GLACUHO!

Yup, it's been awhile since blogging. Unless I blog consistently, it feels like it has been a year since last doing so. Anyway, in November I had the opportunity to go to GLACUHO which is (for those of you wondering...the Great Lakes Association of College & University Housing Officers).

The highlights:

I participated in the Connections program that paired me up with a professional that has been at this a little longer than me. This program was a big success in my book, as I am not traditionally the person to go introduce myself to random strangers.

Another lesson learned was to relax a little bit more. I feel that the time I spent in grad school heightened my competitive edge and definitely fed into the idea of moving in the fast lane career wise. I continue to learn how awesome of an experience I had while at UCA and know that I could probably navigate the career path a little easier and quicker than others. Regardless of that, though, I need to protect the order of my priorities (because I love the life I've got) and hit cruise control every now and then.

The session I enjoyed most was one that addressed the issues associated with families living in. I didn't learn much from it, but it felt good to be in a room with people that completely understood the life that Liz and I have. For that reason, I have created a Facebook group--Families on Campus: Housing Professionals Living In--in hopes of stimulating conversation; the group seems to be growing fast, but alas, not one comment or response to anything posted. I've decided to do research in this area...just haven't figured out how yet.

On to the stories, right?

Look carefully at the picture below and identify what's wrong with it.

If you found it, congratulations, if not, that shirt I'm wearing is a female polo. We were supposed to bring our red polos to wear because we anticipated winning the bid to host in 2010 and we needed a visible presence. Well...I forgot my polos. Silly me, I only brought dress clothes to the professional conference. So...I had NO housing clothing. One of my friends offered me the use of her black polo, which fit in size; just not in gender.

Anyway, before I even got in the room someone from another university had already found it amusing and had told our Director of University Housing (the wonderful woman sitting next to me).

Next story. This is my grad student, Chris Jones. He told everybody that my nickname is McLuvin (including my Connections mentor who I had yet to meet).

Last story/lesson. I had superbad (nice reference, yeah?) neck pain and needed a pill which meant I needed to eat. This place was gross and everything on my plate was thrown out. Not seen until afterwards, was a sign at the restaurant that says, "No refunds." Yeah...watch for those. The smile is from the drugs, not to be mistaken for being happy.I applied for and was assigned to the Professional Recruitment and Orientation committee. With that said, if you find yourself in the region, considering the region, or just interested in perusing the site, all things GLACUHO can be found here.

The end.