What is your routine for the first few hours of your day?
On weekday mornings, I like to start my day slowly by drinking a sugar-free Red Bull while watching leadership and motivational content on TikTok. It’s a simple routine that helps me gather new ideas, reflect on different perspectives, and often save inspiration for future projects before the workday begins.
What is the last thing you read, watched, or listened to that changed your perspective?
Recently, listening to and watching leadership conversations featuring Simon Sinek or Brené Brown has shifted my perspective on what I truly value in leadership. Their work consistently returns to the idea that leadership is relational – grounded in trust, vulnerability, and connection. Hearing leadership framed as friendship and shared responsibility has helped me re-center my work on building trust with colleagues and students and seeing leadership as a collective commitment rather than an individual role.
What is one piece of advice you wish you had received earlier in your career?
In recent years, our field has done important work to better understand identity, intersectionality, and lived experience. That work matters. It has helped many of us name ourselves more clearly and advocate for needs that were previously invisible. At the same time, I’ve been reflecting on how we sometimes use this language in ways that unintentionally narrow our sense of responsibility to one another. I’ve noticed moments where “I don’t understand” or “That’s not how I operate” becomes a stopping point rather than a starting place – where acknowledging our limits turns into opting out, instead of asking a different question: Who can I call in? How can I communicate my limitations while still honoring the expectation? What support do I need to do this well?
For me, working in housing and residential life is not just about serving students. It is also about serving colleagues. That service shows up in small daily ways: reminding someone that they did not get here by accident, helping them see their own capacity, and believing in their ability to rise to a moment even when it feels uncomfortable. I believe deeply in community as both a responsibility and a motivator. Sometimes the community you are in does not serve you well. That reality is valid. But I often challenge myself and others to resist the instinct to disengage entirely and instead ask, what kind of community do I want to help build? If we want students to take ownership of their communities, we have to be willing to model that same commitment with one another. Leadership, to me, is relational. It looks a lot like friendship: built on trust, honesty, and the assumption of good intent. Trust that your colleague is doing their best. Trust that they do not need to be defensive to be accountable. Trust that growth can coexist with grace.
Doing your best does not mean doing everything alone or doing everything perfectly. It means being honest about what you can carry, reflective about where you need support, and intentional about bringing the right people into the work. It means moving from “I can’t” to “How might we?”
If there is one thing I hope we continue to practice as a field, it is this: using what we know about ourselves not as an excuse to disengage, but as a tool to collaborate more thoughtfully, build stronger partnerships, and show up for our communities with courage and care. We can be the change we hope to see in our students. And we do that best when we choose community over comfort.
What is your favorite campus dining hall meal?
Pasta!
What is something that someone has done for you lately for which you were most grateful?
Recently, I’ve been most grateful for the many colleagues who stepped in to support one of our large-scale roommate programs. People volunteered their time, shared their expertise, and showed up in ways that made a big institution feel surprisingly small. Moments like that remind me how powerful shared commitment can be and how much stronger our work becomes when we lean on one another.
What tool (real or metaphorical) does every campus housing pro need to know how to use, and when was the last time you used it?
Every campus housing professional needs to know how to use assessment. Without gathering full context, data, and multiple perspectives, it’s easy to mistake an exception to the rule. Assessment helps us make informed decisions, challenge assumptions, and respond to real patterns rather than isolated moments. I most recently relied on it while reflecting on program outcomes, ensuring that individual experiences were honored without allowing one story to define the entire narrative.
What was your favorite class from your days as a student? How do you still use the lessons or knowledge from it today?
My favorite class was color theory, which taught me how meaning, emotion, and experience can be shaped intentionally through design. But some of the most impactful lessons I carry with me didn’t come from a classroom. After graduating, I worked under a supervisor who taught me more about leadership and self-worth than any syllabus ever could. He reminded me that you don’t ask for your value, you show it through your work. He taught me that interviewing is a skill you never stop practicing, because knowing your worth matters. Those lessons continue to guide how I advocate for myself, how I mentor others, and how I lead with integrity and care. Thank you, Bob Brauer<3.
What hobby would you pursue if time and money were no object?
I’d spend as much time as possible by the water. Being at the beach, riding on a boat or a Jet Ski, or even quietly paddleboarding is where I feel most grounded. In another world, I’d move Rutgers from the Raritan River to the coast and create a student-only waterfront space where people could slow down, touch grass, and build community through relaxed, intentional moments.
What is your favorite tradition from any campus where you have worked?
One of my favorite traditions on any campus has always been attending collegiate athletic events. There’s something special about seeing colleagues, students, and staff outside of their usual roles, cheering for the same team and sharing a sense of pride and camaraderie. While I am privileged by location to watch an assortment of professional sports, it’s the energy of campus athletics that truly brings a community together and reminds me why supporting students beyond the classroom matters.
What song do you count on to hype you up to start the day or help you celebrate at the end of a long one?
"I'm So Blessed" by Cain.
Gabriella Vasquez is the coordinator for student leadership at Rutgers University-New Brunswick in New Jersey.
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