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.
ACPA President, 2012-2013
