it's been a while

I haven't posted to this blog in a while, so here goes.

This year has been more than I could ask for with being an RA. I have had an amazing time and I look forward to another year filling this honorable position. It's a tough job, but I definitely enjoy it.

I know I'm the only one who updates this still... I hope to see others updating, but I am sure it is not a reality and I wonder if someone in the future will continue to update their blog as well. It may be interesting to pull everyone, who continues to update, together into a group where we could talk about our position. Maybe a mini RA get together group or something and we could blog about our experiences. Maybe that would be something to get going on this website. I think it would be pretty neat. It would be even cooler if other schools have their RAs blog becaue then our RAs could connect with other schools, which would be... an amazing networking move and it would let our RAs meet new people off campus. Hm.. I think I will suggest that because I think it's a fabulous idea.

We did go to an RA conference this year and it was really cool to talk with RAs from other Universities, but we need more opportunities like that. Maybe one of those "virtual" games or websites has some sort of RA get together we could join in... I don't know, but it would be neat if we could find new ways to meet people at little or no cost...

Well, i'll think about that for a little while, but for right now it's time to end.

Move-in day, 8.21

Ladies,

I am extraordinarily excited for this year! After today I know that I will be able to do justice to the position of RA. Today I handled a multitude of minor crises and finished them with perfection and complete attention to each student or staff member that I was speaking with. I know I will be able to handle situations of diverse issues with little to no problem now.

Today I learned that students are truly amazing. I met so many interesting women today and I am excited to get to know the rest of them, whether in Fickes hall or in our 3 other fantastic residence halls and apartment complexes. Moving students in today made me feel connected to them in a way I couldn't have captured through any other means. Today I was able to carry on small conversations with every resident that moved in and I knew exactly what to say when they asked questions. When taking this position I was nervous about answering questions and whether or not I would be able to maintain all of the tasks being an RA encompasses and plus the ability to give each and every obstacle the right amount of time. After move-in today I feel 50 times more comfortable with my position. Helping students today made me feel 100% confident that I have gained trust from the students. Throughout the first week, month, semester and entire first year I will do nothing other than put my best foot forward to ensure that I keep the trust I have gained from my residents. I want to work hard to ensure the safety and satisfaction of the students. I made a promise to this University and I was given the chance to prove myself. I will not let the University down. I made a promise almost a year ago to make Dean's list last year and i accomplished that in my first semester, with this reflection I assure you that this new promise to the University also near and dear to my heart and I will do my best everyday to ensure that I keep it.

--Hoohah!

RA training '08

Well folks,

I'm not 100% sure anyone still checks these, but I thought I would update.

Fall training started this past Sunday and has been going stellar. The new Residence Life team members are more than i could have dreamt for. Everyone is so involved and completely committed to the training and making things run smoothly. I am thrilled to be a Resident Assistant and have the opportunity to work with such an amazing staff this year.

I wanted to share an event that happened to me today, because I thought it was a great learning experience and I want to share the wealth. I was out for a bike ride during our evening off and as I returned to campus I rode past Laughlin hall. While traveling up the hill a family stopped me and asked what Laughlin hall currently was. After the explanations of my attending Chatham, Laughlin's status, and where i lived, the grandfather proceeded to tell me that his grandma was Mr. and Mrs. Laughlin's house maid for the upper floors. How amazing is that? I was just riding around campus enjoying the scenery after a nice bike ride and I met these amazing people who shared part of their history with me.

I thought it was an amazing moment.

Keep up the amazing work in training and I can't wait to see you all again tomorrow!

singular model for leadership

reflection #7 - is it possible to have a singular model for leadership in a cultrually pluralistic environment? i believe having a single form of any instruction is completely impossible no matter what the situation. As we talk about constantly in class, to properly lead you have to get to know the people you are working with. If we didn't have to get to know people we wouldnt do needs assessments. A good example of the need for different types of leadership is within the classroom. A teacher can not only teach to reach auditory and book students. She has to teach so that she reaches students of all learning types, including auditory, hands on, visual, etc. In a situation where only one type of leadership is used, not all people involved will get the full understanding of whatever might be going on. I really think that knowing your crowd is one of the most important parts in leading, so I completely disagree with the idea that you can lead with only one style. I think that it is possible, but to be an effective leader in all situations this is the wrong approach to use.

