Joys of September

Is tomorrow really October? Since the answer to that question is yes, I want to take time out to reflect on the joys of September:

*Connections with fabulous faculty members at Washington U: Professors Jim Davis, Dan Shea, Tili Boon Cuille, Asad Ahmed, Andrew Rehfeld, Lutz Koepnick, Jami Ake, Joe Thompson, Ian MacMullen, Seema Dahlheimer, and Erin McClothlin to name a few. I feel incredibly fortunate to have many opportunities to get to know such fascinating and inspiring people.

*Connections with amazing students: the Brookings Seminar--my 10 first year advisees, Nick Wilbar--sophomore advisee from KY--, Coffee 'N Controversy students, Jodi Smith and Pamela Talley--senior advisees, Lucy Moore--junior advisee, Jasmine--sophomore advisess, and RA training committee. I love connecting with students in both intentional and informal ways.

*Connections with family: it was fabulous to go to KY over the weekend to celebrate with Roth and the whole Stratton crew. And to get some AWESOME news from Merri...more on that very soon! :)

*Connections with friends and colleagues: Tom and Valerie, RA alums, trivia night, Martha, Cathy, Alicia, Ginny, Steve, Helen, Tim, Josh, Erin, Katherine, and Mary (and Mary's parents!) Thank you!

Fun opportunities: dinner with Elizabeth Kolbert, the Idea Bounce, visit by Chris Johnson, Super Heroes Assembly, the egg drop, CS40 Retreat, the Danforth University Center and seeing Alan Alda, dinner with Jake, Justin, and Megan, and Psych. 105.

**Holly, kitties, the first taste of fall, and turning papers in!


The creative journey continues!

The Joys of RA Alums!

One of the things that brings me such joy is the opportunity to connect and reconnect with RA alumni. Over the last couple of weeks, I have had the great joy to reconnect with RA alums Stephen Sabin, Debbie Busler and Pat Woolley.

Stephen is currently a psychologist in San Francisco and was recently in St. Louis for a 48 hour trip to visit his family. I was lucky enough that he remembered my office phone number (which has not changed in the 15 years that I have been at Washington University.) He pulled the number out of his memory and called me randomly from Brookings Quad. I actually happened to be in my office and was delighted to see Stephen's name come up on caller ID. It was a lot of fun to spend some time with him and his brother Andrew.

Debbie and Pat were on my very first RA staff at Washington University during the 1993-1994 school year--Debbie on Umrath 2 and Pat on Umrath 3. Fifteen years later, they have been a couple ever since. They were in the US for a most joyous occasion: their wedding! They got married on Sept. 5 in San Francisco and made it all official (even though in their world view, their relationship had been "official" all along!)

I've been pondering having a HUGE RA alumni reunion in the very near future. Any takers???

A Joyous Occasion

Last Saturday, I attended the wedding of two fabulous people: Tom Borcher and Valerie Louis. Tom was a senior at Transylvania University when I was a freshman. He and I have stayed in touch for these last 20 years, and it was an honor to be included in his wedding.

Tom has always struck me as such a thoughtful, compassionate, brilliant, and loyal person. Throughout the last 20 years, he has continued to demonstrate his dedication to his friends and family, his service to the community, and his kindness and generosity to all whom he encounters.

I met Valerie for the first time in January when I was in Cincinnati for my doctoral residency. I liked her immediately. Her passion, her commitment to social justice, her direct style of communication, her loyalty to her family, and her intelligence really impressed me. And she was just really fun to be around.

Their wedding ceremony reflected these collective values--this merging of two unique people with vastly different backgrounds. Even though their backgrounds and family histories may be different, their common beliefs and values knit their heart and souls together in such a magnificent way.

It was a joy to share in this occasion with them and to read a passage about beauty in the ceremony--because Tom and Valerie exemplify two beautiful souls joined together by strength, light, and love.

Advising Joys: The Brookings Seminar

For the last seven years, I have served as a Four Year Academic Advisor in Arts and Sciences. Each year, I have the opportunity to work with 5 first year students to assist them with their transition to Washington University. And the joy of this process is that I stick with them for four years!

This year, I took on TEN freshman advisees and have structured my time with them in a more intentional way. I am affectionately referring to my group as the "Brookings Seminar" because they all live in Lien House in Robert S. Brookings Residential College. Their photo is above, and so far--it has been quite a joy getting to know them.

We will meet for the first 8 weeks of the semester, twice in November, and have a celebration dinner in December. Why am I doing this and why am I asking them to join me in this adventure? It goes back to a few things: "Flow" and "Connection"!

My thought process goes something like this: If I were going to invest the time and energy to get to know them so I can be an effective, helpful advisor, I wanted to build the relationship on the front end. Knowing my advisees by name and story is important to me, and through regular contact and connection--I believe this to be more possible. Furthermore, there are topics to cover with them that will foster their personal and academic success. The weekly seminar provides an effective format for delivering that information.

And....I discovered that my advisees enjoy food: thus--another way to connect with them!

The Joys of August

As I reflect on the past month, I am reminded of the following joys of August:

Time with my grandparents.

An auspicious RA Training: One WUrld, One Dream!

The spirit of the Olympics: One World, One Dream!

New life: the birth of John Nields-Duffy: August 23, 2008.

The hope of a new year: meeting my 10 frosh advisees, the KY frosh, 90 students in our Psych. 105 class, and many other new students: Welcome to Washington U!

The opportunity to team teach a course: The Psychology of Young Adult Development.

An unexpected gift from a colleague. The thoughtfulness truly touched my heart.

History and the audacity to hope.

Facebook! I have reconnected with many, many friends and that brings me joy.

