Day Off? What's That?

Yesterday was a long day. We started out the day by meeting for breakfast at 8:45AM. We headed over to the dining hall just to find out breakfast was no longer being served. Our OSD made the decision to go out to breakfast at a local restaurant called J. Christopher's. It was a small place, which meant it had really good food. It was definitely way better than dining hall breakfast would've been.

Sausage and Gravy Skillet from J. Christopher's

After breakfast, we sat down as an extended admin team and did a bunch of ice breakers. I really enjoyed getting to know everyone better, especially the staff members who I won't be working with as closely. We also discussed some expectations for one another, which was extremely helpful. The meeting went really well and we are truly meshing as a cohesive unit (something that did not happen last summer).

We went to lunch around 12:30PM and then had a break until 2PM. I took this opportunity to nap and surprisingly did not wake up feeling like death as I usually do. At 2PM, the core admin team met up to plan out the staff orientation. We nailed down a lot of items and pretty much figured out the entire week. I still have some things to work out for my ResLife breakout sessions, but for the most part we are all squared away. To be honest, I am a bit nervous to lead some sessions, but I'm sure everything will work out.

'New RC'

At 5PM, I headed up to the office to get some paperwork finished and to check on my staff. They were working hard on the staff door decorations (which look AWESOME!) and even made a 'new RC' to hang out in the office.

When it was time for dinner, we went downtown to Trappeze, one of my favorite places in Athens. I was so excited that everyone was able to try their raspberry ketchup and garlic aioli. (SO GOOD!) We did some more ice breakers while we waited for dinner and learned what people like to do for fun. A lot of us have similar interests (hiking, dancing, reading, sleeping) so it is no wonder we all get along so well.

Heaven on a plate

Dinner was mostly silent because everyone was enjoying their food. (Good on me for picking Trappeze!) The only moment that wasn't silent was when Drake came on in the restaurant and one of the quieter RHLs and our OSD began rapping. We were surprised to say the least.

When we returned to campus, I headed back up to the office to make some documents and buttons. (Button flair is a big deal at TIP. Everyone gets buttons for various activities. The staff always has name buttons and random inside joke buttons too.) I made Avenger buttons for all of the extended admin team and personalized buttons for each staff member based on the Avenger they chose to be in our GroupMe texts.

The start of my button flair

I spent most of my night in the office with a few people. My RHLs helped with making the buttons while I continued to work on paper work. (It is never ending, I swear.) My quieter RHL decided to set a speed record to beat for making five buttons. He was a little rusty so it took 1:07. I'm hoping we can get a friendly competition going between the RCs once they arrive.

Around 12AM, I left the office, but still had more work to do. I decided to go to sleep and then head to the office when I woke up.

Today was supposed to be everyone's day off. I told my staff not to do anything TIP related all day, but I couldn't do that. (Anyone who knows me knows that I have to get everything done well before it is due or else I start to get really stressed out.) To avoid having too much paperwork and printing to do on Monday and Tuesday, I started working in the office around 10:45AM. I slept in a bit so I didn't feel guilty about working on my day off when I told my staff not to.

The OC decided to come into the office to work all day too, so I haven't been alone. It's been quite the productive day. I've pretty much finished everything on my To-Do list, which is extremely exciting.

We've decided to have a little staff game night with pizza around 7:30PM. I'm looking forward to some quality bonding time and of course, eating pizza. Even though I spent my day off working, I'm quite pleased with how the day is shaping up.

Tomorrow will be full of meetings, Walmart runs, and last minute items before the staff arrives on Tuesday. Hopefully things will run more smoothly than they have been the last few days. (And even if they don't, it's a learning experience, right?)

My office is a mess until we get a staff lounge, but it's home

Hell: Day Two

Normally when you're told a specific time for something, it is because the person needs you there and ready at that time. Unfortunately, when we were told that the enterprise cars would be arriving today at 8AM, that was not the case.

We waited around for a half hour, hoping they were just running late. After an hour, we decided to call and found out that the cars would not be delivered until 11AM. (This was fine, but it would've been nice to know that we could sleep in...)

