It sounds silly, but I helped plan an RA banquet when I was an undergraduate working as a student office worker with residence life. A few years after graduation, I fondly remembered the excitement of helping plan that banquet, order the awards that were given out, and print off the speech, and I thought it would be so great to pursue that graduate assistantship working with student leaders and planning that banquet.
Today, my team humored me by participating in a support-the-supporter worksheet that I created and sharing their thoughts about how we all contribute to a supportive workplace. It is the small things that help remind me of the differences we can make in each other’s lives that seems to be my love language at work.
The English Language Institute is pretty unique to the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus, or at least I haven’t seen it at any other campus. It attracts international students to our campus who have a limited understanding of the English language and allows them to work on their ability to communicate. While I enjoy the concept in theory, the roommate conflicts are quite interesting to navigate.
At my undergraduate institution, Southern Illinois University (Carbondale), there were several. Some I remember are trying to find the penny that was in a sculpture garden (I never found it), trying to build a cardboard boat for the boat regatta (mine typically sank), and rubbing Lincoln’s nose for luck before an exam at the Morris Library.
Sometimes I get a little excited and passionate about our work in higher education. I’ll push the envelope on policies to help with inclusion and try to get new initiatives off the ground when I think they are the right direction to move, but at the end of the day, I appreciate the reminder that we are in the business of housing students. My former boss used to say, “Thanks for housing students today.” I think it’s a good reminder to keep things in perspective and stop taking myself so seriously.
Honestly, I would say attracting the next generation to the field of higher education. This is likely tied to budget shortfalls tied to some political leaders that don’t value education, but in the end it is attracting the talent we need to this field that will help develop leadership and role model ethics for our students.
I have this $5 essential oil diffuser that helps keep my office smelling serene, along with a Keurig, which is what fuels the mental energy for my work.
Meet the governor and other political leaders in the state. I think it’d be nice to be able to have a sit down about the budget for higher education and try my hardest to make a strong case that the cuts need to stop.
I’ve always wanted the same thing – to leave the world in a better place than I found it. While life doesn’t always go the way I want it to go, I do try to remember that I can make a difference in the small things. I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to serve in public office because I’m not great at raising money, and I wasn’t born rich. But I do my best to try to explain to students and younger colleagues why I do certain things so that the next generation can do it differently, perhaps better.
I always tell my team I’m working on my telepathic or psychic powers so that I could just know what was going on without them having to explain it to me. Alas, the power of communication is still the best strategy until I’m able to unlock the mystery of reading minds.
Trelana Daniel is the director of residence life at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Have a colleague you think others should get to know? Please share with us at talkingstick@acuho-i.org and you may see them in a future issue of the magazine.
