What do you value?

by pmaxquinn on May 15, 2012

What a person values is a theme that appears a lot when one is: applying for a job, making everyday decisions, leading others, building rapport with students, colleagues, other professionals, and the list goes on and on…

Here are some questions to consider asking yourself… Make sure that you can articulate your answers, too, because you never know when a question similar to one of these could pop up:

  • What do you value? 
  • What are your passionate about? 
  • What will you advocate for or against? 
  • What do you identify with?

I can honestly say that I identify 100% with the values of my Fraternity. I seek to promote scholarship, both my own and the students I am fortunate enough to work with. I value chivalry, and being an exemplary role model to my fraternity brothers; hopefully helping to lead them towards exceeding their potential. Working in Student Affairs encourages me, like Sigma Pi, to advance truth and justice. Holding students accountable, teaching them to learn from mistakes, and empowering them to fight for their rights and what they believe in remains a major component to who I am and what I am passionate about. Diffusing culture, however, is probably the most difficult aspect of our creed. I believe in it, but it can sometimes be difficult to influence, let alone change a culture. It is my hope that through my work, passion, and dedication that I can unite with my fellow colleagues, and student affairs professionals across the country to work together in this mission to diffuse culture. Culture, a wonderful thing, can also sometimes be the downfall of a society in which tradition overrules what is fair, right, and just.

All of this, and much more are amongst the things that I advocate for and believe in. What inspires you?

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The Summer of Max!

by pmaxquinn on May 2, 2012

With the Spring 2012 semester soon to be in the past, I, and the rest of Higher Education, are looking forward to the summer!

A time when we get to relax, let loose, and catch up on things… While this might be true for some folks, and heck, even some professions, Higher Education is unique. Due to contrary beliefs, we do NOT have summer’s off, nor do we get to “let loose”. Our summers are filled with meetings, workshops, trainings, more meetings, conferences, some vacation, and even more meetings. With all of the hype that April brought, May, June, July and August are already looking BUSY! We have a lot to do, and only a short amount of time to do it. After all, we have to plan out a whole new academic year, complete summer projects, and get creative with ways to re-introduce students back into campus life, not to mention that whole orientation thing that all students must attend. Needless to say, we have a lot going on during the summer. In a way, this may seem daunting, and one might think: When do you ever get a break?

My response is simple: If you are doing what you love, its fun, not work.

I LOVE my job, and LOVE the people that I get to work with. I am stoked about this summer! It will be the first time that I get to work in a real professional role for the completion of a full academic year, as well, now that I know what I am doing, I CANT WAIT to start planning for next year! My goal this summer is to make progress towards my thesis, the completion of my degree, secure an internship, and gain as much practical experience as possible. I am taking Multicultural Counseling in June, and hope to begin the Research & Design phases of my thesis. Although I do not know my specific research question yet, I am going to focus on the impact social media has on student life and overall identity development/expression.

Another goal I have for this summer is to play Ice Hockey!! I am planning to hit the ice in June, and skate as much as possible before mid August. Once RA Training starts, I am sure that my ice time will decrease, but I am getting really restless waiting to lace em’ up! I have been dedicated to going to the gym, and try very hard to go at least three times a week. If I can build up my cardio, I know that the rest will follow. Supporting Katelyn in her 1/2 Marathon is another thing that excites me about the summer. Now that I have been able to consistently exercise again, I may even try to run a 5k with Kate… who knows where this summer will take me?!!

As George Costanza would say: “It’s the summer of George, Jerry! The summer of George!!”

What are your goals for this summer?

What do you hope to make progress towards?

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