Graduation, Job Interviews, and Reflection

Wow! Have I been MIA. I think I have a good excuse though...I have been traveling, interviewing, graduating and celebrating! With all of that, my weight loss has kinda gotten off track. But nothing crazy- so just gotta get remotivated :) 

  

Let me do a re-cap of everything that has happened in the past few weeks. 

Warning: Long Post Ahead

My cohort and I started celebrating graduation a week ahead..

 I love these girls so much!

Our ADIOS GREENSBORO party!

A few weeks ago I was having a regular Monday at work...I was scheduled to meet one on one with my supervisor at 11...I gchatted her to check that we were still on to meet and she said she would come get me at 11:30. When she came and got me,  I grabbed my notepad and we started to walk into the conference room- the blinds were shut and I remember thinking "Am I doing a presentation?" 

I walked in and about 15-20 of my students were there to surprise me!! There was pizza (duh) and presents! 

 

Some of my students had been sending out emails to all of the scholars several weeks prior asking them to write me notes/letters as I will be leaving in June. They put the notes together in a scrapbook that I could hold onto(pictured above). It was the one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me! I felt so special, humbled and grateful to have had the opportunity to work with these students. Its so easy to get caught up in the every day administrative duties and to-do lists...but I absolutely adore my work with college students- especially ones like my scholars- who have faced really tough obstacles in their life and have persevered. Their words were so thoughtful and when I'm feeling grumpy about work I can always look back at that for a reminder. Ah I love my work!

 

 Later that week I headed on a short trip across the country for an interview! 

 It went really well! More about that later :)

I then came back on Thursday, just in time for my parents to arrive in NC for graduation on Friday. Friday morning we woke up and my mom declared I needed a new dress for graduation..so we went to Belk! I love Belk's dresses so much, and I got mine below for 50% off! 

My balloons! Dress: Belk

 We ate at Mellow Mushroom before the ceremony...my fave! 

 

 My beautiful sister and I. Of course we're matching! 

One of my best friends, Michelle, came all the way from Richmond to my graduation. This girl is one of those friends that you can go months without talking to, but when you pick up the phone its like no time has passed. I have a few friends like that and I know they are my forever friends. 

Soon it was time to head to the ceremony. Getting a Master's degree is strange, at least for me.  I  felt more like I was a part of a team working to get our degrees and not just a singular person (obviously the point of a cohort lol) All in all, I was so excited to be graduating with these amazing people that will always be my colleagues and that I am lucky enough to call friends. 

Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education Class of 2013!

 Those silly sleeves for Master's candidates...that also doubled as pockets! 

 Co-workers and friends

 Waiting our turn!

 UNCG...can't you see it? Love these girls

 Woo hoo!! Yes! 

Wouldn't have been able to do it without Erin and Allison. We always said how thankful we were for one another through the really tough times. I'm so grateful to have had them to bitch with, celebrate with, drink with, study with, and talk through life with during the many ups and downs of the past two years. They're amazing student affairs pros that I call some of my closest friends!

 My family, love them.

Saturday some people in my cohort and I hosted a cookout for our families and friends. We ate and drank and played cornhole! It was glorious.

 Some grads! (Sorry its so dark)

My friend Holly- another huge support for me over the past two years! When I was looking for assistantships, she called me about the one I have now, and the first thing she said to me was "You go to VCU? I have been rooting for the Rams through the entire tournament!!" (When VCU went to the Final 4 in 2011) I knew at that moment we would be friends, but I never knew how great of a friend she would be! 

 I never really got a chance to think about how much this Master's program and the people I have met have effected me. This experience taught me so much about myself and redefined the work I want to do and why I want to do it. When I decided that I wanted to work in student affairs with college students back in my junior year of undergrad, it was because I believed I had a less-than-satisfactory experience as a college student and wanted to help others not have to go through what I did. Now I look back on my experiences and realize that without them, I wouldn't have the empathy that I have now for those students who are lost in their careers as students and as young adults.  Because of this program and experience, I know what I want and don't want from a position, a supervisor, a school, relationships and myself. It truly has changed me and caused me to grow beyond, wayyy beyond the work place and the field. I don't expect to always inspire change, and I don't believe that I will be the sole cause of change in a student's life. But I am passionate about planting the seed...planting the seed that a student is not defined by their weaknesses, but by their strengths, and with just a little guidance and positive conversation, I want to help them see those strengths as I do.

