E-mail Of The Day

"It has been a long, hard travel season filled with early mornings, long days, and sub-standard lunches. Here at Drew it has also been a time of endless info sessions, Banner training, earthquakes, hurricanes, and blizzards.

It is finally time to say no more! No more Panera! No more scraping together a meal out of cheese and crackers at a fair! No more stale Holiday Inn Express bagels! No more scarfing a PB&J at your desk while maniacally trying to get your reimbursement to Diane before the end of the day!

What do we want? Tacos! When do we want them? Now!!

Let us proudly march down to the Commons and declare that we are back! AND WE WANT TACOS!

See you at 12pm!"

Told you my office was GREAT!

Notes From The New Guy. Again.

Just about six months ago I posted a blog about being the “the new guy” in the office and what that meant for me. Fast forward through an eight-month blog hiatus and I am once again finding myself taking on the role of the new guy.

I’ve re-started my time as the new guy totally by choice. It was time to move out of Vermont and experience something new. I needed a new challenge. I opted out of grad school in Buffalo, NY and took the most fantastic job at Drew University in Madison, NJ.

I am once again in admissions and my recruitment territory includes; Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and VERMONT! I was so happy! My new job also allows me to be close to NYC and experience something a little bigger and different than VT for a while. Even better, Drew is allowing me to have summers off so I can continue my commitment to Camp Morty.

I know I am the luckiest guy ever and not a day goes by that I am not so thankful for the way things have worked out over the last 6 months. 

BUT.

Being the new guy again for the second time in a year isn’t as glamorous. My new office is fantastic, and my new colleagues the coolest, but I am ready to have roots. I don’t want to bother people with questions all day and if I’m being honest, I am a bit bored of having to prove myself to everyone around me.

Now more than ever, I want to be released into projects on my own and pick my own path. I crave the freedom and respect that was guaranteed when I as working on something at Saint Michael’s.

They say it takes time. And I know it to be true. I don’t want to make the mistake of wishing time away as I already can’t believe how fast my first three months have gone, but at the same time I am just ready to be “comfortable” in my new home.

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."

WOAHHH. Where did time go? 2 months have slipped away and I can’t believe how fast it all has gone. One minute I am writing about the wonderful new workplace that I am calling home… and the next time I look up and grab some air, the end of this little adventure is near.

The last two months have been full of admissions excitement. We finished up reading applications and sending letters to all of the folks that we hope will join us for the class of 2015. We’ve hosted lots of students on campus over their spring breaks and for accepted students days. And we’ve undertaken spring travel to start conversations with high school juniors, who before we know it will be applying to see if they make it into the class of (can you believe it?) 2016. PHHHEWWWW.

In all of this craziness it has also become very clear to me that this is where I belong. It has been such a blessing to follow-up a less than stellar teaching semester with something that I genuinely enjoy doing every day. It is almost as if I needed to have the two side by side to make a decision about where I want to take myself over the next few years. There are no “what-ifs” left in my mind. I can confidently say that I have found what I am supposed to be doing at this point in my life.

I also know that it is time for a change. It is time to move on from the safe home that I have made for myself in Burlington, and allow myself to experience something new. I need a new challenge to make me grow in new ways. At the end of May I will end my time at this new job that I have grown to love. I will take a step into the unknown. I have started to narrow down the ingredients to recipe for happiness and I am confident that I can do that anywhere.

Where will the world take me next? Only time will tell….