I guess I'm a bad graduate student and a bad future student affairs professional because I don't spend my down time reading articles on student development. I've wondered if this is an indication that I'm not really all that passionate about it. Should I want every aspect of my life to revolve around what I do for a job? I know for some people it does. But so much of my time is already devoted to thinking, reading, and writing about these things--can't I just... watch tv or something instead?
With that being said, today I received a copy of About Campus in the mail, ACPA's (American College Personnel Association) bi-monthly publication that includes select journal articles on topics related to our profession. Usually I open it, look at the topics of the articles, and guiltily throw it in the recycle bin. Today I looked at the topics and read the editor's note, which caught my attention. I'm so used to reading about student-involvement-this, student-involvement-that, how can we possibly get students more involved than they are now? This editor's note, however, focused on time and how the terminology we use to describe our use of time is that we "steal" it or "borrow" it, as if it isn't our's (or our students') to begin with.
One article in particular which caught my eye (and I actually read) was about how we focus so much on getting students involved that we may not realize that not being busy, that having down time, and having alone time are actually quite important parts of understanding ourselves better and play an equally important role in developing as a person. I've always felt this way from the start of our conversations in class about how to get students involved. Since I wasn't super involved myself during undergrad (and quite frankly, turned out fine) and see in some of my colleagues in this program that involvement can easily turn into overextension, I honestly can say that, although I believe involvement is important, I think there's a point when we need to evaluate how important it is over other aspects of a student's life.
There was an interesting section on introversion and how the majority of student affairs professionals are probably extraverts, who, paired with this involvement and busyness ideology, promote and reiterate just by being who they are, the type of overinvolvement that may not be totally conducive to becoming a "whole person." Since I'm obviously an introvert myself, there was one passage in the article, a quote from Parker Palmer (an author who focuses on faith and spirituality development), that caught my eye:
"Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one's self. It is not about the absence of other people--it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other. It is not about the presence of other people--it is about being fully open to the reality of relationship, whether or not we are alone" (p. 55).
In my own life, I sometimes feel sad that I don't have very many close friends. Sometimes I wonder if it's a choice or a byproduct of my life at this time (but it's probably both). However, that quote makes me feel a little bit better about being a "loner," because I know within myself who I am at all times and I know that I value real, genuine relationship and take advantage of that opportunity when it arises. I also recognize that my dislike of the involvement ideology probably stems from my own introversion.
So... to bring it full circle, I think my wonderings about if I'm not passionate about student affairs because I don't want to always read about it are related to this concept of busyness. Just because I'm not always actively engaged in student development or learning about it doesn't mean that I don't value it or that I'm not passionate about it. I don't yet feel 100% confident saying that I'm okay with having a clear separation between my professional life and interests and my personal life and interests, but I think this is a step in the right direction. I wonder if those who are going to hire me feel the same way.
With that being said, today I received a copy of About Campus in the mail, ACPA's (American College Personnel Association) bi-monthly publication that includes select journal articles on topics related to our profession. Usually I open it, look at the topics of the articles, and guiltily throw it in the recycle bin. Today I looked at the topics and read the editor's note, which caught my attention. I'm so used to reading about student-involvement-this, student-involvement-that, how can we possibly get students more involved than they are now? This editor's note, however, focused on time and how the terminology we use to describe our use of time is that we "steal" it or "borrow" it, as if it isn't our's (or our students') to begin with.
One article in particular which caught my eye (and I actually read) was about how we focus so much on getting students involved that we may not realize that not being busy, that having down time, and having alone time are actually quite important parts of understanding ourselves better and play an equally important role in developing as a person. I've always felt this way from the start of our conversations in class about how to get students involved. Since I wasn't super involved myself during undergrad (and quite frankly, turned out fine) and see in some of my colleagues in this program that involvement can easily turn into overextension, I honestly can say that, although I believe involvement is important, I think there's a point when we need to evaluate how important it is over other aspects of a student's life.
There was an interesting section on introversion and how the majority of student affairs professionals are probably extraverts, who, paired with this involvement and busyness ideology, promote and reiterate just by being who they are, the type of overinvolvement that may not be totally conducive to becoming a "whole person." Since I'm obviously an introvert myself, there was one passage in the article, a quote from Parker Palmer (an author who focuses on faith and spirituality development), that caught my eye:
"Solitude does not necessarily mean living apart from others; rather, it means never living apart from one's self. It is not about the absence of other people--it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Community does not necessarily mean living face-to-face with others; rather, it means never losing the awareness that we are connected to each other. It is not about the presence of other people--it is about being fully open to the reality of relationship, whether or not we are alone" (p. 55).
In my own life, I sometimes feel sad that I don't have very many close friends. Sometimes I wonder if it's a choice or a byproduct of my life at this time (but it's probably both). However, that quote makes me feel a little bit better about being a "loner," because I know within myself who I am at all times and I know that I value real, genuine relationship and take advantage of that opportunity when it arises. I also recognize that my dislike of the involvement ideology probably stems from my own introversion.
So... to bring it full circle, I think my wonderings about if I'm not passionate about student affairs because I don't want to always read about it are related to this concept of busyness. Just because I'm not always actively engaged in student development or learning about it doesn't mean that I don't value it or that I'm not passionate about it. I don't yet feel 100% confident saying that I'm okay with having a clear separation between my professional life and interests and my personal life and interests, but I think this is a step in the right direction. I wonder if those who are going to hire me feel the same way.
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