For those Academic Support Professionals with year-round academic support and bar support responsibilities, there are very few opportunities to plan and organize. One is constantly moving from one task to another and interacting with a variety of students who need a lot of face time. I have always admired those who are able to find a good balance between job duties, personal life, and professional development. I am still trying to strike a healthy balance and seem to fall short often.
In the years I have worked as an Academic Support Professional, I do not believe I have truly taken a vacation. Meaning, I have never completely unplugged from work related tasks. I may not check email messages but I do pick up my phone and apparently my phone seems to ring a lot when I do not check email. The one thing I have refused to do is connect my work email to my phone because I know I will never have a mental break. This year, I decided to make the concerted effort to do what I encourage students to do, truly take a break. I understand that I have to take baby steps and the first was not checking emails for three out of the seven days I had off during winter break and turning off my phone for an entire day. It was uncomfortable but I had a very positive experience because I could explore non-work related interests.
Fall break, Winter break, and Spring break give me a few days to evaluate, plan, and get ahead. I particularly appreciate Dean Jarmon’s post from day before yesterday which can be found here. She provided effective and manageable ways to do things you care about and cater to your professional development. Conferences are the one time I get to work with colleagues, share ideas with them, and learn from them. I bring back a lot of new information and feel rejuvenated. Happy conferencing ASPers! I will see many of you soon and look forward to catching up with others later this year. (Goldie Pritchard)
