"Make sure it's worth the autobiography"
Tomorrow wraps my first full week at the new gig. It has flown by quickly and been filled predominantly with interviewing orientation leader applicants. Though I have felt constricted by spending the majority of my time interviewing instead of setting up my office, meeting colleagues, and walking around campus to get my bearings, it's been a wonderful way to get a pulse on the student body on campus and find out the culture.
In wrapping up my first week back in NOLA, I find myself reflecting on something one of the applicants wrote about in her essay and unpacked during her interview. She said some advice her older sister gave her that she lives by is the statement, "make sure it's worth the autobiography." That in everything that you do, ask yourself, is this worth the autobiography? Am I making the most of my surroundings? my relationships? my life? Will I look back one day with regrets or with rich and compelling stories for my autobiography? This statement stays with me as I embark upon the Mardi Gras season here in the city. What would be easy would be to steer clear of it, come home to the suburbs, blame it on my lack of having a solid network of people to spend it with, or that I just moved back and need to get settled, watch it pass me by. But man! How boring! And what a cop out! So instead? I'm leaning into the discomfort. I'm trying to reconnect with old friends, forge some new relationships and put myself out there with the hopes that I not only enjoy the Carnival season over the next 4 days but also begin to build (or re-build) my network here in the city. So I'm left feeling excited and up for the challenge!
Operation find a place to live is in full swing and I've lined up to see two places next week. One that would be a single apartment and another with a potential random roommate from C-list. And with my gym membership set up, I'm slowly tackling things on my list. I'm learning to adjust to my new life working longer hours than I did before, listening to the radio in the car during my 20-minute commute to and from work, and not having plans or obligations more of the weekday nights than not. But in due time, I'm sure it'll feel like a routine...
Cheers!
In wrapping up my first week back in NOLA, I find myself reflecting on something one of the applicants wrote about in her essay and unpacked during her interview. She said some advice her older sister gave her that she lives by is the statement, "make sure it's worth the autobiography." That in everything that you do, ask yourself, is this worth the autobiography? Am I making the most of my surroundings? my relationships? my life? Will I look back one day with regrets or with rich and compelling stories for my autobiography? This statement stays with me as I embark upon the Mardi Gras season here in the city. What would be easy would be to steer clear of it, come home to the suburbs, blame it on my lack of having a solid network of people to spend it with, or that I just moved back and need to get settled, watch it pass me by. But man! How boring! And what a cop out! So instead? I'm leaning into the discomfort. I'm trying to reconnect with old friends, forge some new relationships and put myself out there with the hopes that I not only enjoy the Carnival season over the next 4 days but also begin to build (or re-build) my network here in the city. So I'm left feeling excited and up for the challenge!
Operation find a place to live is in full swing and I've lined up to see two places next week. One that would be a single apartment and another with a potential random roommate from C-list. And with my gym membership set up, I'm slowly tackling things on my list. I'm learning to adjust to my new life working longer hours than I did before, listening to the radio in the car during my 20-minute commute to and from work, and not having plans or obligations more of the weekday nights than not. But in due time, I'm sure it'll feel like a routine...
Cheers!
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