Besides my passion for working with students, I know that I have become more confident, and more sure of my values and desires as an adult. And I have also come to question so many things in my life and belief system that I have never really taken the time to examine and question before. Whether or not this happened as a result of the program or just as a result of me getting older, I know that without some of the courses I took and really tough situations I went through, I wouldn't be able to identify some of the things that are so important to me now.

I see that I have become a better version of myself, but there is still so much room to grow. As tough, aggravating, exciting and emotional this experience was, I wouldn't change it (or any of the events that transpired) for the world, because it has built who I am now- like any significant life experience. I am so grateful to have found a career path I am so passionate about; being that fortunate is not lost on me- but I am also open to the idea that this may or may not be my only path, which I think is important. I'm just taking it one step at a time, in the pursuit of my contentedness in the life that I have.

In the ever wise words of Ms. Elle Woods:

 "It is with passion, courage of conviction, and strong sense of self that we take our next steps into the world, remembering that first impressions are not always correct. You must always have faith in people. And most importantly, you must always have faith in yourself."

Weekend Review

Woowee! My weekend was jam-packed with socializing, work, and nursing a horrible hangover...woof. 

This was actually Wednesday after our LAST class ever! 

What I wore: I got this dress at TJ Maxx (my favorite store in case you couldn't tell) and it is a size 8! I think it runs big, but still, I felt great! 

Friday night we went to dinner at The Iron Hen Cafe. I had a portabello melt minus the melt (cheese) and I am glad I did because I am pretty sure the bread had butter on it. I got a salad on the side. The place was cute, but they were out of everything we wanted! Boohiss! 

After, we went to a convenience store to get drinks to bring to our friends' house. This place was a little out of date as we found some products that looked like they had been on the shelf since the early 90's...

Then we went over to one of my grad school cohort members' apartment for drinks- and a lot of photos of the graduates! 

We left pretty early, because I had to be up bright and early for a service project with some of my students from the program I work with. We worked with Habitat for Humanity, and part of the group went to the ReStore and part went to a job site. 

I was with the group that went to the ReStore. It was awesome because after we were done, we were able to shop in the ReStore and got 20% off!! I got two of these pillows for $17! 

The lighting is horrible but my couch is red...these coordinate with the fabric below which will be made into curtains one day in the future...lol

Anyways, that night Jason and I went out with our friends Jocelyn and Seiji. We had not seen them in months, and had never been able to go downtown with them so this was planned to be an epic night! So epic, that I did not get many pictures. 

Thanks for ruining our picture Seiji!

It was so much fun! Great music, great friends, dancing and one too many drinks. Which I paid for all day Sunday. When training for my 10k I pretty much stopped drinking, so going out 2 nights in a row this weekend was rough on me. Never. again. 

Sunday was spent recovering and doing homework. Fun fun. 

Time for this week to get underway! Tuesday is when I am OFFICIALLY done with grad school work, then Wednesday I am heading to a career development conference in Boone. Here's to hoping I don't unexpectedly fail a class (a recurring nightmare of mine). I seriously can.NOT.wait! 

Its also time to get back on the weight loss train this week! I am afraid of my weigh in on Tuesday because of this weekend, but I had fun, and I will be back on track this week when the stress is out of the way. I'll be back tomorrow to tell you about some goals and plans I have for my weight loss moving forward! 

Make it a good one :)

Monument Avenue 10k Recap

Hi Hi Hi!

I am popping in today to give a recap of my first ever 10k! I wish I had done this sooner, but alas, it is winding down to the last couple of WEEKS of my graduate program and there is much to be done! Anyways, here it is!

