by Katie Yeaton
@kyeat29
During my undergraduate career, I was wicked
involved in NEACURH --the North East Affiliate of College and University
Residence Halls-- a leadership group for students run by students. So when I was considering the types of
professional development opportunities I wanted to have in my professional
career, I knew I wanted to get involved with the North East region once
again. NEACUHO --the North East
Association for College and University Housing Officers-- is what I was looking
for in professional development. While
one may infer from the two similar acronyms, NEACUHO is essentially the
professional connection for Residential Life in the North East. Both NEACUHO and NEACURH have annual
conferences hosted in different cities/towns.
They both have committees and electronic opportunities to get more
experiences within the regional organization.
NEACUHO, however, only has one annual conference and a seasoning of
events throughout the year.
This year’s annual NEACUHO conference was held
in Portland, Maine, so how lucky was I to be able to be on duty and attend conference. (Thank goodness there was only one lock-out
on Wednesday!) Coming to NEACUHO for the
first time, I was curious to see how the student-based organization was
represented and connected to the professional side. Within the first few minutes of sitting in
the lobby, I ran into someone I knew from the NEACURH 2014-2015 Regional Board
of Directors. It was amazing knowing
that I was not the only newcomer at NEACUHO and, as I continued to discover, a
number of highly involved members of NEACURH had taken on professional-level
positions as well. I also came to see
that although the Director for NEACURH was unable to attend the conference in
person, she was still represented by her host-school and an update was given in
her absence. It was great to hear the
student-side residential life represented through the NEACURH Director’s
proxied speech. I could tell there was a
sincerely passion and investment in student leadership at NEACUHO just from the
way all of the professional staff members spoke of their students.
There is no doubt in my mind that I am
returning to NEACUHO next year. I am
ecstatic to continue learning and growing in my own position as a Resident
Director. This conference has made me
twice as enthusiastic to succeed in my current role so I can continue to help
students.
To anyone hesitating on going to a conference,
go. Take the time to invest in yourself
so you can give that new zest and vigor to your department and your students.
:)
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