LPI

I think the best way to question whether or not I have developed in my leadership ways, is to look at how i have handled situations. I think it's better to look at example, rather than to speak of how i have changed. Where is the proof? I noticed that I have been working on building up my ability to tell people an idea might not work without hurting their feelings. I can look at the situation from their perspective and figure out how they would feel being told something a certain way, so that i can alter the way i talk to them. I have been doing this a lot with group activities in my classes recently. I have also been doing really well with handling arguments and confrontation. I strongly dislike arguments, but when I have been faced with them through out the day I handled them in a way that suprised myself. I am a leader and I am supposed to be setting an example, a long with some of the friends i find arguing. I want to take the first step by acting against argument, so maybe they will catch on and do the same thing. Before I take any action I always think about how my actions will affect other people, how they will react, and if that reaction is something desirable, if it isn't desirable I will change my plan of action. It might seem like a long thought process, but I've been doing it my whole life so I have got the hang of it. I am excited to finally have a chance to fine tune my leadership skills. I can already see the improvement.

Can you be a leader? Can I? - theory on titular leaders explored

To lead a person does not have to be in charge, so to speak. Leading is a step away even when you are not the named leader in a group project or any type of activity in life. To me, any input is leading in some sense. If people in your group are having trouble with an idea and you know how to take that idea and re-mold it into something the group can understand better that is a form of leading. Anytime a member of a group or society puts their ideas out into the world they are leading in some shape or form because other people will always be listening. Leading is all about taking your ideas or other's ideas and putting them into action. Leading is about helping people and doing what you can to make things work. Being a named leader isn't necessary to help through the process. Take for instance the first day we talked about what a leader was with Kouzes and Posner's book. The first step to leading is modeling the way. If you are sharing an idea or showing people how to do something or even making sure to take part in a group activity you are modeling the way. According to Kouzes and Posner that definitely means you are a leader. Leading is not all about getting a spot light shown on you and having someone "put you in charge." It's about how you use the tools that you have as a person and how you help others to understand by modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, enabling others to act, and encouraging others to act. By being a leader without the title you are already challenging to the process by letting your leadership ideals shine through when you aren't even expected to do so. I believe leading is not about a title you are given, rather something that everyone can do no matter what situation they are in. In my opinion, everyone can lead, but some people choose to explore their abilities and become more improved leaders than those who do not choose to explore their individual talents.

Interview Day!!

AMAZING!!! I had such a great day today at the interview. Did anyone else have as much fun as I did? I went into the interviews without a worry in my system, because I have worked with most of the people who I was going to be interacting with today so i had no need to be worried. I was a little nervous about the activities and i was convinced that we were going to be doing human knots, because i know how much Dean Moselle loves them. I'm glad we didn't. I was a little worried about that one. =) I had interviews first today and they went amazing. I don't think I could have done any better if i tried. I felt so comfortable talking to my interviewers and I felt really confident with what I was going to say and how the interviews were going to pan out. I had so much fun doing everything else in the day too. I really enjoyed the program activity, because I love thinking of program ideas. I have so many good ones that I can't wait to put into action when I become an RA, even if I have to do a mini needs assessment of my Res. hall first. I'm willing to do anything to ensure i plan an amazing program. I liked the tower building project, but halfway through my groups session I started thinking the way I should have been since the beginning of the session when we figured out what the task was. Of course it wasn't actually about building a tower! It was about group work... Wow. It's interesting how if you just take things at face value you will never actually get the full meaning of an exercise. It was a lot of fun. Our tower was really cool and it actually held the cup of water -- that was unexpected. I had such a great day today... I can't wait to get my acceptance letter! I am so sure that I will get the position after how well today went. I thought we were going to have to wait a lot longer to find out who made it too, so i am glad we are finding out on the 14th! We all get to relax for break and then as soon as we come back we find out if we made RA or not! This is amazing! Is anyone else as excited as I am?