At 9AM, I met with the Community Director in Myers Hall. I had picked out all of the rooms for the Residential Counselors and was ready to plan the next steps. Of course, all of the rooms I had picked were "incorrect" even though we used them last summer... Regardless, we had to pick new rooms together and speak with one of the men in charge of cleaning the rooms and buffing the floors. There was another set back with every single room we needed for staff members: none of the rooms would be finished by Tuesday when the staff moves in. I did my best to contain my frustrations. On the outside, I maintained as composed as one could in this situation, but on the inside I was ready to scream.

After much deliberation, it was decided that staff members can move in on Tuesday, but after 4PM. (Even though everyone was already told they could move in between 1 and 4...) I bit my tongue, smiled, and thanked them for all of the accommodations they were able to make for us.

Before leaving, I inquired about our staff office and staff lounge. The staff office was good to go (one good thing!), but the staff lounge was not requested to be used until Tuesday, meaning we cannot get keys until then. WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T GET KEYS UNTIL TUESDAY!? I NEED TO SET UP THE LOUNGE! WHERE WILL I PUT EVERYTHING UNTIL THEN?!
Again, I smiled, thanked them, and walked out of the room. My internal freakout remained just that.

Once I left the meeting, I headed up to the office to set up (with the little items we had) while we waited for enterprise. At 11AM, the On Site Director and myself met with campus representative, who was a Residential Counselor last summer, about booking spaces. He had already done a bunch of preliminary booking, since he was part of the program last year. Overall, the meeting ran extremely smooth, but a few changes were made to the schedule of events, potentially causing small uproar. (And we will cross that treacherous bridge when we get there!)

Enterprise arrived during our meeting. Thank goodness! We moved the cars, which are not as fancy as last summer, but oh well. Anything is better than my car situation at home...  Oh! And one of the vans is from NJ. Weird.

After the car situation was taken care of, a few admin members went to Tate to get new IDs. Surprisingly, this went really quick. We were in and out in about 20 minutes. By 1:30PM, we were starving and decided to head to lunch in Snelling where we had no problems with our IDs, unlike last year. WOO!

They made me take off my glasses =(

At 2PM, we headed to storage to grab items for the office and staff lounge. We took two Expeditions (one which I was able to drive!) and a van. It only took us two full trips to storage to collect everything. The cars were unloaded and everything was put in the office fairly quickly. We all took a break for dinner and finally met our psych counselor for the site. (She was hired about a week ago and was thrown to the wolves, but she's doing great so far!)

Heaven on a plate

After dinner, we unpacked the office as best as we could. By 8PM, everything in the main office, the OSD's, and my office were unpacked. All that is left is the academic items and the entire staff lounge, which is currently being stored in my office. I'm thinking of using the plethora of tiki torches in there to surround my desk and chair to make me feel like a queen...

Once the unpacking was complete (for the night at least), I finally met with my RHLs and RPA about the summer. I was able to answer lingering questions about the position, figure out what their roles would look like, how they envisioned the summer for ResLife, etc. It was nice to finally have these conversations. (I say finally as if we have been here for weeks instead of 24+ hours...)


Around 9PM, the admin team (Counselor, OSD, Academic Coordinator, Operations Coordinator, and myself) met to discuss the next few days. It only took about an hour, which was nice, but we realized we have a decent amount to do within the next few days before staff arrives. On the plus side, we have off all day on Sunday. (Aka ARROW ON NETFLIX ALL DAYYYYYY!)

Even though today started off as Hell: Day Two, I'd like to think it improved significantly as it continued (aside from my shower where I discovered that the water pressure is ridiculously low on this floor and it is nearly impossible to rinse out my long hair...). The last 24+ hours have taught me much about patience and going with the flow (two things that I struggle with). If this is any indication of how the summer is going to go, I am quite nervous, but I am also excited for the growth I am going to see in myself.

Tomorrow is a packed day, but it includes food and potentially a trip off campus for dinner. (I really hope the dining halls are closed tomorrow night and we have to eat at a restaurant!)

I'm sure the daily blog posts will continue for the next few days (at the very least).

