Joe Sabado (@JoeSabado) re-linked this inspirational post in a tweet. I’ve been giving the topic a lot of thought recently, especially, since I’m not “in” Student Affairs right now but that is my “career” and the area on which my graduate school education centered.
I wanted to pay it forward. I wouldn’t have been able to persist, to complete, without my first-semester RA. I mentioned him in the dedication of my dissertation; he was that great an influence on my future. I was a trouble-maker, first-generation, every “ism”-you-can-imagine holder. I paid my first semester tuition by running books for a local bookie. My RA’s boss, the hall director (RHD), approached me one evening as I was taking bets in the student lounge, “Whatchya’ doin’?” I can still see her dimpled grin.
“Taking bets!” I answered confidently, “want to put some money on a team?” I don’t think she expected me to be that honest. “We need to talk.” And, talk we did.
I (yes, I was that ignorant) didn’t realize there was anything wrong with what I was doing; I’d never given it any thought. Everyone I knew bet on sporting contests. When I decided to begin attending university after a horrendous accident left me disabled, one of the first people that offered to “help”, was, you guessed it, my bookie. Seems he had several “unpaid” debts on the campus, and my presence afforded him an opportunity to collect. He fronted me money and offered me a percentage of what I collected that was already owed to him. It worked out that it would be possible to “pay back” the fronted amount, and still make money within my first semester. Once I realized how much money I could make, well, it was fascinating (to me) how many students gambled on any sporting contest. If Kathy hadn’t “caught” me, who knows how much money I’d have made. I would also have flunked out. I didn’t have a lot of time to study if I “ran the books” properly.
There were other issues that my RA had with me, developmentally. He eventually required that I meet with him, and a quite diverse staff of his peers, weekly. He exposed me to differences in race, sexuality, religion, abilities, you name it; he had me observing. And reflecting. And talking. That’s right, he made me tell him how I felt about all that “stuff!” For a while, I would look back on those months together and I often wondered why he bothered. What did he see that kept him from just “turning me in” to the RHD? Know what? He just cared. I probably wasn’t that unique. After I later became an RA, I laughed many times at how selfish I was, thinking that I was somehow “his special project.” As a paraprofessional I met many students that were just as ignorant as I was, and yes, even some that were (almost!) behaviorally worse. Then, and later as a professional, I tried to “save’em all.” It doesn’t always work that way, but still we try.
No matter, paying-it-forward just feels right. Student Affairs, as a profession, offers more chances to make positive differences in lives than anything else I’ve ever done.
I’ve “jumped out” of Student Affairs twice; once when recruited
by a Japanese company. After six corporate years I returned to the
profession. The second time was, again, for an international
opportunity; I began consulting while doing research for my dissertation
(ironically for a student affairs degree) in China.
When I returned from China, I wasn’t able to “jump right back in” the profession. We (as a profession) really do have a “what have you done for me lately” attitude, and that’s perfectly fine. It’ll take time to rebuild a professional reputation; I’m down with that. Student affairs professionals, much like leaders, are probably not born; they are created through intense development processes that truly resonate deep within the spirits. The old saying, “you can take the boy out of the country, but not the country out of the boy” has never been truer of anyone than me. Well, I believe the same can be said about Student Affairs. I’m not quite sure how long it will be before the “right” opportunity is created, but I do know for sure I’ll be ready to embrace that occasion.
Opportunity Ahead!