A Flight of Gratitude: Day One of 362
When I was a young(er) professional, it was role modeled for me that I should give back to my profession. My supervisor in my first professional position was serving as GLACUHO president as I entered the field. I saw other entry-level staff volunteering on committees and hosting student staff conferences. Mentors made it clear to me that identifying my talents and skills was important and, most important, was determining how I could use them to assist within my department, division, university, and professional organizations.
As I’ve grown in the field, I’ve been fortunate to have opportunities to serve that combined my skills, talent, and passion. Writing is an important piece of who I am; the opportunity to blog for ACUHO-I and several other professional blogs is an easy, fun way to contribute. I love social media; volunteering to teach people how to utilize Twitter at the conference was an engaging volunteer opportunity. Making connections and meeting new people is important to me; volunteering at registration was a good use of my time on Saturday morning.
Throughout the conference as I was thanked for things like those mentioned above, I noted that my reaction was almost always surprise. I’m surprised that people thank me for what I consider to be the opportunities given to me. I feel like I should be thanking them in turn (and often do) for what’s been given to me as a vehicle of professional and personal growth. I’m appreciative of these opportunities – they’ve helped me both expand and define who I am in our field.
I wrote last week about the 362 days a year that members of ACUHO-I aren’t at the Annual Conference and Exposition. I encouraged all of us – whether we attended ACE or not – to make the most of those 362 days and stay connected to our association. I’m taking my own challenge and intend to spend Day One demonstrating my gratitude by using time on the flight home from ACE to write thank you notes to the people who give me opportunities.
How will you spend Day One?
Great post Stacy- it is all about those 362 days. Maintaining & building the relationships will add so much value to our work & lives. So great to have you as a real world/twitter friend. T
Spot on Stacy – I spent the first of day 362 reaching out to my NHTI Class and working to get updates and challenging them to move forward as a professional!
As one who attended my first ACUHO-I conference in 1972, I can give testimony to the value and importance of being connected with the Association!
Stacy, great post as usual. Thanks for re-sharing the link on Twitter. Those moments of surprise are pleasant reminders that giving is one of the best ways to receive…in life and in work.
I love that you talk about talents, skills and passion. Too often we concentrate on the first two and forget the latter. I know that I did for a long time. In fact, like many, I pushed my passions aside or downplayed their importance to me, because they weren’t directly relevant to my job description.
Of course, my situation was unique in other ways, and I finally decided that my job wasn’t a good match and that if I was going to take my passions and use them in ways that I find challenging, I needed to do so on my own terms. Thus, the departure from a traditional job in higher ed, to having a less traditional job and finding ways to connect it to higher ed. (So I could use my experience, as well as my talents, skills and passions.)
But for many, the best avenue for pursuing their passions (outside of their normal job description and assigned duties) is to be involved in a professional organization. I wish I’d realized this sooner. ACUHO-I was the organization I found most relevant to my former positions, and now that I am not working in Housing/Res Life, I’m trying to find a professional home (or two) and honestly, feeling a little lost.
People like you can be a simple, welcoming presence to those who are searching, and most often, the thanks you receive for any help you give are going to be more about that, than the actual advice you give. Like they say, people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.
So, thanks for caring. And thanks for sharing.
And keep up the good work.
Sean