FIRST PERSON
by Ty Medford
A
mixture of pure excitement and relief flooded through my body when I heard the sentence I had so looked forward to: “I’m pleased to share that we would like to offer you the position!”
Then March 2020 happened.
Let me back up a bit. After accepting the position, I was given a start date of April 6 and was set to move in on March 28. I spent weeks afraid I was going to get a call saying the job was no longer available. I had no backup plan. Fortunately, The College of New Jersey reassured me that I would be able to move in and start but that the process and my training would look a little different. Little did I know just how much.
In a normal situation I might have begun my new job with a trip to the human resources department and some paperwork. I would get my ID card, keys, and any other department-issued gadgets and such. Eventually I would meet everyone in the office, take a tour, start to learn where things are, and then wrap up the day at my desk getting settled. However, none of that was going to happen because the campus was virtually empty, save for the other residence directors, the facilities staff, campus police, and a few deer who were enjoying the new freedom of such open spaces.
Starting a new job at a new campus is always going to have some speedbumps. While many campuses have worked to improve their onboarding and smooth out the rough patches as much as possible, there’s only so much that can happen during a pandemic. Rather than walking around and greeting my new coworkers, my first day primarily consisted of Zoom meetings. It was nice to see people, but it was not the same. Everyone in my department tried to make my transition as normal as possible; however, there were just so many things that can’t be done, taught, or learned virtually. I didn’t get my ID, keys, or other necessities for a few weeks because no one could come to campus and give them to me without approval. It was months before I met everyone in the department in person. What I did have was plenty of time to figure out how I could make the best of the situation.
First I recognized that even though I knew I tended to bond better in person, I had to find a way to feel more a part of the team. To do this, I took advantage of any opportunity to meet people virtually or in person (socially distanced of course). I also jumped at chances to get involved with committees and groups, both within and outside my department. Another way I did this was the result of my fellow RDs, who were great about creating spaces for me to get to know everyone. We had many virtual game nights and socially distant lunches to bond as a team.
My second challenge was simply trying to remember where everything was on campus as I prepared for my evenings on-call. I hadn’t even been on campus since the tour I did during my interview two months earlier. Again I relied on my RD team for their assistance. They were great at making sure I knew all the important things, like where to find certain documents in our Google drive and what to do in the most common situations. As for knowing where things were, I decided one day that I was just going to take a map and start my own personal tour of all the residential buildings. I brought along my training notes about where to find master keys and how to gain access to certain offices. It became my own one-person scavenger hunt. At the end of the day, if I was on-call and ended up lost or didn’t know where something was, I always had help and support just a phone call away to guide me.
My last challenge was learning to be okay with not knowing all the answers. This meant trying to come to grips with not knowing things that I felt I should know but maybe just hadn’t learned yet or that would be on that list of things that simply had to wait until everyone was back on campus. It also meant not knowing how to do something that was relatively simple but became more difficult because it wasn’t something I had done while working from home. The big unknown was what everyone was dealing with: not knowing if we were going to open for the next year or what our jobs would look like. I had to get really comfortable with the unknown, and it was not easy. To overcome this, I had to give up the fear of feeling ignorant because I did not know something and just ask all of the questions I had.
Finally, I started meditating to try to focus my mind on the things that I did know and could control. This was the best decision because not only did it help me in my professional life but it also helped me personally. Actually, I think the same could be said for this whole experience. It has been both challenging and rewarding. I have learned so much more about myself and have pushed myself to be more innovative and self-sufficient. Without this unique experience, I likely would still be operating well inside my comfort zone, so for that I am grateful. In many ways, it is true for the entire campus housing profession during the pandemic as we transitioned into new roles and found new ways of doing our work. As we near the end of this experience, we can all stand in solidarity. We took on the challenge and came out on the other side!
"First Person" is a column that allows ACUHO-I members a chance to put a personal spin on a news story. Ty Medford is a residence director at The College of New Jersey.
