Challenge and Support

Independence Day.  The 4th.  Firecracker Day.  Today marks the 232nd birthday of the United States of America.  We here at Challenge and Support wish you all a safe and happy holiday weekend.

I’m glad there is a holiday like the 4th of July during the Summer months.  It gives us in Higher Ed a chance to celebrate a holiday without looking over our shoulders for our students.  I can go downtown, have a beer, scream at the top of my lungs, and act a little crazy, and there is a very slim chance any of my students will be there to see my antics and call me out on it next week in a judicial meeting.  You don’t get opportunities like that with Labor Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mardi Gras, etc.

So, my fellow Student Affairs Professionals, go forth!  Live it up this weekend!  Enjoy the holiday.  It’s the last one you’ll get for a while!

Just keep an eye on those fuses.  We don’t want anyone to lose a finger.  It’s hard to type those weekly reports with a nub, you know.

For only $495 you, too, can own a 20-minute video teaching you how to hide behind a desk when someone goes on a shooting rampage through your school!  For just $1000 more, you can throw up some fancy videos on your website!

Oh, what’s that?  The videos don’t really tell you how to save yourself?  They just tell you how to think about saving yourself?  Well, hell, that’s worth $1500!

This article at the Chronicle describes the basic idea behind the videos.  I’m a little more disturbed by the idea that this is just a “pep talk” and not a how-to.  I recognize that not every shooter situation is the same and not every building has the same layout, but can we not at least throw out ideas of ways to protect yourself?

Hide behind a desk
Barricade the door
Jump out a window

These are ideas that one presenter mentioned in a lecture, according to the article.  I agree that nobody wants to die, and nobody wants to go down without a fight, but doesn’t it just seem a little… wreckless to encourage fighting back?  Now, we have people who might not have been shot at all, rushing at an armed gunman and putting themselves in a dangerous situation they might have otherwise avoided.

Don’t get me wrong.  I commend all those people who gave their lives trying to stop the previous gunmen on campus.  They are heroes who save the lives of many of their fellow students.  I’m not trying to belittle what they did at all.  I just feel that it is a little wreckless for us to encourage that behavior.  Are we not liable in some way for the deaths of students who we’ve given “pep talks” to about trying to stop armed gunmen?

It’s just one thing after another, sometimes. Just remember: a situation (usually) isn’t nearly as bad as everyone around you makes it seem.

Some departments on campus have a tendency to make their student constituents feel as though they are the most important person at the school. Don’t get me wrong - making a student feel important is a very good thing. Making them feel more important than everyone else is a bit questionable. When you give a student the impression that they are more important than the others, they get a sense of entitlement, and in their head the thoughts of superiority and privilege begin taking hold.

Time for a lesson in - you guessed it - challenge and support.

Students are simultaneously the most ego-centric and most timid and scared creature you will ever encounter. They enter our hollowed halls of academe scared shitless. They’re in a new town, a new community, all-around, a new environment, and they are just treading water hoping to make it to the next day. Most of them make it. A handful will tuck tail and dart off back to the comfort of their home, their parents, and their friends.

But, the catch is, they’re doing everything they can to hide the fear. We all do it. We don’t want anyone to know we’re scared. I’m scared right now. We start training in a week. Yeah, I’ve been here a year, but that doesn’t change the fear of - *gasp* - presenting at training! But when someone asks me, “Hey, Erik, you doing ok?” I confidently respond, “Hell yes. Never been better.” Our students are the same way. Consistently putting up a front to disguise their terror.

You were all there. Don’t deny it. Unless you were a latch-key kid taking care of yourself for the past 10 years, you had no idea what what to do when your parents drove out of the parking lot leaving you alone with your new creepy roommate and your empty laundry basket that, as you have already begun to dread, will be filling up with dirty clothes over the next couple weeks.

How does this all apply to the athletes mentioned above? Not only are these students putting up that front, their coaches, parents, and older teammates are all putting up one for them, as well.

