It is probably not widely known that I work at a university as a glorified admin in the Student Affairs division. It is probably not widely known that I am hoping to start grad school in the fall in pursuit of a Masters in Student Development Administration. It is also probably not widely known that “I want to be a Dean when I grow up.”

As the end of this school year drew to a close, we were asked to submit our “moment” during 2007/2008. The submissions were recently posted for our division to read and because mine was such a big hit and because Kyle has been telepathically sending me evil vibes for not submitting blog posts and because my parents were bred oozing with Catholic guilt, I want to share my moment with you.

As a preface I should mention that 90% of my job entails processing student conduct matters.

The “moment” came around Thanksgiving, a few months into my employment and around the time I was buried waste deep in conduct. A number of the cases were minor, but a case is a case, and it still takes a large amount of work contributed by a number people to process. It was at this point that I realized, “Damn, it does take a well-staffed village to raise a child AND a well-staffed judicial affairs office to educate a student.”

I knew what I had to do. I sat down and facebooked my undergraduate Dean of Students:

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Dear Dean,

I want to thank you for all of the long and sometimes thankless hours, you put into your job and the students everyday. Also, I am so sorry for the following:

1. I’m sorry for having that water fight in the dorms and outside freshman year. It was a silly thing to do, especially during winter when water freezes and especially for filling buckets instead of bottles.
2. I’m sorry for playing “the cup game” at 2 am when students are trying to sleep. I honestly had no idea that game was so loud!
3. I’m sorry for going into the cafeteria barefoot; at home, we didn’t have health department inspections.
4. I’m sorry for lighting that candle in my room and for leaving it while I went to go eat dinner AND for having it by the window where everyone in the cafeteria could see it.
5. I also promise that we never HAD a dog in the dorms, only a kitten and a snake and a bunny and two big fish in 50 gallon tanks, but wait, you knew about the fish…

Really, thanks for everything and despite all of my previous offenses, for not overruling the vote to make me student body president. As I continue on the Student Affairs path, I will always remember your willingness, patience and dedication to students’ lives and learning experiences.

Sincerely,
Your favorite student

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Outside of student employment and running club organizations during my undergrad, this year was my first peek into the future. Oh, what a peek it has been. I know that starting grad school in the fall will give me another necessary peek into my future. Hopefully I will continue to be head over heels for my chosen path. And if all else fails, I’m going to become a boozing librarian.