SEAHO Report - Winter 2022 - 31

FEATURE ARTICLES
Living On Campus
" Living on campus in a residence hall I manage with a family can be a blessing and a burden, and
both are okay with me, because the blessings outweigh the burdens every year. The positive impact
that our physical presence has had on our community has reaffirmed me when I've questioned if I
needed to hang it up and persistently apply for live-off student affairs positions.
Ways It Has Been A Blessing
It has been a blessing in so many ways regarding how respectful residents and student leaders are
when they realize they are living with a family. They have entrusted my partner and I for advice as if
we were big brother, big sister, and even mom and dad away from home.
One of things that has worked for us is introducing the family unit during the opening floor meetings.
If we are not able to physically stop by and encourage the reality to set in for the residents, I've
incorporated information about my family in the welcome newsletter to the community.
I have also made it a point to physically visit our next-door neighbors on our floor and sometimes
above us to explain that I have a family and laughter, cries, shrills of excitement and frustration
will be heard. I encourage them to address with me electronically, or verbally, any frustrations or
concerns, reassuring them I will respect their honesty on the matter and do what I can to ensure they
are able to live happily and comfortably alongside us.
If you know you will not be at full occupancy, it never helps to work with your occupancy and
assignments team to see if they can leave the rooms next to your apartment vacant, should you have
little humans or even pets who are happy, healthy, hyper, and whole.
We have also agreed on which planned events the family would come to, to engage with who's who
in the community informally. I cannot tell you how many residents and student leaders have raved
about the family's presence making their day at the events and/or when they see them walking
through the community going to, or coming from school and extracurriculars.
Ways It has been a Burden
Some days are better than others when it comes to living-on with a family. The burdens have been
felt on a myriad of occasions. Some have been internalized and others have been based on external
factors outside of our control.
Internalized Factors - If you have a cry baby that cries a lot at ungodly hours of the night and your
apartment is smack dab in the middle of your community, it can be and will feel terrible. Our first
child was that baby. My partner and I were constantly feeling bad for being the reason quiet hours
were violated. We did the best we could to check in and apologize to our neighbors. All of them
were nice saying it wasn't a big deal and they could barely hear anything and we only hoped that
was the truth, because that baby had some lungs!
31

SEAHO Report - Winter 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SEAHO Report - Winter 2022