From Georgia to Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania to Minnesota.

First night on campus at MSU

Gorgeous sunset in Mankato

I feel like I have been a world class traveler the past few weeks! From taking a group of Dickinson students to Georgia for a week, to coming back to Pennsylvania for a week and then traveling to Minnesota and back. I feel like I am finally getting my feet on the ground and into a routine again. I went to Minnesota for a graduate assistantship interview for Learning Communities. I had moved into top two for this position and it was required to physically be there for interview, so I flew to Minneapolis on Saturday for my interview on Tuesday and then flew out Tuesday night back to Pennsylvania. Being in Minnesota was very relaxing and felt very normal and like I haven't been away for much time. My friends Monique and Rebecca were kind enough to offer me their futon on campus at MSU and we made dinner together, did some grocery shopping, making a stop at Pet Expo to play with the bunnies, chinchillas, ferrets, guinea pigs, and looks at the iguanas. I was able to connect with my friends that I hadn't seen since last spring and got to talk with my friends that I will be living with next fall. I was a bit nervous when I got there that things had changed, I feel like I have changed a lot this year and I feared that things wouldn't feel right when I got there, but I was very pleasantly surprised. My visit in Mankato was filled with lots of hugs, laughter, and catching up!

Words of Enouragement

My interview was the reason I was there and I think it went really well! It was an intense day filled with many different sections of interviews and meeting with a lot of different people. My interview started at 9:30am with Sip and Chat with current Learning Community Coordinators. This was great because I could talk to them about how their year is going and then relate to them about what I did as being a Learning Community Coordinator for First Year Elementary Education for two years. If I get this position as Graduate Assistantship for Learning Communities I would be working with 7-9 LCC's every week and talking about what they have for planning, deal with any issues relating to students and then do some advising. Meeting with the LCC's for coffee allowed me to ask about the changes that have gone happening this year and what I can expect next year, if I get and accept this position. After coffee, I went and met with Interim Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Education and a very strong background in the education department. I had met her a few times with the Dean's List ceremonies for College of Education and I was happy to meet with her again. I was very surprised that she remembered who I was and certain characteristics about me. For our interview, we just had a conversation about what I was doing this year and what I have come to realize about Harrisburg and Mankato, Our conversation was my favorite part of the day and I am very happy that I had her to start out. Next, I moved to an interview with the Area Director of McElroy Residence Hall. This interview was much more question based and related to student affairs and student life on campus and how I can work with others. This section lasted about 45 minutes and it was much less conversation driven. I think it went well, they had given me questions that could potentially be asked, so I knew what to expect going in. After meeting with the Hall Directors of McElroy and Preska Residence Halls for lunch in Carkoski. It was very casual and I could get their perspective of what a Learning Community GA would do and how I would work with them on a month to month or daily basis. After this I had two more interviews, one with more LCC's and then with the current GA's for Learning Communities asking the same questions that I had been answering earlier in the day. The day felt very long but I am happy that I went to Minnesota for it. I feel much more clear on what I would be doing throughout the year and what everyone's expectations would be of me.
This week at work has been good, it is much less crazy now that service trips are over and I was only there for two days this week. I am currently doing some research for the President's Honor Roll, which would allow Dickinson to have more prestige, in the sense that the President of the United States is honoring it. So, I am doing research on community service that Dickinson does, how many families it affects, how many students are involved, and giving concrete examples on what part of the community it affects.

Jenny the goat

This weekend, we had a midyear retreat with the house and we went to a barn that is renovated and owned by someone in the church who was kind enough to have us spend the night in the barn. We talked about what is going well this year, what can change, how we are going to make the changes and what we can do to make this year great. There was an incredible fire pit so we had a bonfire  and then came back in and sang karaoke for a while. The farm also had two goats, Mollie and Jenny, and then a beautiful Golden Retriever, Duke. I was very happy to be with the nature and around animals and able to see the stars at night. Those are things that I definitely miss not being in the Midwest.
I will be back in the Midwest in April, which will be nice to see my family in Iowa. I am excited for that. I will be joining the Sell family for Easter and singing in the choir on Easter and on Monty Thursday this week. I will be doing lots of singing, that's for sure!