April is tough.
In the world of higher education, the month is even tougher. Students are wrapped up with final projects, studying for exams, summer internship searches, and student organization transitions. Faculty and staff are busy trying to wrap up everything before the end of the school year, whether it's ensuring students are presented with all the course material they need to know or closing out a programming budget. In Student Affairs, it's easy to get caught up in all the events and ever-expanding to-do list that has become April's signature. Consecutive weeks of 50+ hours and never-ending student "emergencies" set us forth on the fast track to getting burnt out. So what do we do about it? With this being my first April as a pseudo-SA pro (full-time intern, waiting for grad school to start next fall), I quickly realized that the month is no less stressful from the other side. It was my latest stress-eating, caffeine-induced frenzy that made me realize the need to step back and reconsider my attitude for the month. For the first couple weeks, I was merely trying to get by. I did feel the most productive I've been all semester, efficiently and determinedly crossing off items on my to-do list. I was saving time by booking entertainers for next month's late night event myself, and I was killing it with my marketing plan for that other campus office. I was producing good work, but I was feeling less fulfilled. How could that be? I realized my issue - I had lost my focus. My work's focus is student development, and I was not considering how my work was impacting students; I was just doing what "needed" to get done. Pausing to consider how, even during the busy month, I could better help students refueled and redirected me. Sure, planning for next month's late night event was going well, but how was I ensuring the student coordinator was truly developing through the process? Our committee launching a trash-to-treasure initiative had the logistics all worked out, but what were students really gaining from this program? Not keeping this in mind, I was becoming more and more annoyed with the project. This reconnection with my focus is a strategy I know I will have to employ several times throughout my career. But, that's of little concern to me, because I look forward to the refreshing reminders of my work's purpose: serving, supporting, and challenging students to become their best.
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Kristin KreherMy happiness comes from meaningful interactions, the outdoors, thrift shops, and saying "thank you." Archives
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