"The Book"

On face value, the spiral bound notebook below looks like any other notebook (sans the Georgia pride). I've affectionately dubbed it "The Book" as I'm not sure what else to call it. But opening it up reveals close to 25 pages of photographs and notes from my peers, colleagues, and my students. My supervisor has been putting it together for the last month he told me and he wanted me to have a reminder of my time here. I love it. I love it because I can store it on a bookshelf and pull it out when I'm having an emo kind of day and want to remember my time here in Athens. I love it because it sums up my experiences in the office and highlights the programs I gave a lot of myself to. But above all, I love it because it's filled with testimonies from my students of how I have impacted their lives in the smallest of ways and the legacy I leave behind on the programs I worked with and on their lives.

The book reminds me of why I am in student affairs and why I do this work. It certainly isn't for the money. It's for the impact I can make on my students and to know that I helped them during their development in college. So many of the notes from my students spoke to my never failing smile and upbeat attitude with them and how infectious my passion and love for my work is. They spoke of knowing that I was exactly in the career I was meant to be in and hearing that made me realize how lucky I am to be in a profession and a career that I love. I love getting up every morning. I love going into the office. I love working with my students. There's tons of other careers I could potentially see myself doing and tons that would leave me richer but at the end of the day, I'm not sure that there's any other careers that would leave me as filled up as student affairs does.

One of my colleagues began his note with this quote and for me, it appropriately sums up why I do what I do: "I hope it will be said we taught them to stand tall and proud, even in the face of history. And the future was made whole for us all, one child at a time." He wrote, "I share the quote above because it's a powerful reminder of why we do the work we do. We inspire, we challenge, we encourage, we engage, and we learn--all with the hopes of creating a future where all people feel confident to be their full, complete, and authentic self. In that, the world becomes a better place for us all." I couldn't have said it better.

Cheers.