I've been trying to put my finger on why I love this time of year so much, and I think Stacy nailed it. After all, I don't really love this time of year because my students are going home. I love a campus full of life and energetic students! It's why I do what I do. Instead, I love this time of year because of all the things Stacy noted above.
Above everything, there are really two things I love about this time of year. (And I promise you it's not because of key inventories and room checks!)
Celebrating the Accomplishments - I think it's so important to celebrate our students' accomplishments, both great and small. I absolutely love celebrating with my students at the end of the year. It partcularly hit me while sitting at our very own Commencement ceremony this past weekend watching six of my Resident Assistants walk across the stage. I felt so much pride watching each of them accept their diplomas.
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| RA of the Year Plaque |
I also find great joy in giving out our annual "RA of the Year" award and telling my student leaders how much I appreciate their contributions. Our annual end-of-the-year staff dinner is one of the highlights of my year because it provides me with a formal way to tell all my students how much I appreciate them.
This year, our department purchased a very nice perpetual plaque (pictured at right) that we plan to update each year with the winner of our coveted "RA of the Year" award. This will not only help us formally recognize a staff member who performed above and beyond the call of duty; but it establishes another annual tradition for our department.
How are you celebrating your students' accomplishments this time of year?
Reflection - I love this time of year also because it's time to start preparing for the start of a new year. This is a crucial time of year to start reflecting both internally and externally. What can I do to better serve my students? What can our office do to better serve our students?
Each April, our office gathers a few informal groups of Resident Assistants to ask them to give us their feedback on our department's practices. We have also been known to use SurveyMonkey to get our students' feedback. In addition, I personally have taken on the practice of holding informal exit interviews with any of my graduating RAs. This year, I took two of my graduates out to dinner and held this exit interview in a more relaxed, casual setting..
All of this culminates with a day-long retreat at which my colleagues and I get together to critically assess how we're doing, and if we can be doing anything better.
After all, I think we should always be asking ourselves if we can be doing anything better in an attempt to better serve our students.
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