Another Year...But None Like It Again

Another year...

It's very odd the way my life now cycles and mirrors that of a student - Fall semester, Winter break, Spring semester, Summer vacation. After all, this is expected when you work in high er education - most notably, collegiate athletics.

So, here I am off the heels of another May, another graduation, another set of goodbyes and good lucks, and of course, another year of getting older and reflecting on just how far I've come from my own time on a college campus as a student. I always try to relate to my students and student-employees from the mind set of what it was like for me during the ages of 18-21, but I have to admit, it's becoming even more so difficult to do so. Especially, with another birthday ahead, a significant one at that - 30! Whoa...

However, the end of this school year has been different from the first three I already had under my belt. This year was the first, that I can honestly say, were a group of students that were my student-staff members - recruited, hired, mentored, and now graduated. I can't even begin to put into words the exact feeling I had all week, but the process has definitely changed me and my view on life, the world, etc...

During senior week, I even had my "Friday Night Lights" moment - one of my favorite scenes in a movie ever - where Coach Gaines replaces the magnet name plates of his seniors on the roster board and slowly looks at each piece as he does. While I don't have a huge roster board, hitting backspace on a live Google doc and removing those names had that same feeling. Cheesy? Yes, extremely. Yet, honestly, that's how I feel. I can't deny it.

So as my first group heads off, I'm now left with the task of recruiting, guiding, mentoring, and all of the other investments that is so vital in the student development portion of my job description, the portion that I love the most. It all begins all over again. New faces. New relationships.

And yes, there are a few others who are graduating next year...and the next, and the next, and by that time, this set of hired students will be ready to walk as well. I'm really just blessed and very thankful the good Lord put me in such a gratifying and rewarding position.

Nonetheless, this first class was special, and I'm very confident they are off to do big things in this world. What's funny is they thank me "for everything", yet I learned way more from them than they even know.

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