Talking Stick - January 2012 - 46

Conversations

I think one of the questions I would propose, especially for those of you who have families, is what was it like to raise a family while living on? I currently am not considering the family life style; I barely have time to love my cute little dachshund, but I do hope that in the future I will have a family. I have two coworkers who have children, and I just am curious about how they succeed.

Barile: I loved that my office was just down the hall or a short walk from my apartment. I feel like I often didn’t move my car for weeks. I also really liked being able to attend programs, connecting with residents in very informal (“you live here, I live here”) approaches. I often had residents over for a home-cooked meal and made sure I was visible.
I started my family while living on

campus, but I lived in an apartmentstyle community, so I would say there was still a sense of being live-on without being live-in (I think there is a major difference). I think that in many live-in/on roles there are expectations of being readily available. With a family, I just needed to be more prepared. My partner used to work evenings, which meant that any staff meeting or evening commitment required longerterm planning (and still does). But I found my live-in/on roles had more spontaneous things occurring that you simply couldn’t plan for. I know many of my colleagues have live-in roles (apartments in residence halls) and have kids. It has worked out for them, and I believe would’ve worked out well for me as well had this opportunity not come up. The biggest benefit for me is being able to have a better work/life balance. I do think

residence life staff could do a better job teaching work/life balance to new live-in professionals.

Phelps: I will speak to the introverts who
are trying to make this decision. I know many times I felt overwhelmed about attending events and programs and then coming home to even more discussions and events. I love my time in the hall and staying connected . . . but felt I could connect even more when I lived off campus. This became very true when I was at the University of New England. I knew I would have quiet time at home, so I decided to attend more functions on campus and was able to give more of myself in the process. This conversation is just getting started. To view the full version, http://blog. acuho-i.org/2012/01/moving-out/ .

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http://blog.acuho-i.org/2012/01/moving-out/ http://blog.acuho-i.org/2012/01/moving-out/ http://www.acuho-i.org http://www.acuho-i.org http://www.acuho-i.org

Talking Stick - January 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Talking Stick - January 2012