6 years, 2 degrees, 1 home away from home. Thank you, Bloom!

When I first stepped onto campus in 2015 as a first-year student I never would have imagined the impact Bloomsburg University would have on me.

As I went through my four years as an undergraduate, I got involved, made connections that will last a lifetime, and most importantly I found my true self, my passion. As I look back, it was because of those experiences I was given and the connections I made that I was able to find my passion in education.

Bloomsburg gave me the opportunities to succeed in whatever I may do and has taught me that finding your path is the best path. As I entered my final year of graduate school, my final year at Bloomsburg, I reflected on how this university shaped me into the person I am today.

When I first got here as an undergraduate, I was nervous and full of uncertainty. It was not long after that I realized this place is more than just a campus … it is my home. I am now full of memories, opportunities, and people I call my family.

I began my time at Bloomsburg as a finance major and began to get heavily involved in the orientation program where I found my true passion. Education. It was not until my senior year I decided to continue my master's degree in business education. When deciding to go back to grad school there was no hesitation that I would stay at the place that has helped me get to where I am today.

Throughout graduate school I had the opportunity to be the graduate assistant in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions where I continued to grow both personally and professionally. During my final semester as a Bloomsburg University student I completed a student teaching experience at a local high school. Student teaching in the middle of a pandemic is not what most students think of or expect, however, I've never felt more prepared to enter my first year of teaching.

My student teaching experience did not look like the norm, the first day there were no students in their seats and no teachers at their desk. No this was not because of COVID-19, this was due to a three-day snowstorm. My first few days were spent at my desk at home with only online interaction. Shortly after I was able to enter the classroom but students were still virtual most of the week. Our classrooms may have been empty but they were still full of knowledge.

The day came where students were fully in person everyday of the week. It was the biggest celebration of the whole year. The nerves kicked in again. I was meeting most students for the first time, it was like the first day of school jitters. I quickly was able to build rapport with my students and became more than just a student teacher. I got to know each of my students, my cooperating teacher, and other teachers in the building.

With their help and encouragement, I have been able to go above and beyond what I expected of myself.

As I continued my student teaching experience I was given the opportunity to be the school's assistant softball coach. This is the moment I was more than just a student teacher, I got to know my students but also others in the school. I got to know and become part of the community. By coaching I was able to enhance my experience and go above and beyond for my students.

I became an educator to inspire and impact my students, little did I know the impact and inspiration that they would have on me each and every day.

As I complete my final weeks at Bloomsburg University, I think back at all the strides I have made and the moments that will last forever. I started as a young first-year student and came out as a future business educator with a place to call my second home. These past six years were the greatest years of my life.

Through this journey I had the largest team of cheerleaders that stood by my side the entire time. I would like to thank the orientation team, admissions team, my family, and my roommates who became more than just someone I lived with, they became my family too. Without my support system I would not be where I am today. A special thank you to Bloomsburg University for giving me the opportunities to prepare me as I enter the next chapter of my life.

 
— Gianna Harris '19, a finance graduate who will soon earn a master's degree in business education. She is a native of Clifton Heights and was a student leader with the First Year Experience and Orientation office, as well as a graduate assistant with admissions.

#BloomOnward #HuskyUnleashed #HeyHOWLs

How to survive your last year of grad school

My graduate school experience has had its share of meals on-the-go, motivational self-talks and 16 hour days. Holding two assistantships and advising multiple undergraduate committees and groups, maintaining a full-time class schedule all while preserving some shred of a personal life can be overwhelming at times.

Don’t get me wrong; I feel extremely thankful for the opportunities given to me and I am more driven by my demanding schedule than I have ever felt before.

However, I am not a complete robot and even I still have those moments when anxiety gets the best of me and my inner child just wants to crawl into a pillow fort, where my responsibilities cease to exist, and color pictures of unicorns for a few hours.

I’m not an expert, but I feel as if giving into these fleeting breakdowns once in a while is not only inevitable, but necessary to retaining our humanity as grad students.

