A little over a month ago, I found out that my former hall director was buying a house and leaving WSU. That meant she was leaving Lourdes, the building where I lived for all 4 of my years in college. I had a knee-jerk reaction to declare my need for the position, citing that Lourdes always felt like home and it is the only job I would drop everything and leave the cities for. I was told to wait a bit for some details to be worked out and then I would be filled in on the hiring process.
For a few weeks then, I really started to look around and think about what I would be leaving if I got the job in Winona. I have two fantastic roommates who I really get along with well and wouldn't want to abandon (plus we are already talking about Christmas cards with matching shirts and how could I pass that up?). I have 3 jobs and I really enjoy all of them (depending on the day). I LOVE living in South Minneapolis, being close to everything including my friends and family. I had just taken a position on my parish council at church. I haven't felt as comfortable or happy in a church as I have for the past year at Christ UMC. Being 20 minutes away from my parents is great and comforting. I like dropping in on Liz at MOA just to say hi and know that she's here when I need her and vice versa.
Basically, the more time I thought about it the more I realized that I do feel very much at home now. For the first year or two that I was here after graduation, living at home and working at a job I expected to leave quickly, I didn't feel settled. Something felt weird and I missed Winona. But that all changed without me noticing it.
So when the time came to interview for the hall director position, I passed. It was both a hard decision and an easy one to make at the same time. I think the res life chapter of my career is finally over. This point was further solidified after I dealt with a situation this morning quite reminiscent to my days in Lourdes, trying to determine whether or not to call an ambulance to send a kid to detox (yes, I said this morning). It is exhausting. I don't know how Alyssa and Sarah did it for so long with 3+ kiddos (and in Sarah's case, a dog) running around the apartment. I think I'm just too tired to go back to res life.
The good news is, student affairs is quite a large field. I'm at a university where I agree 100% with the mission and values and I love the campus. While I'm not sure how much room I have to grow in my current position, I know there's other opportunities for me at St. Kate's down the line should I choose to move on. Right now I just need to figure out what I want to get my master's degree in. If that's the hardest decision I have to make, I guess I'm pretty lucky.
