By Crystal Romero, Institute for Shipboard Education: Semester at Sea
“I’m sorry, kiddo. It’s COVID,” Nurse Bob said, leaving me in disbelief. “But I don’t feel sick at all! I usually run a fever, and I’m supposed to lead a camel trek through the Sahara in just three days!” I pleaded, desperately trying to hold back tears. This was the last thing I wanted to hear right before one of my most anticipated field programs during this four month voyage around the world. I had been chosen as a Trip Liaison for Semester at Sea's fall 2024 voyage in Morocco, and my excitement had been through the roof. Instead, I was whisked away to an isolation room, left alone until I could be tested again. Not only was I now in quarantine, but I had also lost my chance to participate in the camel trek entirely.
The last time I visited the continent of Africa was in 2019. I was volunteering at a school and staying at a backpacker hostel in Cape Town, South Africa. One of my first days at the school, I noticed a little girl laying on the ground during recess. Walking over to her, I quickly learned that she was not feeling well and was burning up from a fever. Days later I learned that this child had the flu and would not be returning to school for several days. Consequently, I myself came down with the flu and was sick for the remainder of my time in the country. Being ill is obviously never a good time, but when it is compounded by being so far from home and having severe control issues, it is also a journey through a myriad of emotions.
After several days of solitude in quarantine, my mind had little to do but wander, and that's exactly what it did. I found myself reflecting on my reasons for embarking on this journey, allowing a wave of nostalgia to wash over me. I embraced my homesickness and pondered how the rest of the trip would unfold if I felt this way. Working for Semester at Sea had been a long deferred dream of mine and one that I wanted to gain a perfect experience from. It was hard for me to let go of that image. Then, in the midst of this low moment, something remarkable happened: my community rallied around me. I started receiving encouraging notes slipped under my door and in my mailbox. My residents and colleagues reached out with texts and calls, checking in on me, and some even snuck me extra snacks. It’s hard to wallow in self-pity when you're enveloped in such warmth and support.
As I sat in my isolation room, those small gestures started to shift my perspective. Each note reminded me that I wasn’t truly alone, even if I felt it. My mind began to wander back to my experiences in South Africa. I remembered the little girl on the ground and how helpless I felt in that moment. But just as I couldn’t change her circumstances, I also couldn’t change my current situation. What I could do was choose how I responded to it.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, I was cleared to leave isolation, but the lessons I learned stayed with me. This time, I vowed to embrace the unpredictability of travel and the inherent challenges that come with it. I realized that sometimes our plans get derailed, but it’s in those moments that we learn the most—not just about the world, but about ourselves.
One key lesson emerged from my time in quarantine: community matters. The support I received taught me the importance of connection, whether near or far. It reminded me to reach out to others in their times of need, as well.
When I finally joined the rest of the shipboard community, I did so with a renewed sense of purpose. I approached the journey with a deeper appreciation for the people around me and the unpredictability of life. Yes, plans can change in an instant, but it’s the way we navigate those changes that defines our experience.
In the end, I not only learned about the resilience of my spirit but also about the power of community. And while I had initially feared that my dreams were slipping away, they transformed into a profound journey of connection and understanding—one I would carry with me long after the sun set over the Sahara.
By President-Elect Beth Eppringer
Are you sending a delegation from your department to the Student Staff Leadership Conference? General registration ends September 15th, and capacity is limited! Just thinking about the conference gets me AMPed up, and I’m not even attending! Yes, this blog post is a sales pitch for the conference. The SSLC is a perfect development opportunity for our future colleagues. Right now there are full-time professionals in SWACUHO who attended the SWACUHO SSLC (formerly RA Conference) as an undergraduate. Perhaps their experience nudged them toward the profession. I know my one weekend at the RA conference at UNI was an unknown puzzle piece in developing me for the rest of my college career and beyond. And, it wasn’t the sleeping on the floor of a lounge or managing an alcohol incident that were the highlights.
If you’re still with me, here are some talking points to use to convince someone your university needs to be in attendance.