“My player needs special accomodations. She’s on the basketball team and can’t afford to have a roommate who doesn’t understand the physical strain of her schedule.”

“My player needs to have a seat at the front of class so he can comprehend the material better.”

“My player needs to be the first to sign up for classes so she can get the perfect schedule to work with her training schedule.”

Look, I get you. The athletes are a big draw to the university. They bring us money, publicity, and fame. You want the best players at your school so you can, in turn, become a big-name school destined for the history books.

But what about the non-athletes? What about those students who are here trying to make it by without the special accommodations?

You see, the athletes have all-but had the fear bred out of them since they were old enough to shoot a basketball, kick a football, or jump a hurdle. They receive nothing but support from us because their coaches are afraid that a little challenge will be a detriment to their game. All my training tells me to challenge my students every day, giving them the tools to overcome the adversity. This becomes next to impossible with our athletes. The challenge of a training schedule is the most they ever get. The challenge of interpersonal relationships, business interactions, class scheduling, etc., is a foreign concept to all but the women’s rugby team, which nobody really cares much about.

I try to challenge the athletes. My colleagues do the same. They come to us with issues, and we offer solutions that require their own effort, and within 30 minutes we get calls from coaches explaining the uniqueness of this situation, and how it would just be easier for everyone involved if we could just fix it quickly.

Easier for everyone involved? I’m not here to make things easier. I’m here to make you grow. Grow as a future professional, grow as a student, and grow as a person.

Too bad our focus is growing in prestige, growing in donations, and growing in points-per-game.

In an attempt to not become a negative blogger, I decided to interject with a list of the good things that happen around here, so as not to let my readers think that I hate everything about my job (I don’t!  Really!).

My job really is fun.  I work long hours, deal with unruly students, and often go un-thanked for my work.  But, you know what?  It’s what I signed up for.  I wasn’t broad-sided with this side of the job.  I knew it was coming.  Technically, I’ve worked for residence life in some form or fashion since my sophomore year of college.  I know what folks in this field go through, and yet, I still signed up and chose this as a profession.

So, don’t take my negative rants as an indicator of my dislike of the job.  It couldn’t be further from the truth.  In all reality, I love what I do, but, just as with any other job, you find your frustrations.  There are little quirks that make you say, “What the eff?”  There are policies and procedures that make you question the sanity of whoever enacted them.  But, on the whole, it’s a good place to be, and here’s a few reasons why:

1. The Students - We all say it.  We do this because we love working with students.  Sounds cliche, doesn’t it?  It is, unless you put it in context.  Why do I love working with students?  Simple.  They’re fun, they’re unpredictable, and they challenge you to no end.  Right when I think I can’t take another day of work here, a student will come in my office and thank me for helping out with a roommate conflict, or my hall council will have a fantastic meeting and plan an amazing program, and *bam* I’m back in the game.
2. My colleagues - All across campus, there are people in the same boat as me.  I’ve mentioned it a couple times before, but we have a fantastic support group for new professionals.  We gather for different activities every other week or so.  This summer, there’s a faculty-staff sand volleyball league sponsored by the rec center that several of us are involved in.  On the whole, a great group of people, and a fantastic group of friends and colleagues.
3. Sleeping in - That’s right.  Despite the long hours, I can sleep in in the mornings, so long as I don’t have a meeting to attend.  Yesterday, I woke up at 9:30, rolled in to work at 10.  Which brings me to a sub-point of this point: living where I work.  We don’t all have that luxury, I know.  But as an entry-level employee in Residence Life, I get a free apartment right on campus.  It’s a sweet gig.

There are a lot of little reasons that could fill up a whole page.  The reasons I listed are just a few random thoughts that popped into my head this morning as I sat down to write.  I could go on talking about the city, the conferences, committee work, etc., but I’ll save that for later posts.  I’d hate to get all my good vibes out at once.  I must pace myself!