NACURH Blog, Day 6: Full Circle
As a writer of fiction, I really love stories with multiple plot lines, with all the lines being tied up at the end. Today, a long day, with a lot of surprises, but things that made me realize how quirky life works.
The past conference moment ties in perfectly: a couple years back, I was invited to be the keynote for GLACURH 2005 at UW La Crosse. Here's how mysteriously life works:
-I started doing programs at conferences because I loved speaking in front of students, being both entertaining and inspirational.
-Paul Wesselmann came to speak at UW Oshkosh for a mid year training.
-A student from UWM invited me to be a speaker for a motivational night.
-Knowing that Paul was someone I looked up to for speaking, I contacted him for some speaking advice.
-Paul was a keynote at two other conferences. One of which he graciously plugged one of my programs at the conference.
-I left the region but continued to do programs. While that happened, myself, my friends, and other students I went to conferences with all became student affairs professionals.
-When I returned, many of these professionals remembered my programs, asked to see if I could speak at some leadership conferences.
-I contacted Paul, again, for advice.
-This helped me set up the Kick Butt Productions website.
-We got the bid for NACURH 2007.
-I suggested Paul to be our morning speaker and contacted him.
-Paul got on board, rocked the house today with his speech. During his speech I realized something important:
Life is about persistence and has a wacky way of working out. Speaking at GLACURH 05, in my home region, for a conference which helped me grow, was a huge dream come true. I could never imagine that it could happen. I could never imagine that something that unique and rare to me would happen upon my door step. It wasn't about focusing on that big thing, and trying to find a way to get there. It was about focusing on doing programs. By the time I was asked, I had programs and stories ready. I had ideas ready. Because I was always practicing.
Getting the opportunity to host this conference was the same way. I remember we talked about it as students. I remember what the challenges were. As I became an advisor, it wasn't that my dreams changed, it's that other things changed, and an opportunity arose. First Kate and Cullen asked me to help out. Then Ben and Allyson stepped up.
All of this came from two simple goals:
-Attend as many conferences as I can.
-Present programs at as many conferences as I can.
Today Paul achieved something he hadn't before. And the staff took time to recognize him. I feel honored I was there to witness both events.
pb
PS: Today was bit of a blur, again. I'm sure I'll wake up one day and go: yep, I remember that. I want to say thanks though for all the support that colleagues and friends have given me today. I want to say thanks to some advisors: Chris, Paul, Andrea, Nicole, Eric, Jason, Dr. Nick. I want to say thanks to the UW Eau Claire crew who stopped by conference HQ to say hi.
The past conference moment ties in perfectly: a couple years back, I was invited to be the keynote for GLACURH 2005 at UW La Crosse. Here's how mysteriously life works:
-I started doing programs at conferences because I loved speaking in front of students, being both entertaining and inspirational.
-Paul Wesselmann came to speak at UW Oshkosh for a mid year training.
-A student from UWM invited me to be a speaker for a motivational night.
-Knowing that Paul was someone I looked up to for speaking, I contacted him for some speaking advice.
-Paul was a keynote at two other conferences. One of which he graciously plugged one of my programs at the conference.
-I left the region but continued to do programs. While that happened, myself, my friends, and other students I went to conferences with all became student affairs professionals.
-When I returned, many of these professionals remembered my programs, asked to see if I could speak at some leadership conferences.
-I contacted Paul, again, for advice.
-This helped me set up the Kick Butt Productions website.
-We got the bid for NACURH 2007.
-I suggested Paul to be our morning speaker and contacted him.
-Paul got on board, rocked the house today with his speech. During his speech I realized something important:
Life is about persistence and has a wacky way of working out. Speaking at GLACURH 05, in my home region, for a conference which helped me grow, was a huge dream come true. I could never imagine that it could happen. I could never imagine that something that unique and rare to me would happen upon my door step. It wasn't about focusing on that big thing, and trying to find a way to get there. It was about focusing on doing programs. By the time I was asked, I had programs and stories ready. I had ideas ready. Because I was always practicing.
Getting the opportunity to host this conference was the same way. I remember we talked about it as students. I remember what the challenges were. As I became an advisor, it wasn't that my dreams changed, it's that other things changed, and an opportunity arose. First Kate and Cullen asked me to help out. Then Ben and Allyson stepped up.
All of this came from two simple goals:
-Attend as many conferences as I can.
-Present programs at as many conferences as I can.
Today Paul achieved something he hadn't before. And the staff took time to recognize him. I feel honored I was there to witness both events.
pb
PS: Today was bit of a blur, again. I'm sure I'll wake up one day and go: yep, I remember that. I want to say thanks though for all the support that colleagues and friends have given me today. I want to say thanks to some advisors: Chris, Paul, Andrea, Nicole, Eric, Jason, Dr. Nick. I want to say thanks to the UW Eau Claire crew who stopped by conference HQ to say hi.
posted by Peter Brooks at 1:22 AM
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