I don't want "just a job"

A lot of people are trying to convince me that a job is just a job. You just go - from 9-5 or whatever your hours are - do what you have to do and that's it. And when you disagree with things at work, you shrug it off and move on.

But I don't want that. I don't want "just a job." I want to do something that I can believe in. Maybe I'm naive, maybe I'm an idealistic liberal - haha - but that's me. I can't do things that I don't believe in.

I got into Student Affairs because I want to have a positive impact on students' lives. I want students to reflect on their experiences and learn from them. I want to support my students through their transition from high school to college. I want to create situation that will challenge my students to question their values and beliefs.

I don't want to just throw amazing facilities at my residents. Great facilities look good on an admissions brochure but it's the experience students have that will keep them in college and will encourage them to stay in on-campus housing.

The institution I work at is trying to attract academically stronger students. Great Housing facilities aren't going to do that. But having living learning communities, giving students the opportunity to connect with professional staff and faculty, allowing students to take ownership in their communities and truly shaping it to be the type of community they want - that will attract academically stronger students. At least that would have attracted me.

Oops, I think I went off on a tangent. I was talking about wanting not "just a job." There's a lot of things I could have done - I studied journalism as an undergraduate and I liked working for newspapers, but I didn't feel like that was the best way for me to reach people. I loved writing columns - I did that for our student newspaper for three semesters - because I could encourage my peers to reflect on their values and beliefs. I've recently looked back at these columns and let me tell you, they're very "Student-Affairs-y" as I like to call it. But would I have been able to make a living writing columns? Questionable. And I like having some human interactions; I'd probably go crazy just hiding in a newspaper/magazine office all day.

Last year, I wrote an article for a Student Activities magazine and was later asked by their editor if I was interested in working for them - basically I could have gone out to find new talent (bands, comedians, other entertainment) and that write about them. I thought about it for a few minutes, but I really didn't want to leave the college environment. I've started thinking about this again. I love music and theater and all that stuff - and I love traveling. But would I really be having a positive impact on anyone's experience? Maybe the entertainers that I promote...LoL...but would that really satisfy me? I don't know. I'd probably have to find some hobby that'd allow me to get the feeling of having a positive impact on society.

One of my favorite books is "Little Lord Fauntleroy." There's a quote in the book (I read the book in German, so this is just me translating what I remember...); it's something the mother of the little Lord tells him when he finds out that he's a Lord and is thinking about all the responsibility that comes along with being a Lord... "Just make sure that the world is a little bit better because you lived in it."

That's what I want. I want the world to be a little bit better because I lived in it.