As E.M. Forrester says, "Only connect."

As August comes to a close, I have a joyful heart and look forward to September and cooler weather.

What brought you joy in August??

The Joy of Time

As I mentioned in my last post, I am embarking on my 16th year at Washington University. It is hard to believe that I began my career in 1993 at the age of 23. Wow! On many levels, time has flown by but it also stood still. The freshman reading program book last year "Einstein's Dreams" was all about time. I find myself thinking a lot about time lately. Phrases that have surfaced in the last few days:

College is the best time of your life.
Use your time wisely.
Manage your time.
You will have the time of your life.

I have a simple time management philosophy: you make time for what is important to you. You can't buy time, save time, stock pile time--you must live in the present moment. Worrying about the past and fearing the future distracts us from the present. We miss out on the here and now because we are living in the past or hurrying to get to the
future.

Finding joy in the present moment...now that is something that is worth my time!

What is your time management philosophy?

Flow and Freshman Move In Day

Today is Freshman Move In day at Washington University in St. Louis! This is my 16th move in day at Wash U, and it is one of my absolute favorite days of the year. There is such excitement and hope in the air: new beginnings, new friendships, new opportunities--everything and anything are possible on this day.

This day brings me joy. My goal was to visit every freshman floor throughout the day, and I am happy to report that I achieved that goal. (I have to admit that with each passing year, it becomes more physically challenging to walk all the floors. What I could do easily in my mid 20s has become a bit more strenuous in my late 30s.)

I have a tradition of greeting all of the KY students (this year, there are 19 of them.) I write them a personal letter and usually hand out chocolate. I just want them to know that there is a friendly person who shares a common heritage with them and who can serve as a resource if they need anything.

I also go around and greet my academic advisees. I serve as a four year academic advisor in the College of Arts and Sciences, and this year I have 10 freshman advisees who all live in Lien House. I have met six out of the ten and can't wait to get to know them all and learn from and with them.

I just got back from Freshman Convocation--the official academic welcome from the university for the new students and their parents. The 1432 first year students all attend wearing their residential college t-shirts. The Athletic Complex was ablazen with a rainbow of the res. college brightly colored t-shirts accompanied by exhuberant, loud cheering! Res. College spirit abounded (and my ear drums are still recovering.)

At Convocation, there are several guest speakers including a faculty member invited by the Chancellor. This year, Chancellor Wrighton seleted one of our Faculty Fellows to address the class. Tili Boon Cuille, Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Faculty Fellow for William Greenleaf Eliot Residential College was the first ever Faculty Fellow to be chosen for this honor.

I am still reflecting on her remarks which captured both the spirit of undergraduate education and the role of learning in and out of the classroom. I will write more about her brilliant talk in my next blog.

As my feet (or as they call feet in the south--"dogs") are aching, I must prop them up and give them a rest. Tonight, I will fall asleep with a joyful heart and great hope for Washington University's Class of 2012.

Experiment in Blogging!

Ok--so this is my first ever official blog! I have initially titled my blog as Girasole: Journey to Joy! Girsasole is Italian for sunflower. Both Italy and sunflowers (especially sunflowers in Italy) bring me joy. I will now list out my top 10 Joy List for today, August 17, 2008:

1. Kentucky: this is my home state and where I grew up. My home base, so to speak. When I think of KY, I am reminded of hospitality, community, family, southern cooking, friendliness, and bluegrass music which coincidentally---all bring me joy.

2. Family: both my family of origin and the family members that I choose for myself. Even though I believe that all families are dysfunctional (the nature of families), my family brings much joy to my life. This past summer, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversay and instead of having a reception, they decided to invite my sisters and me and our respective partners to a beach house in Florida for one week. Now that was quite joyful!

3. Octagenerians: I find people in their 80's to be wise and brilliant, and they bring me joy. In particular, my grandparents bring me joy. I am incredibly forutnate to have all FOUR of my grandparents still living. (All live in KY--my home base. See #1). Granny, Bigdaddy, Gaga, and Poppy have taught me a lot about resilience, perspective, hard work, and love of family. Each set of my grandparents have been married for 63 years!

4--Green Olives: enough said!

5--Music: specifically artists that write and perform their own music. Music can bring joy to my soul like nothing else. On my i-tunes right now: Patty Griffin, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Carrie Newcomer, and The Nields. Note: for many years, I produced a series called the Acoustic City Concert Series here in St. Louis. While I have no musical talent myself, I derive great joy in organizing and presenting musical concerts. I am the co-founder of the St. Louis Folk Festival and even though, I do not present as many concerts as I did in the past--it is still a passion of mine that I am sure I will always carry with me.

6--College students: I am embarking on my 16th year working in student affairs at Washington University in St. Louis. I feel called to work with college students and love learning from them and with them. I am currently in the throes of Resident Advisor (RA) Training and am having a blast. On Thursday, 1432 new first year students will move on to the campus for orientation. I absolutely LOVE this time of year--so many possibilities, so many dreams coming true, and so many new dreams and goals to be pursued.

7--My cats! Willkie, Ashton, and Rosie are balls of white fur and unbelievable joy!

8--Italy: I have spent a total of approximately 13 weeks in Italy over 4 summers, and all aspects of this amazing country bring me joy: the food, the wine, the art, the people, the landscape! I dream of living in Italy during some part of my life.

9--Unexpected grace and wonder. I ate dinner with friends at a Chinese restaurant last night and my fortune cookie read: "When one door closes, another opens." Hmmmmmm.....

10--Turning in a paper a day early! I am in my 2nd semester of a PhD program; thus, I am constantly writing. What brings me joy is being in the groove and in flow with my writing!

What brings you joy???