1. Invest. Show your student staff you care about their development. By investing in their development, you are building stronger leaders for your department. In just a few years, these students could be the advisor taking your delegation to the conference. Your are building future leaders!
2. Represent! School pride is infectious. Everyone in SWACUHO already knows TCU has a great department culture of involvement and leadership. Having your delegation at the SSLC will do the same. Then, when graduate school applications and job searching comes along in the future, candidates will remember your institution’s name.
3. It’s Manageable. The conference is quick, and your delegation can be any size. How much is spent on registration and the hotel is up to your department based on delegation size.
4. It’s Fun! Memories are made during the travel portion of the weekend, students see their networks grow, and the host campus always provide a variety of experiences.
Now that you are certain your school will be represented at the SSLC, go a step further. Encourage the delegates to submit program proposals, create a roll call, and design a banner. Thank you to Texas Christian University for hosting! Reach out to Fred Dillard at conferences@swacuho.org to learn about YOUR chance to host next year!
Dr. Nechele McClinton-Gates, University of Central Arkansas
There can be balance! As an individual who has been working in Housing and Residence Life in some capacity since 2008, I, too, have heard the many concerns surrounding the work/life balance in this world. I will also say that I have been a participant and enabler of this world as well. However, it wasn’t until I encountered difficulties and health scares in my family life that I knew some reprioritization had to take place. Specifically, I remember traveling back and forth from Texas to Arkansas to sit beside my sister while she was in her hospital bed after suffering from a Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and as I was spending the little time I had with her, I was also working on sending out Student Staff Offer Letters. Offer Letters…while my sister was in the hospital sick and of course I had to drive back in a short period of time to be on call because being short staff is just part of the gig. After really looking at that situation, I knew I wanted to make a change.
I started to be more efficient and effective during my work hours, so that there was little to no time that I took work home with me. I set boundaries with my staff where I was only contacted if I was on duty or if there was something personal happening in their life. This set the foundation for when I got married, I already had several boundaries set in practice. This was important to me because in order for me to develop the Godly, Kingdom marriage that I desired my husband had to be my number 1 priority. So, balance and boundaries are important because he can’t be my number 1 priority if I am spending an excessive amount of time after hours or during the weekend at work, if I have several non-emergency phone calls/texts during our time together, or if I am being excessive in my bonding time with my work family. Everything can be done in moderation and with balance. It’s just a matter of changing your perspective on what makes you a good employee, what your values are, or what makes you connected to your staff. If that doesn’t work, don’t be afraid to change your location to a space that correlates with your new found values.
By Marianna Canales, Texas State University
I vividly remember my first day of Graduate Hall Director training. After an incredibly long day of learning every policy and procedure, I couldn’t help but think, “What did I get myself into?”. You see, I didn’t have a traditional residence life background. I wasn’t a resident advisor (RA) in undergrad, but I lived in the residence halls the first two years and then the university apartments. I was fairly confident that those experiences would be enough to prepare me to be a graduate hall staff. Unfortunately, it turned out I knew very little about the responsibilities and work that residence life professionals deal with on a day-to-day basis.
Reflecting back on where I started and where I am now, I cannot compare the amount of growth and opportunities that I had at Texas A&M University to any other assistantship or program that I would’ve been a part of. It is astonishing to think about the type of person I was when I first began the job and the individual that I have grown into two years later. It is one thing to find individuals who will help you and pour into you, but it is another thing entirely to find a whole community that not only believes in you but is willing to guide and push you into the professional they know you can be. I will always cherish and appreciate the family that I built and how they gave me the opportunity to live and grow out of my comfort zone.
