Here's what is going on in my world this week:

Vacation

I took some time off last week since my first year as a professional was complete and it was my 26th birthday, so the timing felt right to get away and relax. I went down to Delaware and New Jersey to see my brother, some friends, and meet more of my partner's family that lives around there. It was a lot of fun, I ate a bunch of great food from the area that I miss (bagels, pizza, diners, etc.) and was able to unplug (mostly). I didn't blog much while I was away and just kept tabs on my email. It was nice to have quality time with my partner before she left for her internship in Boston and to just be out of the office. I'm taking another trip next month to Chicago to see a friend and then I'm sure July will have something fun in it as well, keeping my trend of a trip a month this year.

Work

I'm back to the office this week and it's already jarring having the students gone, especially after the whirlwind of closing and my trip. It's too quiet but thankfully the summer (as it always is in student affairs) is a time to plan and prepare for the upcoming academic year. I have a lot of little projects in my queue (including some personal ones) so I'm stoked to get working on them and make next year even more successful. I feel pretty good about how last year went (more on that in a separate post) but there are always ways to improve our systems and procedures (here at my institution especially). Stay tuned for more reflections on how my first year as a professional went.

Summer

So I've already talked a lot about summer goings on, but I am pleased to have gotten to this point. The weather has warmed up, the sun is out, I have time to spare for things I care about and some of the positive feelings that were missing during this long, hard winter have dissipated, leaving behind optimism and eagerness for the potential of this summer season. I want to get better about working out, see more of the nature here in Maine as well as some of the institutions here in my home state. I'll let you know how it actually goes, since I'm sure I won't get to everything but that I'll have some salient thoughts from what I do get to.

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Here's what is going on in my world this week:

#SAChat

I moderated this past week's daytime chat about designing your environment to support productivity and student success. I hadn't moderated a daytime chat in some time, and it is always a lot of fun seeing all the professionals engage on a topic and facilitating the conversation. I moderate the chats every once in a while but it is usually an odd evening chat, which isn't as lively (yet). While there was an interesting (and fair) discussion surrounding a post about the value of the chats and their lack of "discussion", I still think it is one of the best ways for student affairs folks to interact and learn from each other.

Adulting Update

So I went to try to register my new car the other day and it was a frustrating bureaucratic nightmare. I ended up not being able to that day and needing to get more paperwork. It was not this hard to do the same thing in my home state of Delaware (obviously different beasts) but my main point is that this is one of the few things (so far) that I haven't enjoyed about my early adventures in adulthood. I wish things like this could be easier (and not as expensive) but alas, such is existing as a adult and doing the things you need to do.

Travel

I booked my next travel trip recently; I'm going to fly out to Illinois to visit a good friend of mine from graduate school that I haven't seen since about the same time last year. I'll be going in late June for the weekend to see him, his campus, and Chicago (which I've never been to before). I'm excited that each month this year has had a different trip and stay, even if it is just for a weekend. I've been able to explore new areas, see old friends, and spend quality time with my partner. It's great and big change from my earlier years where I did no travel whatsoever. I'm grateful for the opportunity now to travel and I hope it continues to be the trend.