Wish me luck remaining patient (and awake) all day tomorrow!

Bonus: Here's the most exciting part of my room

A closer look at my photo wall

Hell: Day One

When heading to the airport, one should always leave with ample time to get to the airport and avoid traffic. Even when planning ahead for traffic, one cannot always predict how badly it will impact their trip.

Full car ride to the airport!

Today was one of those days that traffic patterns were completely unpredictable and caused a ton of problems. We left my house at 9AM with hopes of arriving at the airport in about an hour and a half. Of course there was a ton of traffic all the way to the expressway. When we finally made up for lost time on the expressway, we came to a dead stop. After FORTY FIVE MINUTES OF MOVING AS SLOW AS MOLASSES, we FINALLY made it to the problem. The lovely street repair workers decided to turn FOUR LANES OF TRAFFIC into ONE. WHO THE HELL DECIDES TO DO THAT IN THE MORNING!? ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT!?

Needless to say, I made it to the airport 25 minutes until my flight was scheduled to take off... at the other end of the terminal.

I had to rush around to get my baggage checked and the woman ever-so-kindly said "Well, your luggage probably isn't going to make it since you're so late. You'll have to drive back to the airport to pick it up in a few days." I'm sure she could see through my smile and "Okay, that's fine" because I was FUMING on the inside. It wasn't even my damn fault and I was suffering the consequences.
My mind immediately went to my carry on bag: Did I even put clothes in here? Shit, what am I going to do if I only have my sheets in here? Looks like I'll be washing and wearing the same outfit every damn day until my luggage gets to Atlanta...

After I checked in, I had to wait in an incredibly long line to be checked by TSA. I kept thinking to myself that I wasn't even going to make my flight. 11:15AM: Ten minutes until the flight was scheduled to leave. OH MY GOSH COULD THIS LINE GO ANY SLOWER!?
Finally, I was able to fly across the airport to the farthest terminal just to wait in another line. Apparently people were just beginning to board the plane. THANK GOD.

Once I made it to my seat, I tried to put my carry on in an overhead container. Of course, there was no room around me. Just another lovely thing to happen. Luckily, a southern gentleman saw my struggle and helped me put my bag towards the back of the plane. I finally sat down, turned up my iPod and tuned out the rest of the plane.

... And then my iPod died. I forgot to charge the damn thing. Another thing to add to my list of shit going wrong.

Once we were in the air, I pulled out my laptop, turned up some Girl Talk, and started typing up my plans for Orientation. It was nice to get lost in the world of TIP on the plane because it made the trip go by extremely fast.

Getting some planning done on the flight

Around 1:15PM, we landed in Atlanta. It was the moment of truth: Would my luggage make it to baggage claim?

I decided to walk from my terminal to the baggage claim instead of taking the complimentary shuttle train. It wouldn't be THAT far, right?

WRONG. I'm not sure how far it was, but anyone who knows me knows that I am a speed walker. It took me over 20 minutes to walk to baggage claim, which might not seem like a long time, but for someone who walks as fast as I do, it was an insanely far and long walk.

When I finally arrived to baggage claim, I could not find my damn luggage. All hope was about to be lost when suddenly it appeared! I was ecstatic! I'M GOING TO HAVE CLEAN CLOTHES AND DEODORANT! WOOHOO!

Around 2PM, my friend Kelsey, the Operations Coordinator for our site, picked me up in the pouring rain (Welcome to Atlanta!). We drove through one hell of a storm, but managed to arrive at UGA an hour and a half later. I was 'home' for the summer.

Fun fact: Target has a target on its roof

After entering Myers, all of the staff members were seated in the lobby. I immediately looked to our On-Site Director who was walking towards me. Apparently, there was a giant mix up with the rooms and we needed to meet with the Community Director in Myers Hall. (Oh joy. Another thing to add to the list...)

We met with the Community Director and tried to explain specifically what we needed. After forty five minutes of explanations, we finally had the rooms for the people in the lobby. (Unfortunately, the rest of the staff will not be getting assignments until tomorrow, but they aren't even here yet so it doesn't really matter...)

