Welcome to a new year!

Hello everyone and welcome to a new year!

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, WELCOME BACK and THANK YOU for your continued support! For those of you who have just checked out this blog, WELCOME!

I started a new job this year. It's only October and it feels like I've been here forever. The job has definitely had its ups and downs already, so there'll be lots to blog about. But, since this is the first blog of the year, I wanted to give you a little bit of information about me (especially for those of you who're new to my blog; but I hope that there'll be some new things for my veteran readers as well).

I grew up in Austria. The first few times I came to the US was on vacation with my parents. Then, my junior year in high school, I was an exchange students. That's when I really fell in love with this country. I decided I wanted to come back for college - and I haven't left since (other than on vacations). I'm still not a US citizen - if I could, I would change my citizenship because it'd make job searching so much easier for me, but trust me, it's not as easy as you may think.

I was a journalism major in undergrad but after becoming an RA my sophomore year and then working as an Orientation Leader, I realized that I loved working with college students. Right after undergrad, I went to graduate school and got my Master's in Higher Education and Student Affairs. My assistantship was in Residence Life. After that I worked as a Hall Director and Academic Adviser (yup, two jobs - one paycheck...haha) - it was one of the best and most challenging jobs I've ever had. I wasn't always happy but I learned a lot. After three years of working my behind off in that job, I decided it was time to put my personal life first. I moved to a warmer climate and took on a job as a Hall Director - yup, "just" a Hall Director - no more doing double-duty. But somehow I still haven't been able to get my life back together. Is it me??? Maybe that's something we can try and figure out together through my blogging this year.

Other than that, I'm hoping to share my experiences with you as I transition and adjust to a new institution and student body. I want to share the ups and downs of the daily life of a Hall Director with you; my struggles and challenges as well as my successes.

What are other things you should know about me?
I want to make a difference in this world. I hate how cheesy that sounds but I can't think of a better way to express how I feel. I believe that our purpose in life is to try and contribute to making this a better world for all people living here. That's what I try to focus on in everything I do.
I have a really hard time picking one cause, one issue that I'll focus on. I've had to realize though that I can't do everything. That's why I work in Student Affairs - if I can inspire students to find out what they're passionate about and go out and make a difference in this world, I will hopefully be able to make the change happen that I'd like to see in this world.

I want to be an activist. I try to make my lifestyle fit my beliefs and values.

I believe in animal rights - that's why I'm a Vegetarian. I don't have anything against eating meat; I just disagree with the way animals are treated in the mass production of meat. I haven't found an effective way to change that - and until I have either managed to do that OR until I feel like I'm able to control where my meat comes from (which I don't feel like I'm able to in the US), I won't eat meat. Simple as that. I also don't eat fish. Same reasons!

I don't believe war is ever the right answer. I've gotten very involved in Invisible Children over the past few years. If you don't know what Invisible Children is, go to www.invisiblechildren.com (It's an organization that works with child soldiers in Northern Uganda). Last year, one of my RAs and I organized a several-month-long Invisible Children event at our school. We also participated in The Rescue, an international Invisible Children event, and this summer I was able to go to Lobby Days in Washington D.C.
While I obviously believe in what Invisible Children wants to do, I also love how it is organized as an organization and how it was founded - by three young men who went to Africa in search of a story, came across children in need and decided to do something about it. It's such a powerful story about how a few individual can truly make a difference!!!

I also consider myself a Gay Rights Activist. I believe that everyone should have the right to get married. I've recently gotten involved with a local youth center for teens that identify as LGBT and I'm hoping to deepen that involvement over the next few years.

I don't expect all of you to agree with my views and my beliefs. So why did I tell you all this? Because I'm sure all of these beliefs will come up - directly or indirectly - in my blog this year.
And if you disagree with anything I say, I'd like to encourage you to comment and let me know what you think. I'd LOVE to have debates on here, to share our experiences and how those have influenced what we believe in, to deepen our understanding of other people's points of view.

In Student Affairs, we work so much with other people and we can have a huge impact on our students' experiences. I love that - but it also scares me. It's a huge responsibility. That's part of why I want to learn more about what other people think - to gain a better understanding of where my students may be coming from - and to be able to evaluate my own views and beliefs and how they influence how I interact with other people.

I love writing this blog because it forces me to take some time every week to reflect on what's been going on and how I feel about it. I believe this reflection helps me become a better professional.
So THANK YOU in advance for giving me the opportunity to reflect and share my experiences with you for another year.

I hope you'll enjoy following my blog!

PS: And please comment. I love comments because I love hearing what all of you think.