Goodbyes are Hard

Disclaimer: I haven't written about my professional life around here much, but I have a lot of feelings about this change in my life.

I've been saying goodbye to a lot of friends lately. Later this week, I'll make my ninth out-of-state move in my life (and fourth to Colorado) and I have to say it does not get easier just because I'm older and have practice.

I'm saying goodbye to a university that has been my professional home since July of 2008. Before I was married. Before I was a homeowner. Before I had kids. So many things in my personal life have changed since I started working there seven and a half years ago.

No doubt, I am not the same person I was seven and a half years ago when I relocated from Maryland. I lived with three other women in Somerville (just across the river from Boston) and took the commuter rail to work the first few months I worked at BSU.

I've been at BSU nearly twice as long as I was at my own alma mater. During my time there, I got to see more of the world-- leading an alternative break trip to Guatemala City and doing a tour of Irish universities with several of my colleagues from other student unions in the US. I served in various volunteer roles with my professional association, ACUI: as an ILEAD facilitator in 2010, as a member of the 2012 Boston Conference Planning Team, and member of Education Council from 2012-2014.

In 2014, I said goodbye to my time as assistant director of the Rondileau Campus Center and I became part of a new department, New Student and Family Programs (NSFP) due to a divisional realignment. As part of NSFP, I had the opportunity to work with student leaders on the Orientation Program for first year and transfer students.

Over the last thirteen years, I've held on to my name tags from each job (see photo above). I usually put them on the doorframe or another magnetic place in my office. They may spend the next five years (or however long my work hiatus lasts) in a box, but it's fun to look back on where I've been.

I am so excited for the new season (more on that soon) that lies ahead for our family, but it is an understatement to say I am going to miss the career I've spent the 12.5 years investing in.

Leaving BSU is bittersweet. I am excited for the new chapter that lies ahead as I transition to being a stay-at-home-mom for the foreseeable future. I expect it to bring a new set of challenges and it's sure to be an adventure for all of us!