Tag Archives: Alumni

When the Students Know More Than You, by Lisa Latronica, 2014 alumna

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When I started my first professional position, I expected to feel some imposter syndrome. I expected to feel like coworkers knew more than me and to be a little intimidated and nervous around them. We talked about it at length in Capstone and throughout the job search process.

I did not expect to be terrified of the students I would be supervising.

In Residence Life at Colorado School of Mines, there is an additional student staff position between professional staff and Resident Assistants and Community Assistants. Our Senior Staff – made up of Hall Directors and Community Directors – are upperclassmen or graduate students who have 1-2 years of experience as staff members. The job they do is basically the same as what a graduate student in student affairs would do – they supervise a staff, oversee a building of residents, and even serve as first responders on a duty rotation.

When I first learned all that the Senior Staff did, I was in disbelief. The number of times I said, “We let undergraduate students do that?” is more than I can count. But the closer we got to their arrival on campus and Senior Staff training, the more the skepticism faded, and the stronger the fear, nervousness, and uncertainty began.

These students had been in Mines Res Life for longer than I had been in residence life anywhere. They could do the job that I just left. They knew more about the campus culture, student population, and policies and procedures than my new professional mind could grasp. And that was uncomfortable and terrifying.

Then the 8 Senior Staff arrived. And they were so nice and talented. And that almost made it worse. My mantras all through our training retreat (which in true Colorado fashion, took place on the side of a mountain and with lots of hiking and bouldering), were, “Fake it till you make it,” and “Don’t let them see the fear in your eyes.” I thought that if I showed any hint of not knowing what I was doing, I would lose their respect and trust.  And on top of it, the more I got to know them, the more impressed I was with them, not just as students or staff, but as people. To this day, I would argue that you won’t find people who can balance as much, give as much, or care as much as our Senior Staff.

I felt this huge amount of pressure, but it took me weeks to realize that it wasn’t the students who were putting that pressure on me. I was doing it to myself.

A few weeks into the start of the semester, after all the training and move-in events were over, I had a conversation with one of the Senior Staff members that changed how I viewed our relationship. I was having an overwhelming day, and felt like I didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I finally caved and asked them to tell me about how things were done at Mines from their perspective. It was one of the most helpful conversations I had during those first few months. I later shared with them that I had been terrified to seem like I didn’t know what I was doing.

Their reaction? They laughed and said that was ridiculous.

As real as my fear and nervousness was, it was pretty unfounded. Sure, the students knew a lot more about some things, but I forgot to have confidence in my own experiences and education. I think part of my fear was because I wanted to be the best possible person for my students, and I forgot the most important part of that:

Intentions and trying. If you have good intentions, and you try hard to do the best for your students, you can’t go wrong.

It’s easy to forget that students see us a humans, just as we see them as such. They don’t expect us to be perfect, and it’s not fair to us or them to pressure ourselves to seem as such. We screw up. We don’t know answers. We need help. And the more we are ok with showing that side of ourselves, the more our students will be ok with showing us that side of themselves.

These days, I’m much more comfortable asking the Senior Staff for answers (and it happens almost daily). I’ve realized that they’re happy to help, and it’s so much easier than guessing. They know I’m not perfect, and I’m ok with that. And deep down, I know that they feel better asking me questions because of it.

I’m still scared of them some days, but now it’s more likely to be because they’re leaping from rocks on a mountain than because I think they’re judging me. I like this way much better.

Lisa Latronica is a 2014 graduate of the Higher Education Administration master’s program. She currently serves as a Residence Life Coordinator with the Department of Residence Life at the Colorado School of Mines.

Trusting the Process, by Brooke Bailey, 2013 alum

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Be prepared to know that things don’t always go as planned.

There is a strong possibility that during interview season you will make mistakes.  What’s more important to know is that you’re going to walk away with a job, regardless.   Mistakes allow an interviewer to get a glimpse of who you really are as they watch how you recover.  Anyone can give a perfectly canned answer for how they deal with stress and surprises.  Letting an interviewer see you exercise grace as you pick yourself up is a different matter altogether. 

Before my first on-campus interview, I practiced my introduction over and over so I would feel prepared when the Assistant Director of the Housing department picked me up from my hotel.  (I’m an introvert and the introduction is the scariest part for me.)  When he finally got there, I shook his hand, gave my best smile, and told him, “It’s great to meet you, Brooke!  I’m Jason.”  That would have been fine, except that I had managed to switch our names in the process of trying to deliver the perfect handshake.  Later, after riding a golf cart across campus in the middle of March to meet the V.P. of Student Affairs, I had no idea that there was bright yellow pollen all over the back of my black skirt when I walked into his office. Even worse, the resume that I handed everyone that day was printed on iridescent, gold paper. (If you didn’t learn from Elle Woods, learn from me—just say no to anything that isn’t ivory.)  A week later, that school offered me the job.

The job search took other interesting turns because I found myself frequently changing my focus.  While others were methodical with the search, I felt directionless because of how often my attention wandered.  After working a graduate assistantship in Housing, I decided I wanted to explore other functional areas within student affairs—until a very charismatic cohort member talked me into going to a housing conference at the last minute.  I had promised myself I’d stay in the Triangle, but at SEAHO’s job placement, I quickly fell in love with a Housing department in Georgia that had a living community I found intriguing.  When I was given the opportunity to work there, I had to decide whether or not to take the leap and leave my support network.  I decided I couldn’t leave my family and friends but felt torn about turning down the chance to work with people that would have been incredible colleagues that shared my values.  The scariest part was turning down a job without the promise of another offer to replace it. 

During the same general time frame, I was taking a class in Adult Education where I became interested in professional education.  I came across a job listing at UNC’s School of Government that entailed working in continuing education with public defenders.  I sent it to my professor to give to her other students, assuming I wouldn’t be qualified.  All my student experience was with undergraduates and I had no legal background.  Later the same night, I decided to throw my resume in the hat on a whim.  It’s a good thing I did.  I’m a Tar Heel now.

There are days my colleagues look at me strangely when I use “I language” and try to bring up identity theory in staff meetings.  Sometimes that makes me think back to the class discussions on cultural and institutional fit.  Then I remember the bigger picture.  I chose this position because I wanted to broaden my understanding of what it means to work in higher education.  I’ve co-authored a business plan in order to figure out how to generate more revenue in difficult budgetary times, worked with grant writing and administration, served as the continuing education liaison to a professional licensing board, and have planned events completely different than those I executed within my previous positions.  This is not what I envisioned for myself this time last year, but if I hadn’t opened myself up to possibilities, I would have missed out on what has been a great learning experience.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: be flexible, be forgiving of yourself, and bring ivory resume paper.

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

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“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.