Looking back on my first year in graduate school, I can honestly say that my first year didn’t go exactly how I thought it would. I had developed a rather glorified view of student affairs and higher education, nurtured by the perceptions of the field I had fostered as a super-involved undergraduate student leader. On one hand, I’m actually glad that I encountered various difficulties this year in my program, as it was these roadblocks that challenged and pushed me to grow as a young professional. How timely it was that our professional development seminar took place during my second semester, allowing me to first-hand apply the various theories and frameworks that we studied. While I could probably write a tome on lessons learned this past year, there were definitely five themes that were the most poignant as I reflected on the past academic year.

Supervising Student Staff: Student staff can be incredibly unforgiving. Innocent first-year supervisory mistakes easily become distorted and blown out of proportion, and at times it can be incredibly difficult to be viewed in a supervisory manner, particularly when some of the students I work with were my own age. First-year grads are often warned about navigating relationships with students that are in the same age bracket, but nothing really prepared me for cultivating that professional relationship aside from just going for it, accepting feedback, and listening to more seasoned colleagues. At the end of the day, I worked with some pretty amazing students during my first year in graduate school. They’ve challenged and taught me so much, and I hope that they feel the same way about me.

Navigating Relationships: Relationships can be tricky in graduate school, where it’s easy to become caught up in classwork, assistantships, and practicum experiences. There’s no mandate to develop close meaningful relationships, and I’ve probably had to work harder than ever to develop my close group of friends in my cohort. While it took me a semester to find my close-knit group of friends. Surprisingly, each of them worked in different offices outside of residential life. By and large, that has been a tremendous asset to how I process through various life and work things that have arisen.

Institutional Politics: Navigating institutional politics is something that I’m still learning to be comfortable with. Really, it wasn’t until my second semester that I was even concerned with institutional politics as I began to see more of the inner workings of the institution, including the good and bad that comes along with that. These experiences have been formative in helping me to view my summer internship through a political and structural lens as I continue to grow in my role and learn how I fit into my current department.

Everyone won’t be a friend…and that’s totally fine: One of my greatest weaknesses is that I try to see the good in everyone and to genuinely be at least friendly with my peers and colleagues. Of course, that isn’t always reciprocated. And that’s totally alright. Whether a conflict is with a colleague or other staff member, I genuinely strive to see the good in every interaction and to center that as my main takeaway.

Authenticity: In summation, the biggest lesson I learned from this year is to honestly be myself at all times. It sounds cliche, but I think it really took the experiences that I’ve had this year to cement this lesson in my mind. I’m a really dorky, nerdy, sometimes clumsy and awkward person. I care so much about the work I do and the students that I serve. While I am a very internal processor, I view the relationships that I form are the foundation of my success as a young student affairs professional. Who I am when people engage with me is honestly who I am. At times, I’ve had some really hurtful interactions, some due to my own mistakes, but no one that knows me can say that I’m not a caring and dedicated professional.

It bears saying again that I was only able to grow the way that I have over the past year as a direct result of my shortcomings. I genuinely view each interaction as a learning opportunity, and I certainly have grown a lot this year. I couldn’t have done it without support from my close friend group and a variety of professionals in my department and beyond who have offered their time, expertise, and good will to help me continue my development as a professional. I’m truly appreciative for the village that has invested in my success, and I’m excited to see what year two has in store.

Thanks for reading,

-Joe