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 4th 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!
Great blog, Olivia! And don't worry about networking, use that Woo in you and you'll have connections in no time.
ReplyDeleteSo excited for your newest adventure!
ReplyDelete