A GA's Dilemma - to keep the door open or not...

"Every wall is a door." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

     Happy Labor Day! I promised a post every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, so this is me keeping said promise. :)

     Today I am going to comment on a dilemma I have been facing lately - whether or not to keep my office door open when doing my reading for classes. I have been attempting to not read in my and Jenn's apartment, because it is too easy to fall asleep, turn on the TV, and/or do anything but work there. Furthermore, when you add up all of my "scheduled time" - meetings with RAs, professional staff meetings and trainings, conduct hours, hall council time, committee meetings - that amounts to about 15 hours, give or take 1 depending on the week. To keep the good work-life balance I am still acquiring, I am supposed to work 20 hours a week. If I stuck to that, I would be in my office - available to residents to stop in, say hi, and most likely ask questions - only 5 hours a week. Since I do not find that fair, I read in my office when not doing 5 hours of preparing for the scheduled time (returning e-mails, preparing team-builders, writing reports, etc.).

     The associated dilemma is whether or not reading will actually be done in such an atmosphere. So far, the open door policy has proven quite helpful as far as assisting residents. I have helped residents to order refrigerators, switch rooms, watch "Pretty Little Liars" in the TV lounge, work through other crises, and more. When I am helping them, though, I am not helping my studies, because I need to focus my attention elsewhere for the moment, and then take time to refocus it upon my return. It is not an incredible interruption. Of course, there is also the noise factor - my office is right off of the lobby and near a lounge. Factoring in the usual noise from the front desk and the piano in the lounge, there are additional organic detractions to focus.

     Is the open door always helpful to residents? Emerson seems to lean towards "No" in the quote above. If they had a smaller issue - one they could fix themselves - then possibly a closed door could create an educational moment. As I have been learning more about the goals of higher education, I can now say with some authority that we hope for students to learn how to solve problems on their own. We want them to know their options, think critically about each of them, then use that thought to choose one and follow-through. By being so available, I am providing them a shortcut that they may not need, and thus taking away a potentially educational moment.

     Still, the fact that a larger issue - one in which a resident truly does need me or someone to talk to - could walk through my open door keeps it open for me. I still have not gone through my weekly routine yet, and will not until next week, so I cannot say definitively whether or not I have enough time to read in my office. I will report back eventually, but for now I may just need to turn up my classical music.

Quote Citation: Emerson, R. W. (n.d.). Goodreads. Retrieved from: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/31820-every-wall-is-a-door

Running!

"You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement." - Steve Prefontaine

     Sorry this post is so late, but I had errands today...and my graduate program orientation! Tomorrow I have my first-ever class as a graduate student of higher education, and I am honestly super-excited! Sure, looking over the syllabi was a wake-up call of just how much work this will be, and thinking about what professional development opportunities to take, what organizations to become involved it, and what research I should / want to do has been making my head spin at times. But overall it is exciting to think that tomorrow is the next big step towards my career.

     Adding classes and reading to my weekly schedule has sparked new thoughts on the ever-elusive work-life balance that many of my advisors have preached these past few months. The past few years I have developed a much higher regard for my own mental health and downtime. A momentous point was when I realized how much more productive and focused I was if I gave myself a break from work every once in awhile. Really, it worked.

     Thus, I have spent much time thinking of how to fit classes, readings for those classes, my assistantship, and some free time (which includes actually spending time with my wife of two months) into my weekly schedule. I know it is do-able, but these next two weeks will be an experiment in actually doing it. This brings me to the title of this post - running! Part of that free time needs to also consist of making sure that I stay healthy. My father has always taught me that maintaining physical health and shape is one of the most important parts of life, and I finally started listening in my senior year of college. 

     This past month, I have started running on weekdays in the morning after my wife leaves for work (I technically started last semester, but now I am much more consistent). I never thought I would like it. Against all odds, I have now begun to enjoy running. I do not know whether it is the participation in a mindless activity, how quiet it is on campus at 6 AM, or rocking out to my tunes, but I just feel great after finishing a run. And with my conduct hours all being in the morning, it is a good thing for students that I start the day off feeling good!

Quote Citation: Prefontaine, Steve. (n.d.). Brainyquote.com. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/s/steveprefo177923.html