Here is my to-do list if you’re interested in keeping your sanity throughout grad school:

• Keep your schedule in your phone. If you’re anything like me, your phone is constantly within an arm’s reach. After experimenting with several different planners and scheduling methods, the most practical form has been my iPhone calendar. Add your daily/weekly schedule first (classes, office hours, etc.) then as soon as you find out something is happening, put it in your phone, set an alert, and free up some space in your brain!
• Stop procrastinating. If you’re someone who is always waiting until the last minute to get things done, now is the time to break that habit. If you don’t already, you’ll soon learn what it’s like for something to come up an hour before a deadline and have to explain why the assignment was late. Your professors and supervisors will accept the “something came up” excuse once or twice, but anyone in Higher Education most likely has a similar schedule and, therefore, squandering sympathy for your lack of ability to plan for unforeseen circumstances.
• Schedule free time. Self-care is different for everyone, but extremely important. If you’re waiting for free time to magically appear, good luck. Figure out how much time you can reasonably set aside for yourself without falling behind in your other responsibilities. If family, friends or gym time is important to you, schedule it. If it’s already in your calendar, when someone asks when you can add a meeting, you’ll be less likely to take away the only hour you have to yourself.
• Sleep. Eat. Study. You are a human first and a student second. Everything else will come with time. Adding everything at once will only be detrimental to your health, grades and duties.
• When things get overwhelming, re-evaluate. Grad school is a perfect time to learn how to balance time and experiment with how much you can take on and still give 100%. When that percentage starts to drop, your balancing act might need reassessment. If you find yourself completely booked with no time to sleep study or eat, it’s time to rework your current plan. Maybe it means taking a few hours away from one position and adding them somewhere else. Maybe a conversation with an advisor or supervisor can add some clarity and take away some pressure. It might also mean dropping one responsibility completely, and that’s ok sometimes. You can always add more responsibilities again after you get a better grip on things.
• Don’t panic. Grad school is the perfect place to make mistakes. You’re probably surrounded by helping professionals who want nothing more than to see you succeed! If everything hasn’t fallen into place quite yet, don’t worry too much. It will.

— Alyssa Meyers is obtaining a graduate degree in Counseling and College Student Affairs (CSA) at Bloomsburg University, where she holds a graduate assistantship in the Student Activities Office. There, she assists in overseeing Bloomsburg's Program Board, Concert Committee and other groups and committees related to campus-wide event and activity planning.

Alyssa also holds a part-time position at Penn State University's Hazleton campus, where she is the Assistant Coordinator in the Office of Residence Life. In this position, she oversees a 10-person student Resident Assistant staff, works with the full-time residence life staff and participates in on-call or "Duty" responsibilities.

Prior to starting her career in student affairs, worked as a caseworked at Columbia County Children and Youth Services. She gained experience in crisis management, community health, and strength-based intervention strategies. Last summer, Alyssa moved to the Los Angeles area and worked with the Student Life and Engagement staff at Marymount California University. The focal point of her summer was designing an LGBT Safe Zone training manual and additional programming for the upcoming academic year.

Welcome to the Smith Olympics

It may have just been another beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon to everyone else but to me and my staff it was a big day!

We planned for this day for weeks and finally our first big program was about to happen, the “Smith Olympics.” The residence hall I oversee — of over 250 first year students — is called Smith hall which is located right next to a nice big grassy lawn.

My staff and I came up with having a day, just like the Olympics, of games for the residents and a prize at the end for the wining team! The games that we led included:

• volleyball
• tug of war
• Frisbee
• and a relay race

My RAs prepared wonderfully and also had music speakers set up so everyone was able to listen to music throughout the day.

The residents along with my staff were able to bond and get to know one another while having fun and jamming out to music. I was very proud to have such a successful event take place all because my RAs made it happen. To see the students smiling and getting along was great.

We hope that the “Smith Olympics,” can become a tradition at Susquehanna University and continue on for the years to come. I am just thankful that I was able to be a part of it and make a positive impact on this campus.

— Kami Skoloda, a Lancaster native, is a second year student in the Counseling and College Student Affairs (CSA) program. She received her bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Communications from Bloomsburg University (BU) in 2013. Her senior year she interned in the ACT 101 office at working with academic probation students. As an intern, Kami worked alongside several CSA graduate students suggested she consider a career in college student affairs.

My life in a nutshell: Hard at Play

I am currently a full time graduate student in the Student Affairs program at Bloomsburg University, a half-time (20 hours per week) graduate assistant in Bloomsburg’s Student Activities office and a part-time staff member (20 hours per week + overnight/weekend “duty”) at Penn State Hazelton’s Office of Residence Life.

