Making a Difference

I had something nearly akin to an epiphany today, and I wanted to try and write out my thoughts and feelings on the matter before I lost the initial rush of it all. So, as I assume many of my posts are, it's more for my benefit and posterity than your interest. Though I do appreciate any who still haunt these pages, and welcome your comments.

What led to this epiphany were the recent goings on in my position as a graduate assistant in the last week. I am currently in the process of scheduling interviews with potential internship host sites for the summer, and at the same time I've made some inquiries as to my options as far as graduate positions for next year. Though I was initially disappointed by the fact that no opportunities exist for me to transfer into an advising setting, I now feel a certain sense of rededication to my position within housing. And since the majority of paid internships for the summer are within housing, it all has come together.

What brought about the true insight and inspiration, though, was a meeting I had originally hoped I didn't have to go to this morning. All of the Living Center Directors and graduate students got together in a conference room at 8:00 this morning and tried to place both the new and returning Resident Advisors into staff teams for next fall. The meeting was scheduled to go until noon, and the idea of a four hour meeting this morning held absolutely no appeal to me.

One of the themes that came up during the course of the meeting, and has been articulated on many other occasions by many other people, is the difficulty in both finding and retaining quality male candidates for RA positions. We've had to fire a few so far this year, many others are not returning, and the number of new qualified males is nowhere near enough to make up for these two things.

As it stands right now, I may be the only returning male graduate student to housing next year. And either because of, or in spite of this fact, I had the idea to try and change the pattern and cycle that has become a perennial problem.

I've talked with a few of the living center directors and one of the assistant housing directors about my idea, and all have been supportive of any effort I am willing to put forth in order to identify and hopefully change the problems we've had in finding and holding on to qualified male staff members. This may give me the opportunity to do training, advising, mentoring, and all sorts of other means of involvement that I have been missing sometimes in my position this year.

The issues our department is facing are just smaller examples of a phenomenon that affects the entire field of student affairs from student staff all the way up to professional staff, and as a result it may provide a foundation for my thesis project.

Who knows what I'll be able to do, and what results it may have, but right now this idea feels like the kind of project and commitment that I have been envious of in watching some other grad students in the program. It's something I have a vested interest in, something I believe I have the skills and background for, and something that I hope I will be proud to have been responsible for.