Jason and I drove up to Richmond on Friday afternoon so that we could get to the Runner's Expo held at the Arthur Ashe Athletic Center next to the Diamond. So exciting to be back in my favorite city! I picked up my packet and my bib, grabbed some freebies, and then we headed to dinner at Joe's Inn, our favorite Richmond restaurant, and the site of our first date, 4 years earlier.

We then headed east to my parent's house. I was so happy to see my mom and sister and dog after 3 months! It had been too long. 

We woke up early Saturday morning to head to Richmond, and beat the traffic. The Monument Ave 10k is no joke y'all! 40,00 people! In college, it was a known fact that you should stay inside and avoid the crowds. My old residence hall is actually situated right at the finish line, so I remember not being able to sleep in due to the music and large crowds- I would be so annoyed! (Look at me now!)

view from my freshman year room- this is exactly where the finish line for the 10k is! 

Luckily, finding parking was much easier than I thought it would be. We parked in a campus deck and only had to walk a few blocks to the start line. I wish I had taken more pictures, but I was just anxious about getting to the start line on time and making sure my mom, sister, dog and Jason found a good place to stand. We parted ways about halfway as they found a place to stand and I headed to the start line. 

 The week before, I started to feel a pain down the back of my leg. I stretched as much as possible, iced etc, but I was still worried that the pain was something more serious and i would not be able to achieve my goal of running the whole thing. That was why I was so on edge before the race. As I approached the start, I tried not to worry about it and get pumped by the energy from the crowd. There were SO MANY people! Cheers, music chatter - it was so exciting. I looked around at the other runners, and I wasn't intimidated- we were running in waves, so the people around me weren't superior athletes as I had imagined they would be. Just some normal people, workin on their fitness. 

Soon enough, it was our waves' turn to run and before I knew it, we started. I focused a lot on pacing myself at first, trying not to expel too much energy from the start. I think I may have focused on this a bit too much- I could have gone faster, but oh well. I was doing it- running my first 10k! The course is great- flat, full of cheering supporters sitting on their front porches or in the grassy median, lots of live music and fun costumes! I was entertained and seriously happy to be running! 

The rest of the run was pretty great. Around mile 3, I started to feel the pain, so began walking a bit. It subsided and I did a light light jog until I got back into my rhythm. it did not bother me for the rest of the run which was a relief! I walked another time, around 4.5 or 5, when I was trying to turn on Find My Friends to figure out where my people were standing. 

Turns out, I missed them, because I was too busy jammin' out. I wanted so badly to see them but I am happy that they saw me, and even more happy that they braved the crowds to watch me run. It meant the whole world to me and really motivated me to stick to my training and my commitment to run this thing. 

my sister took this- I can't believe I didn't see them! 

Before I knew it, I was at the finish line. It kinda snuck up on me, but I sprinted to the finish! 

not the prettiest finish, but I did it! 

After I finished, I worked to find my family and Jason. I was so happy to find them and hear that they saw me! They said I was in the zone :) 

Finishing is SO addicting. I know I have said this before, but every time I think about it, and really put myself back there I can't help but tear up and think how I can't wait to do it again. I am really proud of myself- not only for actually doing the race, but sticking to my training plan even with a lot of obstacles in my way. I am a huge procrastinator so planning ahead for something for 4 months is a huge accomplishment for me! 

For those of you who are wondering my official time was 1:17:34 and my average pace was around 11:54. 

Thank you to my family and Jason for coming to see me run! Now to decide my next race...!

Have a great day :) 

Happies and Crappies #2

Happy Friday/Saturday friends! 

I have not yet written my 10k post because this week has been chaotic, but I will this weekend! Even though it is now Saturday, I really wanted to get some happies and crappies out there because I love this link up with Stephanie at the Vintage Modern Wife.

   

Happies

1. Putting on this skirt and feeling comfortable- bonus: I threw this outfit together in 5 minutes! Win.
   
   
   
2. Visiting my mommy and sister at home for the first time since January (Yes, I still call my mom "Mommy"- haters gonna hate)
3. Completeing the Monument Avenue 10k, my first race!  I am now addicted to the feeling of crossing the finish line!! Already comtemplating my next race/challenge (triathalon, maybe?!?- who am I???)
   
