The Kitchen Table

It’s a time a year when many gather with their family to celebrate the season.  I look forward to spending time with my partner and children and our extended family.  It’s also a time of year when I spend time with the family I choose.  My ACPA family.

One of the best parts of ACPA are the relationships that we develop with colleagues around the country.  Over the years I have been fortunate to grow friendships with a key group of trusted friends.  We get together at some point each fall, around someone’s kitchen table for the weekend, to talk about the profession and our goals for each other in the coming year.  We talk about how we can support each other in achieving our goals. 

We also eat well, enjoy some wine, stay up late and talk, and get very little sleep. 

It’s rejuvenating, inspiring, empowering and surprisingly relaxing. 

This year we talked about how we want to grow personally, professionally and how to effectively balance the two.  The theme this year was clearly transitions….and I am making one.  I am moving from the family at The University of Arizona that has raised me for the last 15 years since my professional beginnings as a hall director, to my new family at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where I will begin as their Vice President for Student Affairs in February. 

I am going to be quiet for the next six weeks or so.  I’m packing boxes, finding schools for my boys, getting acquainted with new colleagues in California and setting up a new household.  ACPA will continue to move forward towards advancing our leadership in the profession and preparing for our groundbreaking convention in Las Vegas this March.

I couldn’t get to the Vice President’s role without the support of many of my family members, especially my ACPA family and those around the kitchen table.

I cherish them, and hope that you use this season to cherish your family – those given and those you choose.

 Dr. Keith Humphrey

ACPA President, 2012-2013