Yesterday I was in Joliet for the first ILACADA (Illinois Academic Advising Association) conference. I have to be honest when I say that I am usually unimpressed with conferences. I think they are important for networking and kind of "recharging one's batteries," but generally the sessions sound good to me but then don't deliver what I was expecting and wanting.
This conference was different, though! The first session was about passion, something that I feel is lacking for me sometimes in my job. We were asked to grab someone nearby to us and talk about our three biggest personal passions and our three biggest professional passions. I dislike these sorts of activities because I'm horrible at coming up with things right off the top of my head. After 30 seconds of contemplation, the personal passions I came up with were my family, traveling, and animals. (I honestly don't have much that I am passionate about, which is kinda sad. I like a lot of things, but don't love a lot of things. These were the most important things to me that I could think of.) My professional passions, and I could only come up with two on the fly, were open access (I talked about how important it is for me to work at a community college that anyone can attend) and first generation students (I myself am one and I know how challenging their experience can be).
Unfortunately the speakers didn't end the session with a discussion on how to incorporate and build on our passions in our work, which is what I was wanting. However, it was refreshing to at least think about these things and hear other people discuss what their passions are. I feel like a lot of the time I forget what I care the most about, especially in the day-to-day things.
I went to one session called, "Peeling Back the Layers," which was about asking students the right questions specifically to get them to come to a realization or make a change in an effort to help them be more successful. The speaker used concepts from motivational interviewing that really struck a chord with me. It got me thinking about the ways that I talk to students and that how I frame questions and make statements might not be the most helpful to them. Do I try to convince students that they are making bad choices? Do I argue for the benefits of changing their behavior? Do I tell students how to change? Do I warn them of the consequences of not changing? These are behaviors that increase resistance in students and while I sometimes feel as though doing these things can be beneficial, there might be better ways to go about it. So I could probably use some skills in motivational interviewing.
The speaker also discussed "person-centered therapy." She came from a clinical counseling background, but I really loved these concepts that all of us can use in our practice with students:
It reminded me of the training that chaplains went through at Advocate BroMenn. I started really missing working there because I was always around positivity, grace, and humility. I feel like I've lost a lot of this and, again, it's just because of the daily interactions with people (students and non-students) who are not positive, grace-giving, or humble, which, in turn, makes it more difficult for me to be that way.
So anyway, I think I'm going to buy this book...
The last session of the day that I went to was about spirituality. Sometimes talking about spirituality in a group can irritate me, but I thought I would give it a shot. The session was called, "Illustrating Your Spirituality in Academic Advising." The best part of the session was the first 15 minutes when all we did was discuss the definition of spirituality and how/if it exists in academic advising. Here is the definition that the speaker gave after we talked for awhile:
In other news, I got an email from the person who is now in my position at Advocate BroMenn and her signature line said, "Executive Assistant" and my heart hurt for a moment.
This conference was different, though! The first session was about passion, something that I feel is lacking for me sometimes in my job. We were asked to grab someone nearby to us and talk about our three biggest personal passions and our three biggest professional passions. I dislike these sorts of activities because I'm horrible at coming up with things right off the top of my head. After 30 seconds of contemplation, the personal passions I came up with were my family, traveling, and animals. (I honestly don't have much that I am passionate about, which is kinda sad. I like a lot of things, but don't love a lot of things. These were the most important things to me that I could think of.) My professional passions, and I could only come up with two on the fly, were open access (I talked about how important it is for me to work at a community college that anyone can attend) and first generation students (I myself am one and I know how challenging their experience can be).
Unfortunately the speakers didn't end the session with a discussion on how to incorporate and build on our passions in our work, which is what I was wanting. However, it was refreshing to at least think about these things and hear other people discuss what their passions are. I feel like a lot of the time I forget what I care the most about, especially in the day-to-day things.
I went to one session called, "Peeling Back the Layers," which was about asking students the right questions specifically to get them to come to a realization or make a change in an effort to help them be more successful. The speaker used concepts from motivational interviewing that really struck a chord with me. It got me thinking about the ways that I talk to students and that how I frame questions and make statements might not be the most helpful to them. Do I try to convince students that they are making bad choices? Do I argue for the benefits of changing their behavior? Do I tell students how to change? Do I warn them of the consequences of not changing? These are behaviors that increase resistance in students and while I sometimes feel as though doing these things can be beneficial, there might be better ways to go about it. So I could probably use some skills in motivational interviewing.
The speaker also discussed "person-centered therapy." She came from a clinical counseling background, but I really loved these concepts that all of us can use in our practice with students:
- Unconditional positive regard (acceptance, regardless of approval or disapproval)
- Rapport building
- Comfortable environment
- Non-judgmental approach
- Empathy
- Appropriate self-disclosure
It reminded me of the training that chaplains went through at Advocate BroMenn. I started really missing working there because I was always around positivity, grace, and humility. I feel like I've lost a lot of this and, again, it's just because of the daily interactions with people (students and non-students) who are not positive, grace-giving, or humble, which, in turn, makes it more difficult for me to be that way.
So anyway, I think I'm going to buy this book...
The last session of the day that I went to was about spirituality. Sometimes talking about spirituality in a group can irritate me, but I thought I would give it a shot. The session was called, "Illustrating Your Spirituality in Academic Advising." The best part of the session was the first 15 minutes when all we did was discuss the definition of spirituality and how/if it exists in academic advising. Here is the definition that the speaker gave after we talked for awhile:
Spirituality is a way of life that affects and includes every moment of existence. It is at once a contemplative attitude, a disposition to a life of depth, and the search for the ultimate meaning, direction, and belonging. The spiritual person is committed to growth as an essential ongoing life goal.I love that definition. I love it. After that, the speaker started giving examples that annoyed me such as his interaction with a student and parent in which the parent didn't want their student to sign up for an ethics class because the student was still "very impressionable." I'm sure in some way those types of examples have something to do with that person's spirituality, but it means nothing for me. But I must say that during those first 15 minutes, it was nice. It was nice to talk about things that aren't talked about and I used to talk and think about all the time.
In other news, I got an email from the person who is now in my position at Advocate BroMenn and her signature line said, "Executive Assistant" and my heart hurt for a moment.
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