Being a full time graduate student and working part time, it can be difficult to manage competing priorities when you are the type of individual who wants to do it all. I wish I could say I found a balance and sometimes said no to opportunities, but that is not what happened. I immersed myself in all that Residence Life and my program had to offer. I learned to embrace it all and ended up loving a functional area that was supposed to be a pit stop. I continually asked myself what type of impact I wanted to make and how I wanted to be remembered. I didn’t know how to go about leaving my mark which is why when I first started I felt like I didn't know what I was doing—until I did. I believe that is how a lot of us start in these positions. In Residence Life we hit the ground running and I hopped right on board. I relied on my gut, and as time went on, I relied on my experiences, training, and interactions to guide my decisions. I consistently asked questions, which everyone in the department and program was always willing to answer. When there were opportunities to share my ideas, there were individuals who were willing to meet me halfway. Most importantly, I was surrounded by great supervisors and mentors who took the time to get to know me and my passions. The amount of professional development I received through the department and the willingness of others to teach me, helped me see the value in what we do. It helped me realize that in our profession it is the little things that can have the greatest impact.
As graduate students, we are at a pivotal point in our professional journey. We are trying to find our way and make meaning of our own experiences. We are trying to learn about who we are and figure out the professionals we want to be. When I started, I just knew that I wanted to be the change that is seen in higher education. I didn’t have a clear why until I saw the value in the work that I was doing. It took me a while to realize the true value that my RAs played in my role. I like to tell them now that they are the hands and feet of the organization and I cannot do what I do without them. The sense of accomplishment I feel, the supervisor, and the leader that I am today, is because of my past Lechner/McFadden and FHK Complex staff teams. I, surprisingly, learned so much from them and I can only hope that they learned just as much from me. When I first started the job, I knew that I wanted to make an impact and help students. What I didn’t realize was how students help and teach us to be better professionals. I was not expecting 22 resident advisors to leave such an impact on me and influence the person I was becoming. They became my why. They shaped my outlook on supervision, showed me the leader I want to be, challenged my thinking, helped me come up with innovative solutions, and even encouraged me to apply for my doctoral program. It is for them that we do our work and it is because of them that we will continue to do our best and never settle. My staff will forever have a special place in my heart.
Balancing graduate school, work, family, friends, and any other extra curriculars is tough. However, it taught me to make the best of situations and to be grateful for the chances we are given to make a difference in the lives of others. I learned that we are not the outcome of our circumstances, but we get to choose our outcomes and hopefully change the circumstances in which we are given. I learned the art of having difficult conversations while being clear and kind. If you knew me before my time in Residence Life, conversations, especially difficult ones, were not always easy for me. I have now learned to handle them with my head held high and with grace. I gained confidence in myself and in my decisions, which has allowed me to share my thoughts and insights in different spaces. I became more aware of my surroundings and utilized crisis management skills during power outages, many fire alarms, and flooding. I was able to bring my own personality and positivity into my staff and community, which unsurprisingly, ended up being my favorite part of the job. I “choose success” on days when the going got tough, but found value in being able to make my own decisions and learning when I made a mistake.
As a Graduate Hall Director, I realized that I was prepared to be the future of the profession and take on my first full-time job as a Residence Director at Texas State University. I even left with a sense of purpose and drive, and is why I will continue my education through my doctoral program. I can already see how my experiences at Texas A&M University are going to make a difference in the work that I will be doing in this new role and all that I be learning in the classroom. As a new professional and an individual who will continue to pursue their education, I have found that it is passion and willingness to adapt that makes a difference in our roles. I appreciated and valued the mentors and leaders who set the bar high and were great examples for me to follow. I want to encourage full-time professionals who have the opportunity to make an impact on graduate students, to continue to be our guides as we navigate all that residence life and higher education encompasses. You might not realize it, but the part you play makes a big difference and you help shape and mold us into the professionals that we will become.
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Moving to school is an exciting yet stressful time for many individuals. Students, parents, and campus housing professionals all play a crucial role in ensuring a smooth and successful transition. While parents and students undoubtedly have an influence, campus housing professionals can have the most significant impact on moving day.
As professionals specializing in college move-in services, Collegeboxes has had the opportunity to visit numerous campuses and witness countless move-ins. Through our experiences, we have gathered plenty of successful ideas that we are eager to share with you. If you are seeking innovative move-in strategies, here are eight effective methods to assist students as they transition into their new campus residences.