   
   
4. My Toddy came in the mail! My sister introduced me to the cold-brew coffee world and it is life-changing! It reduces a lot of the acidity in coffee resulting in a really smooth, delicious glass of iced coffee. I love mine with vanilla soy milk and a tiny bit of sweetner. Bye-bye Starbucks! 
5. We have a bi-weekly family dinner night with one of our "couple friends" (which is always a happy!) This week we hosted and made this rice and bean casserole from Eat, Live, Run... SO GOOD and SO easy! 

Crappies

1. The news of this week has been devastating. After feeling as though I have officially joined the running community, Boston hit hard. Waking up to the manhunt Friday morning was scary and heartbreaking as well...but I am glad that it is over. My heart goes to that wonderful, strong city and the first responders. I am now logging my miles for Boston, and you can too!  #RunforBoston
2. Work has been stressful and people are inconsiderate. I really can't say much else, except that I am counting down my days to the second.
3. I think I have tendonitis in my right leg :(  I was doing squats/lunges yesterday and it was really painful behind my knee. So RICE for me, and a break from running/leg work for now- then back to focusing on strengthening weak muscles!

I will be back later with a 10k recap + pictures. I hope y'all have a wonderful Saturday! 

Happies and Crappies

Hey y'all! Happy Friday!

This is my very first link-up post, and today I am linking up with Sarah at Scissors and a Whisk and Stephanie of The Vintage Modern Wife to share the happies and crappies of my week.

Happies

• This gorgeous weather we have been having in NC! Last week it was snowing, so this is definitely much better 
• Losing 2.8 pounds at WW this week
• My boyfriend, Jason, bought a new car! 

• 1 MONTH FROM GRADUATION
• Although it was a week ago- passing my comps for my Masters was a definite happy :) 
• Running the longest distance ever in my life- 5.5 miles

Crappies

• Having to put on my big girl pants and make a majorly hard decision- sh*t got real
• LOFT screwing up my big spring order and running out of half of the merchandise I ordered, then not telling me until 10 days later :(
• Realizing all of the projects and papers I have to get done in the next month...

Have a great weekend! I'll be back to update you on my 10k! 

Slow and steady wins the race

I mentioned in my first post that I am a wannabe runner. I am currently training for my first 10k THIS WEEKEND and I am pumped, scared shitless, nervous, and proud all at the same time.

I have been training since January. I started with a Coach to 10k app on my phone, which basically started with the Coach to 5k program and added on. It was a 14 week program. I  got up to the 5k part with it, went on conferences/trips, got off track, and had to find another program.

Running in Vegas was interesting and awesome! But be warned..lots of stairs!

 

I switched to Hal Higdon's 10k Novice program at his week 6. This wasn't ideal, but it worked well for me. His program incorporates short runs, cross training and long runs on the weekends that get progressively longer.

I mentioned that I went on vacation/conferences in the middle of my training. I was worried that would really set me back. I think it did to an extent, but I put in the work when I came back and was active (and ran 2 times) while I was away. I have been pretty dedicated to cross and strength training throughout as well. Honestly, I think just running is boring, and I know that it is not good for my joints. I need to build my muscles in order to be a better runner, and to prevent injury (which I have learned the hard way) !! Also, running is a different type of endurance than say BodyStep...so for me it was and is important to be well rounded to become a better athlete. (Did I just refer to myself as an athlete??? WOAH.)

 

Anyways, all that to say, I have NEVER been able to run this far of a distance. Sometimes I look at my RunKeeper profile and forget whose it is. I am SLOW y'all.  I probably look as though I am dying most of the time. Shorter runs are still hard, which reminds me how far I have to go.

 

I will update about the 10k next week! I am so worried something is going to happen between now and then that will prevent me from running my best, but hopefully all will go well! Do you have any tips for what I should do in the next couple of days to prepare? I am resting Friday but debating if I should cross train today. What do you think? 

