Rich at heart.

It's been almost 5 months since I've last written a blog post. When I first started this thing, I didn't want it to be a forced habit. I never expected weekly updates or play-by-plays of my life in Student Affairs. My only expectation was that I would write whenever inspiration hit, whenever something--or someone--affected me so greatly that I could not suppress the urge to write.

As many of you know, I am quite open about my thoughts, feelings, and everyday musings. My sister once told me, "Erica, most people have many thoughts throughout the day that they choose to keep inside because they just aren't necessary to hear. You, on the other hand, say every single one of those thoughts." While that is true, I've found that my experiences in the field of Student Affairs have made me more internal than I ever expected.

This field is very precious to me, as it is to many who have the pleasure of working in it. I work so very closely with so many different types of people that to disclose anything or everything would be not only an invasion of their privacy, but of my own as well. These moments that I have with students and other Student Affairs practitioners are so dear to me, I feel as thought writing about them cheapens them.

"Rich at heart." Throughout this first year in grad school, many of us have joked about our doubt on why we are pursuing a field that requires so much energy and time, yet pays so little. In the end, we all come to the same conclusion: we're rich at heart. We revel and take pride in the fact that at the end of the day, our rewards are much greater than any monetary value one can name. As a generally emotional--or, as I like to say, "passionate"--person, I truly cannot say that I've had one experience that outweighs the other in the heart department. I can only, however, speak upon the most recent.

If you've been following this blog since the beginning (or you're my mother), you know that I once had big dreams of city living in the Northeast. For years I toyed with the idea, and on February 24th, God told me that my time had come. I was hired to be the NODA (Orientation) Intern at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

May 11th. I clearly remember the plane taking off and I letting out a big exhale of excitement and anticipation as I was about to begin an unfamiliar journey. I'd never been this far from home, nor in this part of the country, nor working in this area of Student Affairs. While I never admitted it at the beginning, I was lonely and I was terrified.

I've now been at USciences for 2.5 months. And as I sit at my desk, fresh off 2 weeks of New Student Orientation (and not so fresh off the cost of living in Philly), I truly feel rich. We had our final meeting as an Orientation Leader/Supervisors Team tonight, and I'm feeling a tad raw. In two short weeks, I made connections with student leaders that I am now heartbroken to leave. I had the unforgettable experience of watching--through my tears--each OL speak about the impact this experience has had on him or her. All the while, I cannot find enough words to help them understand what they've done for me.

If you ask any Student Affairs practitioner why they choose to do what they do, most will tell you it's because they want to help students grow and develop over the course of the college experience. Most of us stole that answer from the definition of Student Development Theory. It wasn't until this summer, however, that I truly realized why I love what I do. Do I enjoy helping students? Yes. Do I take pride in watching them succeed and grow on account of my help? Absolutely. But why do I love what I do? Because the students' impact on my growth and happiness is incomparable to what I hope to give to them. And for me, that makes this job priceless.