There’s a good chance you already provide some type of move-in resource for students to help them get settled. But if not, it’s something we highly recommend. It could be a welcome packet containing detailed information about moving procedures, essential contacts, campus maps, and tips for settling in. Or it could be online guides, FAQs, and helpful PDFs posted on your website or distributed via QR code that help students prepare for the move. If your campus already provides this service, perhaps it’s time to review your content and determine whether there’s room for improvement.
Many schools utilize orientation programs to help students and parents get comfortable on move-in day. Typical orientations include campus tours to help students familiarize themselves with key locations such as dorms, dining halls, libraries, and health centers. Not only do orientations familiarize students with their surroundings, but they also give students the opportunity to meet other students and start the settling in process.
You can take this a step further by developing some “welcome” events, such an ice cream social, BBQ, or game night to help students acclimate and feel welcome. Be sure to invite the parents and current residents as well. Although this may not directly ease the stress of move-in day, it can help reduce some of the other anxieties students and parents experience during this time and foster a healthier atmosphere for the weeks to come.
One of your primary goals as a housing professional is to not only get students moved in, but to also keep things organized and on schedule. Unfortunately, you can’t be there to lend a helping hand to every family, but you can take steps to make things easier.
Clear, helpful signage is a simple, yet effective way to point people in the right direction and cut down on confusion and congestion. If possible, we also recommend providing loading and unloading assistance, either via volunteers or staff members, to make the process easier on families. Finally, set up information booths to hand out your move-in resources, answer questions, and give directions.
Does your campus have dollies, carts, or any kind of moving equipment readily available? If not, it’s time to acquire some and make sure families know they are available when moving to school. These tools will go a long way toward helping families get their items through the hallways, up the elevators, and into their dorms more efficiently and with less effort.
The fewer students moving in at one time, the less congestion and confusion there will be. Seems simple enough but can be one the more impactful strategies we recommend. If you can, stagger move in times and offer flexibility to accommodate more schedules and reduce traffic jams and overall stress. We also recommend offering early move in. A few days before your official move-in, allow some students to get their things moved to avoid the rush and give them extra time to settle in.
Think about past campus moving days. Were there any specific hang-ups or areas that caused confusion? Try to identify these and other areas that need improvement. Call on your own experiences to improve upon your existing moving strategies and help build new ones. In addition, strategize a way for students to leave feedback so you more easily identify stressors moving forward and make improvements accordingly. This could be as simple as comment cards, or it could involve something more interactive, such digital surveys. This feedback will be vital to enhancing your operation and ensuring future success.
We encourage you to keep your incoming students in the loop as best you can leading up to move-in. Send regular emails or messages with updates and any essential information that they might find useful. This can also be a great time to distribute maps, instructions, rules, or anything else that would be helpful to review before things begin.
Pro tip: campus emergency contacts can come in handy in an unexpected situation. Be sure students are prepared as best as possible for a variety of situations.
Not all moving help needs to come from you and/or campus staff. There are additional, external resources out there that can help students with their moving journey. For instance, Collegeboxes provides services that streamline the moving process for college students. Professional movers do the heavy lifting so housing officers and their staff can focus on keeping things running smoothly.
Collegeboxes partners with campuses across the U.S. and Canada, aiming to provide a low-cost solution that helps students and colleges alike. Learn more about our partnership program and how we can help student housing officers. By offering comprehensive support and resources, you can help make the transition to school as smooth and stress-free as possible for students and their families.
by Dr. Delton Gordon, Arkansas Tech University
Lately, I have pondered the distinguishable moments in my lifetime, both personally and professionally. While there have been memorable moments, like marrying the love of my life, being present for the birth of my son, graduating with my PhD., or getting my first Senior Housing Officer role, my life can easily be divided into Delton before turkeys and Delton after turkeys.
We started our flock of chickens shortly after moving to Arkansas. My wife, Sarah, had always dreamed of having chickens so she could name them after Disney Princesses. I quickly went about researching and building a chicken coop as well as adding a run so the newest members of our family could get about safely. Sarah took online classes to understand chickens and the care. It became a passion to understand these simple, but fascinating animals. It was important to get breeds that laid beautifully colored eggs or the birds themselves had unique traits. If you are aware of chicken math, you’ll understand, but quickly eight birds turned into fifteen. After the first year passed and we had fallen in love with the descendants of dinosaurs, we decided to “order” a few birds from an online breeder. This was a whole new level of obsession, allowing us to choose one or two of each breed, a plethora of procurement options were now available to us.
