information that will be taught to all of us will be positive and motivating.  I also have never been to Chicago, so it will be one of many firsts.  I look forward to seeing a city that has a lot of culture, diversity, and spectacular skyline.

This is it! Chicago here we come :): Tammy Hong

It’s finally here! In less than a week, student affairs administrators from across the world will be gathering together for the annual TPE/NASPA 2010 Conference. I can’t wait! I’m super excited and looking forward to meeting new people, and catching up with familiar faces. The conference sessions look to be promising, and Chicago is more than ready for us. Don’t forget to also check out Chicago as well, take time out for yourself, volunteer, and have fun!! 🙂

Have you had a chance to read about the other bloggers and their experiences on this site? They are just absolutely amazing!! I am excited for the undergraduates who will be graduating and pursuing student affairs. For the second years like myself, best of luck in your job search!! 🙂

One thing this blog experience has taught me is to own my identity and experiences. As odd as this may sound, I prefer to not be in the spotlight, and I usually prefer to showcase others. Life isn’t really ever about you, it’s about other people and those relationships you build with them. But at the same time, it is, you have to be true to yourself, and know what it is that you stand for. In my job search process, I’ve undergone mock interviews, resume critiques, etc. I feel like I’m an athlete, preparing to enter into the Olympic Games, but in all reality, the competition is really against myself. In finding an institution to work for, you have to do a lot of searching within yourself to find out what you need to be happy. When you realize this, and realize that it comes down to institutional fit for both the institution and you, you are all the better. And remember, just be you.

This is the Fun Part!: John Davenport (TPE Guest Blogger)

I’m heading to Chicago and TPE to job search like lots of folks, the difference for me is that after 9 years as a student affairs professional in residence life, I detoured and spent the last 5 years working on my Phd. So now I’m heading back onto the job market and working the placement exchange as candidate for the first time in about 11 years. It’s exciting, because after a few years of teaching grad students in CSPA about the job search process and actually being responsible for hiring grads in my current position, I get to dust off that theoretical stuff and put it to use for myself. Luckily TPE is right up the road from my current home at Illinois State University, so in addition to job searching I get to hit up some of my favorite places to eat and wrap it all up with some home cooking.

After graduate work at Eastern Illinois, and starting out my career at the University of Missouri-Columbia, I had the opportunity to attend my first NASPA conference in 2000. That year the conference was also held in Chicago and it was great to be attending my first National conference in my hometown. At the time I was also interviewing candidates, but I still made time to attend plenty of sessions and begin networking with some of the professionals who have become colleagues and lifelong friends. With placement now being held separately from the conference we candidates can focus on one thing at a time and just enjoy the opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new connections, oh yeah and also find jobs.

Preparing to get blown away in the Windy City!: Dan Stypa

With my first NASPA annual conference soon approaching, I’m getting prepared to be blown away in the Windy City!  Having looked at the sessions being offered, I am excited about attending so many different presentations – especially those dealing with my primary research interests of retention, engagement, and sophomore students.

Persistence Pals: Addressing Retention One Student At a Time looks as though it will be a very intriguing session about helping student s feel connected on their campus.  I have talked with a mentor of mine here at UT and we are excited to see if the program implemented at this school will be able to help address issues of retention here at UT.  “What about us?” : Engaging Second-year Students is another session I am excited to attend!  Having completed research about sophomores here at UT, I am eager to learn about how another large school is engaging sophomores.  The Director of the Student Success Center is excited for me to bring back materials from this session to enhance our new SYE program.  Long Term Outcomes of a Residential Sophomore Year Program is being led by my mentor’s previous supervisor.  Here at UT, our new sophomore programs have only been around for 1 year.  I have developed questions for this presentation that will help better inform how we can assess our program and move forward to meet the needs of our sophomores. 

