The 2007 ACUHO-I Exerience

Hello from Mizzou! This week has been a whirlwind of attending committee meetings, meeting new people, and trying to get acclimated to a new place. I am from the Midwest, but have lived in New Jersey for the past few years so it is exciting to be back in the land where people call Pepsi and Coke what it really is, POP! It was so exciting to hear a waitress say, “would you like another pop.” Well of course I has to say yes. Pop even tastes better than soda if you ask me! Needless to say I am already enjoying my time back in the Midwest and in Missouri.

But seriously, this week has been great. I have never attended or worked at a large state institution before so I was really looking forward to this experience. It is a very different experience to be working in an environment with many resources and staff dedicated to students. I really started to realize this when I attended a the Mock Summer Welcome. This is like a dress rehearsal for Summer Orientation or Summer Welcomes as they call it at Mizzou. It was very interesting to see all the different departments that play a key role in the program. After sitting through the morning session, I even wanted to be a first year student at Mizzou!

This week my goal was to really get to know as much as possible about the department and institution as possible. I really want to take advantage of the short time I will be here. So I am trying to work toward having a base of knowledge about Mizzou. I attended meetings about camps and conferences, Freshman Interest Groups, new building opening issues, and professional staff training and education. The meetings provided me with an opportunity to understand more about different areas of the department and meet more great people.

The meeting I enjoyed most was getting to sit down with the director of the LGBT center. He is AMAZING! I was really looking forward to meeting him because his background is in housing and residential life. I have always had an interest and passion for LGBT advocacy and education so it was great to spend time with an individual with a similar professional background as myself and learn about his path. After I finish my Masters I think about persuing LGBT positions and he is a great resource for advise and mentoring.

Another highlight of my time so far has been seeing Hatch Hall mid-renovation. It was so exciting to see an older hall have a face lift. I am always happy to see halls renovated instead of torn down. So many times it seems like buildings are discarded without thought of the resources that were invested and without regard for sustainabilty. I really think renovations can change the entire culture of a building and add so much to the community.

This week has been packed full, but I am finally feeling settled. I will be working on professional staff training, some judicial research, and some other funs things as they present themselves. I hope everyone is having a great summer. More to come soon as my adventures at Mizzou continue….