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As mentioned in my last post, Brittany and I did an entire photo shoot around the BSU campus on graduation day to comemorate the end of our grad school experience! We had an indoor evening ceremony which doesn't allow for too much photo opportunities aside from when we walk across the stage, and since Brittany and I had such a wonderful experience at BSU, we wanted to take some time before the ceremony to grab some shots of a few of out favorite spots! This post will, of course, be photo heavy, so click "Read more" to see all of them, and for a bonus surprise at the very end! :)

(Every time I saw "Degree Candidates Assemble" I wanted to channel my inner Ron Burgundy...)

The End of Everything!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to take a quick moment to give you a little bit of a life update. I usually have a pretty good idea of what I want to write on this blog before I sit down to write, but today I just feel like I need to just empty my brain. There is so much going on in my life, and rightfully so because I'M GRADUATING IN 47 DAYS. (But who's counting?) I thought I'd give you a little peek into what's in the very front of my mind as of late, and will probably be until I cross the stage on May 13th!

1. The #SAsearch is in high gear right now! My fellow GA Brittany (who is also job searching) and I talk about it pretty much every day and have been each other's support crew/cheerleaders which is really nice to have at this point in life. I've applied to several places and have had a couple interviews (which OHMYGODISSONERVEWRACKING) but I know that this process in the Higher Ed world is a whole lot of hurry up and wait so I'm staying positive and trusting that eventually something will work itself out. I'll, of course, update you all when it eventually does and I accept my first professional position!

#selfieswithBristacoforever

2. I'm wrapping things up at my Bridgewater assistantship and my internship with Clark over the next few weeks and it's so sad! April is NEXT WEEK, meaning there is programming every week between now and the end of the academic year, which also means time is going to fly. I'm going to be putting on my last major week of events with PC, I'm going to be giving support to all the offices I work with in their end-of-year activities, and worst of all, I'm eventually going to be saying goodbye to the students and colleagues that have been part of my life for the last two years. SO HEARTBREAKING! I'm very lucky that I've had such positive experiences that leaving them is difficult, but GOD does it suck! </3


3. THERE IS STILL SO MUCH HOMEWORK TO BE DONE, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! I am definitely feeling the graduate school version of senioritis and homework is honestly the last thing I want to be concentrating on right now with everything else that's going on in my life. But today, I somehow miraculously fit all of the assignments that I have standing between me and my Master's degree on one single sheet of Filofax paper which is un. real. It's so crazy to be this close to having my Master's when not too long ago I had absolutely zero intention of ever pursuing it. It kind of doesn't feel real!

The FINAL list!

So as you can see, my life offline is consuming my whole attention and will likely be doing so until graduate school is over. It's only a short 6 and a half weeks away, (but again, who's counting?) but apologies if my little corner of the internet gets neglected. I'm going to make an effort to post at least once a week until the summer rolls around, (I still have so many photos and videos to share with you from my trip, as well as a ton of other fun posts that I've been meaning to write!) but if that somehow gets away from me as well, know that it is for a good reason! In the mean time, make sure you're following my Twitter and Instagram as I've been keeping those fairly up-to-date during this crazy time!

 I hope you're all doing fantastic, and I will be writing very soon!

<3

Reinvent: ACPA National Convention 2014 (25 Before 25 - #3)

Just arriving at the conference. Running on about 28 hours without sleep at this point!
Not sure how I accomplished it (probably the coffee), but I made it to Indy and #ACPA14! :)

Considering I haven't shut up about it in the weeks leading up to and the days following my trip, you should probably know by now that I spent a few days in Indianapolis last week for the 2014 ACPA (College Student Educators International) National Convention. I got the opportunity to meet and interact with student affairs professionals from institutions across the country, attend educational sessions on a variety of interesting topics pertaining to the field, and engage in conversations involving topics that I may have thought about on my own time but never had the opportunity to explore further with others in my daily life.

The great thing about going to professional conferences in your field is that you're surrounded by people who just get it. Student Affairs and Higher Education is a unique field that not many people realize is a thing (I didn't even realize it until half way through my spring semester of senior year at Lasell!) making it a bit more difficult to discuss issues that surround the profession. I'm lucky enough to have a significant other who works with college students for his job, have a few close friends that are pursuing the field themselves, and my parents have heard me talking about it for so long that they understand as much as they can without actually going through it themselves. But trying to explain what you do to someone who didn't have a traditional college experience (or sometimes any college experience at all) or someone who wasn't involved at college past working with their academic advisor and going to class can prove to be quite challenging.

But being in the conference "bubble", you can just state who you are and what you do and people will know exactly what you mean. All of us are going through or have gone through similar things, and we can give each other support and advice from those shared experiences. It's nice knowing that no matter what I go through in my graduate or professional life, there are thousands of others out there that know exactly how I feel!

#BSUlife friends at the Tweet Up! :)
Left to right: Janine, myself, Brittany, and Ed!

The conference itself was an eye-opening and inspiring experience. I've been to both the Northeast Regional and National NACA conferences this past year, which are focused on Student Activities, but attending a conference that had a wide range of Student Affairs professionals in every area of expertise you could think of was a very welcome change of pace. I felt inspired (and, to be completely honest, a little bit intimidated) by all of the people I met and things I was learning, and it really made me consider where I want to be after I graduate. I'm still in love with the prospect of working in Student Activities or Orientation for my future career, but now I'm really thinking about getting some Athletics Academic Advising experience as well. Athletes are one of my favorite student populations (who never really have an advocate for them in the SA world), and would love to get to work with them in some way! It's a relief to get some direction in what I want to do, because lately I've been feeling a bit lost among all of the grad students who know exactly what they want out of their careers!

The presentation crew!
Left to right: Dr. Hyde, Dr. Kocet, myself, and Janine!

I also got the opportunity to present at the conference, which was an extremely awesome opportunity in itself. My professor, the Associate Professor of Residence Education at LSU, a fellow grad student, and I presented on the Ward v. Wilbanks case and were able to generate a good amount of conversation on the topic. It was such an honor to be asked to present at a national convention, and I hope to submit a presentation proposal for the 2015 Convention!

1. Cheese-stuffed burger from Scotty's Brewhouse! #drool | 2. Selfie with the Indianapolis skyline on an afternoon run!

I wasn't expecting it (sorry Indy natives), but Indianapolis is an awesome city! It's so clean, quiet, and genuinely beautiful there. The food's great, the people are lovely, and everything's near by! Our hotel was connected to the convention center by skywalk (which was nice on the off day that it rained), and though it took about 15 minutes to walk there, it was definitely great to not worry about bringing a coat or crossing the street! I definitely wouldn't mind visiting there again - there is so much that I'd still like to check out that I didn't get the chance to!

Attending the ACPA Convention was such a positive experience for me, and I feel so lucky to have been given that opportunity as a first year grad. I came into grad school expecting to go to my assistantship, go to class, do my school work, and that's it, but Bridgewater has provided me so many more opportunities than I would have thought possible. I don't think I would get this opportunity anywhere else, and I'm so happy I decided to attend BSU! I'm looking forward to attending the Convention again next year in Tampa. I'm hooked! :)

I made a quick video with some of my main takeaways from the conference. A lot of what I talk about echos what I've said in this post, but I thought it would be important to include in this post none the less! :)


*This crosses off #3 on my 25 before 25 list - Visit a new city. I'm attempting to reach 25 goals before I reach the age of 25! Want to see the whole list? Check it out here!