Farming and ranching were quite prominent in my genealogy research, with my fifth great grandfather and his brothers settling the lands of Effingham County, Illinois with their hogs. They are noted in the History of Effingham County Illinois (1883, Perrin, W.H.). They were quite the nuisance as they herded their swine through other settlers’ property. I suppose that is why fences became popular. Thus, the desire to raise and care for animals runs strong though my heritage.
However, while chickens were certainly the starting point, I ultimately fell in love with raising turkeys. On a whim, I decided to order one turkey to surprise the family. It was a heritage breed, Bourbon Red Turkey. Most larger breed chickens are easily distinguishable at birth what sex they are, however Turkeys are much more difficult. So, it would be months before we knew if it was a jake (male) or a jenny (female). Thus, making naming of our turkey a little challenging. After a few months go along, we realized our turkey was a hen, and thus Thursday was christened. I’m here to tell you, that’s when I knew my life would change.
Turkeys are inquisitive, curious, and quite social. Thursday is no exception; she absolutely loves people…maybe more than her fellow turkeys (definitely more than ducks)! There are lots of moments in life where we can look back and say, my life was different before…this job, this person, this pet, this trip…but I am here to tell you, I can easily say, my life with turkeys (especially Thursday) is a clear dividing line. I challenge you to think about your life’s dividing line…what are things/people/places that you can distinguish a clear before and after?
by Beth Eppinger, Texas Woman's University
by Drew Jahr, Texas Tech University
Change is a fact of life and dealing with it can be difficult for anyone. For me, to truly deal with the change, I find that I need to do a lot of self-reflection to determine what is causing me the difficulty. Recently for me, change has come from a lot of different directions. Being the President of SWACUHO came with a lot of responsibilities and follow up. Now that role has concluded, and thus I have experienced a lot of change within my priorities and how I organize my time. It has left me a little confused on how to re-focus my energies.
Another major change I have been addressing has been changes within my department. Last year, we went through a major re-organization, and I needed to spend significant time setting the vision for my department and supporting my team through the associated changes. I also found myself re-focusing the value I place on my work. My work is what I do, it is not who I am. This was a realization that recently hit home for me. It has been a struggle but rewarding as I have continued to work on myself. We all struggle from time to time, but it is how one bounces back that truly matters. Do you allow the changes to overcome your life or do you take the changes as potential successful opportunities to learn and continue growing as a professional.
Recently, I decided to make a commitment to re-evaluate my view on life and work. It was truly something I had needed to do for many years, but I never took the time to do it. I made excuses such as not having the time, or something else was more important. Ultimately, I never did it. Several years ago, I had a colleague tell me “No one ever put on their tomb stone 'I wish I could have worked more!' Another colleague asked me “Do you want to work to live or live to work?” These comments did not mean much at the time they were shared, but now they have progressed to being front and center on my mind.
For those that don’t know, last year I went on a river cruise to celebrate the 50-year wedding anniversary of my parents. During that time, I was able to do some self-reflection and not be disturbed by work. I realized I want to work to live, but I am currently practicing live to work. I find that it seems like all I do is work. Even when I am not at work, I work. While I do get enjoyment out of the work I do, I know it is not a healthy way to live one's life.
Now comes the challenge that I need to address. What does one do about it? The work still needs to get done and the philosophy of working to live should not be an excuse for not getting things completed and being seen as dependable in the workplace. While I am early in this journey, I hope that I can find that balance in my life. Time will tell. If anyone else is going through a similar journey, I wish you well. Should you want to connect and share your journey and tips that you have found successful, please reach out.
Southwest Association of College & University Housing Officers
624 W. University DrivePMB 418Denton, TX 76201
webmaster@swacuho.org