CHI-TOWN is hitting a NERVE…oh but I can’t Wait to get there!!: Munirat Adebimpe

I am extremely excited beyond belief about this conference especially because of TPE (The Placement Exchange). I have already scheduled two interviews and hoping to schedule a few more in the days to come. Although I am excited I know that I am nervous as anything! I find myself asking my colleagues who have been through this process over and over again… “What was it like? Tell me more”. I am sure they will be glad to be rid of me for a week! There were some jobs that I really wanted to interview for an I have been informed that their interview slots are full and what not but I am not going to let that disappoint me because I know that I will have the opportunity to meet various people and hopefully the opportunity to setup other interviews. I am also exceptionally excited about Chicago because of the art and history the city itself has. I have been contemplating whether to move out there after graduation in May and have been strongly encouraged by many mentors that it would be an exciting move (they all love Chi-Town)! So for this reason, I have been trying arduously to interview with colleges in the Chicago area. It has been hard trying to find jobs in my specific functional area which is multicultural affair but I am very interested in talking with Lee Longhorn who attended the Multicultural Institute in Dallas, I plan on attending the social justice institute this summer and I think we might have some similar passions…Can’t wait to meet you Lee! Job searching and finding a career that suits an individual is an essential process and I hope that Jodi Ceroky and I will be able to have conversations about, especially since the job search is right around the corner. Well I will get back to packing my bags!!! Even that is nerve racking! Can’t wait to see you all!

Interviews, follow-ups, and more interviews… Oh my!: Mitch Joseph (TPE Guest Blogger)

So I’m only a couple days out from The Placement Exchange… and I am full of all sorts of feelings from nervousness, anxiousness, and even excitement. My job search has taken all sorts of turns, and now I’ve ended up at TPE. How did I end up at this point? What am I doing to prep for my interviews? Want some tips? Well, just keep reading and find out.

To begin, I want to give you a little background about who I am and where I come from. I am currently finishing up my Masters in College Student Personnel from Bowling Green State University and am completing my assistantship as a Residence Coordinator and Career Development intern at Heidelberg University (a small, private, liberal arts institution of about 1,200 students in Northwestern Ohio). I also am involved in NASPA’s GLBT Issues Knowledge Community as the Graduate Student/New Professional Core Member. I began my search through TPE in about November/December. The only criteria that I had set for my search was that the institution had to be in a city that, as one friend puts it, “has a Starbucks, a Target, and a Barnes & Noble”.  I started receiving interest in my candidacy in late January, and was accepting interview offers at least once a week. Currently, I am up to about 12 interviews with schools as far away as Seattle, Texas, and Florida and some places that are right in my back yard.

FROM CHAMPAIGN TO CHICAGO!: Sam Siner

Hello!  The annual NASPA conference is coming up soon, and I’m getting excited!  I have some more graduate school interviews to get through first, but then all my attention is on Chicago.  Since I am from the Chicago area, I won’t get to see a new place… but it should be really interesting to experience my home city from a different perspective.

I’m not sure what to expect from the conference.  I know it will be a whirlwind of activity, and I know that there will be thousands of people to meet (and greet).  I’m a bit nervous about this, but I’m also looking forward to starting to develop relationships with lots of new people from all over the country.  It should be a tremendous professional development experience.  Hope to see you there!

Refreshing Reflections of a NASPA First-Timer: Kim Kushner

Hi everyone. I am excited to be writing my second blog of the NASPA Golden Key Scholarship blogging experience. Since my last blog, I have been working to prepare for NASPA Placement Exchange and the Annual NASPA Conference by getting my suits tailored, dry cleaning my business casual attire, sending resumes/cover letters to prospective interviewers, and learning more about the NASPA conference in general. Although I am a little bit nervous about leaving for Chicago in less than one week, I am incredibly excited to participate in something I know will help me develop personally, academically, and professionally, and help me feel more comfortable and confident with my career plans post-graduation.

As stated before, one of the primary ways I have been getting ready for the conference is sending in resumes/cover letters to prospective employers who will be present at The Placement Exchange. It is very exciting to check The Placement Exchange website almost every day, seeing what new positions pop up and how they might complement my professional objectives. I am interested in pretty much any type of job, whether it is in residence life, orientation, student activities, or career services. However, I am learning to be intentional with picking positions that I can truly see myself being successful in and where I can learn the most as an entry-level practitioner. In addition, I am also in the process of the job search with my partner, who lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Although I have heard that the partner search can be difficult to navigate, it is incredibly difficult when you are long distance and he is also trying to find a job at the same time. Needless to say, this distance has created many opportunities for late night phone conversations centering on potential cities, schools, and functional areas that meet both of our needs. Please feel free to comment on my blog if you have any advice for the partner search, or if you are going through the same thing right now.