Other Goings-On...

NOTE: I wrote this in the Atlanta airport on July 4th. It's very late but I've added some additional comments to keep things current!


I spent last night huddled on a bench in the Atlanta airport waiting for a plane to arrive to bring me to Montgomery so I could complete the last leg of my weekend journey. I sat there from about 9:45 pm and to almost 1:00 am. In the meantime, I decided to post about some of the things that I breezed over recently.


NODA, NODA, NODA!
As I mentioned, there has been a lot going on in regards to my involvement with NODA lately. Ryann and I submitted presentation proposals back in April and were told that we would be informed of their acceptance or rejection by mid-May. Since we hadn't heard anything in mid-June, we had both kind of figured that they were not going to be accepted and that the conference committee was simply behind with their communication efforts.

Then, during evening activities on Day 1 of a session a few weeks ago, I got an email saying that my presentation on graduate students advising undergraduate students was accepted to be a poster session. Again, from what I understand, I'll be completing the research and preparation as though I was actually presenting. The major difference is that my results or significant information is listed on a poster that will be displayed during the conference (apparently middle-school science fair style). I'm not really sure of much more than that but I'll be looking into it to see what all will be required of me.

I initially forwarded the email to Ryann with a note that I guessed our other presentation wasn't going to be selected. To my surprise, the next time I checked my email, in addition to Ryann's encouraging reply, the acceptance message had arrived!! This program, "GRADPASS: Your All-Access Guide to the Ups and Downs of Graduate School," will be presented as a full session. Ryann and I are really proud of everything so far but we know that there's so much more to go. I'm hoping that this will be a huge learning opportunity for both of us. I'm also planning to incorporate a number of the things that I've learned while working at Auburn into the program.

Also, Ryann and I (we really do make a great team!) decided to collaborate on an article for The Orientation Review, NODA's quarterly newsletter. We wrote on a topic that we feel can be very beneficial to students that are new to working with orientation at the graduate level as well as for undergrads considering a career in orientation. The article, "Ten Simple Rules (We Wish We Had Known...) for Succeeding in Orientation," provides tips for these students. Though we didn't have much time to conduct research, we used our personal experiences as well as our knowledge of other institutions to develop what we feel is a broad list of beneficial guidelines. Hopefully, I'll post the article here just in case it isn't selected for print. Also, thanks to Aimee, Celinda, Darrell, Kelli and Mary Alice for taking the time to look over it for us and provide some great feedback!! Posted the article and, just in case you haven't heard, it was published!!! I'm beyond ecstatic!!

Lastly on the NODA front, I've been thinking about looking into positions at the regional or even national level. NODA has a number of "networks" that provide specific information for certain groups affected by orientation such as Parents & Family, Transfer Students, LGBT Students, Undergraduates, etc. Both Jenn and Ella are involved as co-chairs and I've talked to them about the importance and benefits of getting even more involved. I'm still in the early phases but I'll be sure to post more if I come to a definite conclusion about this.


Job Searchification
A few weeks ago (wow, am I really that far behind??), I had lunch with Jamie Mantooth, Auburn's Director of Student Success. Jamie's is a name that I've heard for a number of years through NODA and orientation involvement as he previously worked with Camp War Eagle and was involved in NODA to some extent. He and I talked a lot about the job search that I'll experience. He gave me a lot of great advice and even offered his support if I needed it.

One of the benefits of graduating in December is the timing for orientation positions. Typically, the fall is a heavy hiring season because the spring and summer are work-heavy and many departments are cautious of filling vacancies then. As such, I've begun seriously looking at a number of job postings that I've come across. A few seem perfectly aligned with my interests. A couple others seem like they would be more of a challenge but would be significantly rewarding in the long run. Once I'm home from Auburn, this blog will most likely become a journal to follow along with my job search process!