I'm supposed to be writing a 20 page paper on the reasons for minority underachievement at selective institutions, completing a 30 page report, and starting a 8 page paper for a masculinity course. These tasks are the ONLY things that stand in the way of me being able to say "I AM DONE!! Now give me my degree!!". Rather than completing these tasks I have decided to start a blog. I spent a good hour playing with the color schemes and debating on how "public" this blog should be. I'm content with the layout and decided to limit the content of this blog to things I don't mind the general public having access too.
First things first- My abbreviated life story in the order of which I think of it:
* Black female, did not receive my K-12 education in the traditional way, oldest kid in my family.
* Attended a selective, research based institution for my undergrad; so thankful that I persisted even though I had a really rough start....oh, and a Sociology major
How I became Interested in Student Affairs:
I took a class my sophomore year that looked at the legacy of Brown vs. Board of Education. The professor of that course encouraged students to come and talk with her during her office hours. I went one week and she asked what I was interested in doing after graduation. I told her that I really wanted to be a role-model/mentor for minority college students and that the only way I thought I could do that was to be a Sociology TA (as I was a SOC major and had considered getting my Master's in Sociology). She looked at me (she probably wanted to laugh) and asked if I had thought of Student Affairs. I had never heard of Student Affairs! She explained what it was and encouraged me to do some research on the topic.
*fast forward to my Senior year*
I applied to be a Resident Assistant and was selected! I was placed on a hall with 26 "crazy" (I use the term with love and affection, they know this) first year ladies and knew from week 1 that I HAD to find a full time job as a Resident Director/ Area Coordinator...something dealing with residence life. I had a year-long internship at Career Services and so I was able to get advice from all the counselor in regards to finding RD jobs.
I decided to wait until February of 2009 to begin applying to jobs. I found a job at a HBCU and knew that it was the job for me. I sent in my resume, cover letter, and references. I waited, and waited, and waited. I called the Director of Residence Life so many times that she began to recognize my name. I grew discouraged and then began to apply to other Residence Life jobs. The entire process was a very humbling experience. I thought I was the bomb-diggety but I was getting ZERO interview requests. I asked the Director of Residence Life at my institution to look at my resume and she suggested new ways that I could display my qualifications. I then sent my resume to alumni who were in the field and asked them to give me suggestions on ways I could present myself as a candidate worth considering.
One Saturday morning, I was procrastinating (common theme in my life) and ran across a position description. The location of the institution was perfect and the position description seemed to be something that would fit me perfectly. I e-mailed my application that Sunday and had received an e-mail requesting a campus interview by that Friday! I had the interview two weeks after receiving the request and they called to offer me the position on the Tuesday after the interview. I accepted before the Director could even finish her sentence.
I start in exactly a month...this is banking on the fact that I actually finish these final papers.
