Learn from those around you, Get Involved- My advice as a Psuedo-Professional

Hey Everyone,
 In my quest to find my fit within my profession, I am learning more and more that my validity and my confidence is born out of the connections and network that I have been able to surround myself in. What set me on this path was getting involved in the associations that support professional development within my field.

Whether there are one or two, or many organizations, connect with organizations and associations that are going to provide you with a vast amount of outreach and a vast amount of experiences to learn from.

I say this coming off of a three -day regional conference. I am reminded of how energized I feel post conferences, having been able to sit in workshops and meet with colleagues near and far to share our experiences with. Learn from challenges and successes that others have experienced in the hopes to transforming your work environment and the outcomes you perceive to occur.

I am fascinated by my ability, having doubted my abilities in this field, to keep up with the pace and flow of others speaking about big themes that we are seeing on our campuses. In these experiences you can meet others on how they got into the roles they currently have. It's a community of people who are looking to give a little bit more. We all come for a common purpose to build ourselves, the places we work and the people we work with up, and to that we all have our role to play.

So whether it is the conferences themselves, the small communities that you can get involved with, the point is get involved. Take time to learn from those around you and be open to new experiences.