Travels with Kevin Part 15: Visiting one of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, St. Paul was Busy)

Last week I made my first adventure, to "the city of the lakes," Minneapolis, for a conference, the Association for Campus Housing Officers International (ACUHO-I). I work at Northeastern University as a Residence Director, which entails living on campus, and running a residence hall, or "dorm" as other people call student housing.  Note, please use residence hall.

The conference itself provided a jolt to my professional energy, providing great context for research, assessment, living learning community programming, ethical questions and answers, and opportunity to network with entry level, mid level, and upper level administrators in my profession.  Many thanks to Larry Long who convinced me to attend this conference, it provided me with an energy needed to continue, and infuse my passion even further into my work.

Passion is an interesting concept, and pardon the reach with the connection, but as the hockey season comes to a close, I am amazed at the enthusiasm both Boston and Chicago fans have for their teams battling it out for the Stanley Cup.  The connection between hockey, passion, and Minnesota came from my childhood memories of the young kids in Mighty Ducks, which was set in the state.  I never have been a hockey fan, but these fans love the sport, and its great to see fans champion their teams.  My only connection to the sport comes in the form of the film Mighty Ducks and D-2, I never liked the third film.

All I can think of is Gordon saying the phrase "ducks fly together."  This phrase rings true in the sense that when things come up, you lose your professional energy, and you need a jolt you can reach out to other professionals in your field help remind you "what is your why?"  This past week people from all over the country reminded me of "why" I do what I do, and gave me an incredible boost in my professional energy.  It was refreshing, and takes me back to that phrase "ducks fly together."  Student affairs professional fly together, when the road gets tough you have thousands of colleagues you can reach out to,  and you should remember that there is inspiration, and drive abound.  This was a great conference, which help me to grow on many levels as a professional.