A typical day begins around 8 a.m. and ends when I return home between 10 and 11 p.m. My weekends often consist of late-night student activities and weekend day trips and/or weekend duty responsibilities. Just so you have the whole picture, I also commute to and from Hazleton, about 30 minutes each way, usually 5-6 days per week to accommodate my various commitments.

When I explain my life and schedule, the response I usually receive is “When do you sleep?!” The way I choose to see it, I have been blessed with a very high energy level and a love of my work, so I don’t mind my 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. days, I actually thrive on them.

This thriving is the point of my post. When people respond to my schedule negatively, I always come back with a smile. Each time I explain my schedule to others, I use it as an opportunity to remind myself how very blessed I am to be in these positions! One of my learning points is that I have a difficult time staying on-task if my schedule is not laid out and stacked.

Instead of letting myself waste “down” time, I am making the conscious decision to take full advantage of my high energy level, my freedom as a single young professional and the unique opportunities provided to me through the College Student Affairs program and career path. I am choosing to stack my days (and my resume!) with awesome experiences.

Each day, I grow more thankful for the knowledge I am gaining, not only in College Student Affairs, but in schedule management, relationship building, leadership (on several levels), prioritizing and much more.

For the record, I DO sleep; 8 hours, every night (unless I get distracted by Pinterest, of course). As a footnote to my life-in-a-nutshell, I’d like to say that self-care is EXTREMELY important and a schedule like mine is definitely not for everyone! I take advantage of the few hours per week that I have to do things for myself (visit with family and friends, hike, run, travel, etc.).

I am a firm believer in the idea that, when someone is truly passionate about what they do, they never work a day in their life. This is why, when people question my decision to take on so many responsibilities at once, I am able to respond by saying I’m not overworked, I’m simply Hard at Play.

— Alyssa Meyers is obtaining a graduate degree in Counseling and College Student Affairs (CSA) at Bloomsburg University, where she holds a graduate assistantship in the Student Activities Office. There, she assists in overseeing Bloomsburg's Program Board, Concert Committee and other groups and committees related to campus-wide event and activity planning.

Alyssa also holds a part-time position at Penn State University's Hazleton campus, where she is the Assistant Coordinator in the Office of Residence Life. In this position, she oversees a 10-person student Resident Assistant staff, works with the full-time residence life staff and participates in on-call or "Duty" responsibilities.

Prior to starting her career in student affairs, worked as a caseworked at Columbia County Children and Youth Services. She gained experience in crisis management, community health, and strength-based intervention strategies. Last summer, Alyssa moved to the Los Angeles area and worked with the Student Life and Engagement staff at Marymount California University. The focal point of her summer was designing an LGBT Safe Zone training manual and additional programming for the upcoming academic year.

Welcome to grad school ... a new life, a very exciting life

I took the summer after my college graduation off — no classes! — and started my master’s degree in August 2013. My first semester, I had a graduate assistantship position through the academic achievement office.

A graduate assistantship (GA) means you work on campus and get remunerated with a stipend and part of your tuition is paid for. In my role, I helped start a brand new program called the Sophomore Success Program at BU. This is a mentoring program designed to help undeclared sophomore status students raise their GPAs and declare a major.

I have been the GA for this program ever since and really enjoy working with this population of students. Through my experience as a GA for this program, I have strengthened many skills, such as:

• counseling techniques
• providing resources
• mentoring
• tutoring
• leadership
• building relationships
• assessment

This semester I also am also serving as the Graduate Resident Director at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove. For this position I oversee a first year residence hall with around 250 students. I work closely with another head resident and eight resident assistants.

Working in residence life is new to me, but I find it to be very exciting.

As for my life outside of academics, I enjoy working out and playing basketball, volleyball, and ping pong. I was an intramural volleyball referee for around six semesters at BU throughout my schooling and also played for fun.

— Kami Skoloda, a Lancaster native, is a second year student in the Counseling and College Student Affairs (CSA) program. She received her bachelor’s degree in Interpersonal Communications from Bloomsburg University (BU) in 2013. Her senior year she interned in the ACT 101 office at working with academic probation students. As an intern, Kami worked alongside several CSA graduate students suggested she consider a career in college student affairs.