“Do you know anyone in Florida?” by Becca Bender, 2013 Alum

“Wow you’re moving to Florida? Get ready to sweat.”
“Hope you know how to survive a hurricane.”
“Why would you move from NC to a place that gets even hotter?”
“That’s going to suck to like, start all over.”

These were some of the real life questions and comments I got when I decided to leave North Carolina, where I have lived my whole life, and take a job at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida (southeast coast, just north of Fort Lauderdale). Point of advice to everyone – don’t make stressful, somewhat negative comments to someone who is already freaking out about moving hundreds of miles away from friends and family!! After unsuccessfully searching for jobs in NC (where I assumed I would be my whole life), I redefined my job search and participated in C3 at ACPA in Las Vegas. Through that experience, I was fortunate to  be offered the job for Coordinator of Student Involvement, working with service and leadership.

The biggest adjustment for me, moving to a brand new place, was/is finding PEOPLE. It’s so different than being an undergraduate/graduate student, where you have tons of people around you all the time to hang out with. I am lucky that I have great co-workers, who are around my age and also new to the area, but I’ve found that it’s really important to me to find friends outside of work. There should be a class in grad school, or even in undergrad about HOW TO MAKE FRIENDS AS A GROWN UP. Seriously. Nobody tells you these things.

As someone used to having lots of friends and family around to entertain me at all moments of the day – I’ve had to get creative being in a brand new place. A few things that I’ve tried include:

• Joining a gym. The plus is that Florida offers really cool fitness classes on the beach. It’s a great way to meet other people and a good outlet after work.
• Meetup.com: I’ve always been a little sketched out by online activities. But Meetup is cool because there are interest groups based on whatever you want to do. There are book clubs, running groups, networking, fitness, happy hour, etc. And the coolest part is that literally everyone that goes to events is in a similar situation trying to meet new people. I’ve met some cool people through those events and they have led to other, non-Meetup hangout time.
• Join a professional group: This is a great way to meet people but also help in your career. I work in service and leadership – I joined the Junior League in my town which is a women’s group focused on community development. So far, it’s been a great way to meet other like-minded women and learn more about community partners in the area.
• Find other professional opportunities: I managed to make some higher education connections outside of my job at Lynn, which has been helpful and helped me meet other SA pros in the south Florida area. I got involved with LeaderShape in SoFL, which is a collaborative institute between 7 institutions. INSTANT NETWORKING! I also got connected to a fraternity at Florida Atlantic University, which was in need of another adviser, through HEA’s very own Scott Leighty! I feel like these connections help me branch out from my job and help me meet other people to add my social and professional network.

I was really scared moving to a new place – especially after I really thought I would be settled in NC forever. It’s still pretty scary. Not really knowing what comes next. This is the first time in my life I’ve started something that didn’t have a built in deadline. But it’s also exciting! …to be starting in a new place and figuring out how to make it on my own. I’m learning a lot about myself and what I need and want out of my life and my job. My best friend from home made the trek with me from NC to FL and when I had a mini-breakdown two days after we arrived here (because it’s scary, I was going to be all alone, I didn’t know anyone, it was a million degrees out…fill in the blank), she said something I’ll never forget. She said, “Becca, just do it because you can!” And I can. As I am finding out.