Once we had everything figured out, we were all given our keys and were allowed to move in. Yay!
Of course, everything would not run smoothly, though. No, that would be too easy.
The Residence Hall Leaders and the Residential Program Assistant's floors were being waxed so there was no furniture in any of the rooms. Another item added.
Luckily, the staff members were extremely flexible and understanding. They have accepted three temporary rooms on the first floor until the furniture has been replaced. (I'm crossing my fingers that tomorrow they can move into their permanent rooms.)

Burger night!

At 5:30PM, we headed to Grindhouse for hamburgers. (Fun fact: Today is national hamburger day!) The extended admin team had a really great time chatting and getting to know each other. Even though only a few people knew each other, it seemed as though everyone wanted to talk to one another. (Yay bonding!)

After dinner, we headed back to Myers for some logistical items. I've been sitting here blogging and bonding with some of my staff members. I can already tell this is going to be a great summer.

Despite the day from hell, I am so happy to be back at TIP. It's going to be a challenging summer, but very rewarding.

The next few days are going to be quite hectic, but hopefully I will be able to make time to blog.

Here's to an exciting next few days and one hell of a summer!

Round Two

It's been a while since I've posted on here (almost a year), but that is all about to change. Tomorrow I will embark on a not-so-treacherous journey to Athens, Georgia where I will be spending the next two months helping to facilitate a talented youth summer studies program through Duke University at the University of Georgia (Duke TIP).

To say I am excited is a bit of an understatement. I have been waiting to go back to the place that stole a piece of my heart pretty much since I left last July. (Okay, that's not entirely true. I had a lot of people and things at home that I needed to see and resolve some things with, but after that was settled, I really wanted to go back.) I am eager to grow and learn in new ways than I did last year, especially because I will be taking on a new role as Residence Life Coordinator. (Basically, I will be overseeing the residential portion of the summer studies program at my site.) This will also give me the opportunity to see if I actually want to work in Residence Life as a more permanent position so fingers crossed I enjoy what I am doing.

One thing I need to keep in mind this year is that this is a new summer. We have a new staff, new students, and tons of new ideas. While last year will always have a special place in my heart, including many of the people I worked alongside, I must remember that this year will be different, but not in a bad way. Yes it sucks that many of the people I worked with are not returning to our site, but that does not mean the new people will not be as lovely as their predecessors. I'm sure it will be difficult at first, but I know I will really enjoy working with (and leading!) a new staff.

As excited as I am to leave my home for two months, I am sad that I will be leaving a few people and missing out on a few things. One of the hardest people to leave for two months is my partner in crime, Tess. Though she is not joining me in my journey to UGA, she is, however, starting her own summer with TIP at one of their field studies programs at Duke University. (Field Studies programs are only two weeks long and are meant for students in grades 9-12 whereas Summer Studies programs are for students in grades 7-10 and last three weeks each term.) I am so excited for her and cannot wait to hear her stories.

Aside from Tess, I will be missing my best friends Kristina, Jenn, and Tiara, as well as my friend, Billy, with whom I have recently become quite close. It is going to be weird not spending time with these people every weekend (or in some cases every day *ahem Tess*), but I know that I will be able to keep up with them through the wonderful world of social media.
As for things I will miss: Wawa, the Union, and the ability to drive wherever/whenever I want to in my own car.

It is quite weird to think that the list of people and things I am going to miss for the next two months are much different than they were last year. Last year, I was in a completely different place than I am this year and for the most part, I am quite happy. (It is kind of funny, though, that one of the people I was spending most of my time with about a year ago happened to be a person I spent my evening with, but in a completely different way this time.)

I've had a lovely last few weeks leading up to this moment, including attending the last two Union games (which they won!), and am excited to get away from the North for a little while.

I am planning on blogging throughout my time at UGA again so feel free to pop by and check out what is happening with me and the crazy TIPsters for the next two months. I should be posting at least once per week, but maybe more depending on how much down time I have to do so.

Here's to a second kick-ass and unforgettable summer with Duke TIP at UGA.

My last sunset in PA, courtesy of the back of the Philadelphia Museum of Art