The Job Search

As mentioned in my welcome post, I am currently in the midst of a job search. I graduate from my Masters program in May, so now is the peak time of cover letters, resumes, and epic stressing out. For a little bit of background, I am getting my Masters in Student Personnel Administration in Higher Education. Betcha can't say that five times fast!!

In layman's terms, I am studying College Student Development. If you think about a college or university, think about all of the people that work there besides professors. We are the academic advisors,  career counselors, residence hall directors etc. I was incredibly involved as an undergrad: I was a resident assistant, orientation assistant, in a sorority, and countless other clubs. I adored my supervisors and club advisors, and finally figured out that I could do what they were doing too, I just needed a Masters degree!!  Now looking back, my reasons for becoming a student affairs professional are not the same as they were when I was in college, but I am so happy that I have grown into this field, rather than out of it.

I digress...fast forward to my present-day job search:

There are so many options to consider when looking at potential positions in student affairs. Many of these factors can apply to other fields, but the job search process in student affairs is unique. Here are some major factors I am considering:

1. Location: For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to live in a big city.  My ideal characteristics are a city that has a strong identity, is walkable, has great restaurants, has a lively community of young professionals. has an active (fit and health oriented) culture, and is primarily liberal. I am open to pretty much anywhere with that in mind- a large city with great public transportation would be a plus! I should also mention that my family is moving to the Pacific Northwest and that is playing a large role in my decision.
2. Functional Area: In student affairs there are sort of "sub-groups" that your position falls into: residential life and housing, student activities, judicial affairs, orientations etc. I am primarily interested in career development/ academic advising. I enjoy meeting with students one on one to work towards a goal. I love helping a student realize there are SO many options out there, and that your major does not depict your path.
3. Professional Development Opportunities: Not all positions are one in the same. I am realizing that I am looking for a position with variety. I don't know if I could survive meeting with students one on one all day, and not have any other projects. In my current position there is always something to do. Essentially, I need a position that is going to allow room for me to grow.
4. Pay and Benefits: Student affairs pays peanuts. Whaddya mean, I have thousands in student loans but I'll only be making 35k? Yes. That is the nature of the field. But some schools, states and positions tend to pay better than others, and I am realizing that I have limits. Call me crazy a dreamer but I would like to have my own place, and maybe be able to buy a car when I graduate.

There are a ton of factors to consider- and even with a "plan" I have found myself throwing my limits out the window and applying to jobs that don't exactly align with all of my goals- and some have actually turned into legitimate prospects! But I am in a place where I am not sure how picky I should be and if I should wait it out for the perfect position to pop up. My biggest fear a couple months ago was whether or not I would get a job by July or August, and though I feel fortunate to have some options on the table, the reverse side of having a job by summer is that there are tons of new jobs that will come open in August- and what if I missed the perfect job in exchange for the right-now job????

Regardless,  I have hope that in the next couple of weeks, things will be a little clearer, and I will be able to self-reflect and honestly be happy with a decision that I make- or a decision will be made for me!

Welcome!

Hi There!

Welcome to my little piece of the blogworld. I'm Rachel :)

I am a 20s something graduate student living life in North Carolina. Since I am graduating in May, I am in the midst of job hunting and will have some big changes coming to my life as I transition from being a student to a professional- which is exciting, and terrifying at the same time.

On top of that, I am on a weight loss journey and becoming a wannabe runner. Slow and steady wins the race, right??

 I consider myself a pseudo vegetarian who sometimes enjoys seafood. I am totally a Maxxinista, and may be basing my job search off of how many TJ Maxxs/Marshalls there are in a 50 mile radius. I am doing the same for Trader Joe's- I need my Joe's Joe and frozen mango chunks! Sue me.

I love to throw a good get-together- its all in the details! I am currently building my wreath collection. I can't get enough of New Girl. Pumping iron and killing burpees make me feel like a bad ass. Lemon in my water is necessary. Getting lost in a book is what I am looking forward to most this summer. Definitely not looking forward to packing and moving...

Hope you enjoy my journey in which I will talk about all of the above and then some!