Welcome to Texas

by Olivia Barker

@oliviabark

After driving through 5 states, unpacking one million boxes and spending a few days decorating, I am finally settled into my new apartment in Houston. My dad drove with me from Georgia to Texas (thanks Daddy) and we had fun doing some major exploring and even more eating, but he eventually had to go home Saturday. I spent the rest of that night holed up in my apartment being a little sad because it hit me that I was officially alone in this huge city.

Now, I like to consider myself an adventurous woman and I am excited to start this new chapter of my life. I start my new position with Rice this week and I am feeling really confident going into this position. I have a good understanding of the work I do and the impact I can have on a campus. I am actually not nervous about starting work, to be honest, I am more nervous about making friends since making friends as an adult is difficult, especially since you get to be more selective of the company you keep. I don’t have any friends yet and I am not really sure where to start since there are 2 million other people here, but that is an exciting part about student affairs.

Just a little over one week ago, I was celebrating my departure at my going away party thrown by my friend/co-worker/soul sister, I lived in a different state and worked for a different university and I lived in a 3 bedroom house that cost as much as my 600 square foot apartment. Student affairs pushes us out of our comfort zone. Not only has this moved challenged me, but I know my new position and new city are going to be huge challenges. I have only worked at large, public institutions and now I am at a small private. I have never supervised a professional staff member and now I will be responsible for helping develop a young professional and prepare this person for a shining future in student affairs. I live in the 4^th largest city in the United States and I have to start everything completely fresh…CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

I can’t wait to share my adventures with you all. As you are reading, I have officially started my new position, wish me luck!

Student Affairs - the First Years

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