This week we're featuring the office of Jon Bartlett, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Residence Life at Texas Wesleyan University.

Here's what Jon has to say about his office:

"My Funko POP! collection started with a single Thor figure that my RA staff gave me for my birthday three years ago. Since then, it has become something of an obsession. I only buy ones that are in my geek wheelhouse, so to look at my collection is to get a quick glimpse into my interests. One look at my shelf will tell you that I obviously prefer Marvel over DC and am a huge fan of the Walking Dead. It tends to immediately put students at ease, especially when they are in my office for less-than-exciting reasons like a conduct meeting. All the geek decor also opens up points of connection with students, so conversations can begin naturally with something we both like rather than the difficult thing we are there to discuss. I really believe that everyone "geeks out" about something, so it's just a matter of figuring out what it is. Like the poster of the Wil Wheaton quote says, "It's not about what you love, it's about how you love it." It brings me a lot of joy to discover what students love and hear their passion come out in our conversation. All the geek stuff in my office definitely helps facilitate that. My boss is a geek too, so I'm thankful he lets me keep my office this way!"

I'm a huge fan of the Funko POP! figures myself, and I'm sure you saw many of mine from my office photos (I have more in my apartment). They're a fun way to showcase some of my favorite characters from my favorite shows, movies, and comics. I like how Jon makes a point of stating how we all geek out about something, which I've written about before and wholeheartedly agree with. It is so great to be able to help support and nourish our students' (and our own) hobbies and interests. It leads to such genuine connections which can lead to deep conversations and learning about ourselves as well as the world.

Appreciate Jon sharing his space with us!

Stay tuned for more offices in the coming weeks!

Thanks for stopping by!