SEAHO Report - Winter 2022 - 50

FEATURE ARTICLES
Instead of heading to Florida to sample University of Miami's newest residential complexes, we were somberly
told the bad news. The pandemic had not only shut down several of our campuses, but we were having to
table the RELI 2020 experience. We busied ourselves with helping our students and put our RELI aspirations
on hold for a while. Like a blur, 2020 became 2021 and the decision was made to open the experience up to
4th
-year professionals. This came with an expanded faculty, allowing both faculty and attendees to not miss
out on the opportunity to participate.
While an in-person occasion was the preference of everyone involved in theory, it was simply not in the cards.
Instead, a virtual experience was keyed up for RELI 2021. I honestly echo the sentiments provided by Christal
Southern regarding the virtual setting of this heralded experience. I found it difficult to find inspiration as the
year had already provided me with almost all the " virtual " I could stand. How could we provide intentionality
to everyone involved?
Plans for those seamless transitions from each discussion area to the next became more difficult to set up
as the pandemic continued to busy us with work needed at our " day jobs " . I began to feel uncertain about
how effective I could really be virtually. While I am a homebody at heart, I had been excited about spending
countless hours with my cluster after the presentations pouring into each other as I had heard from so
many alumni. We even joked about traveling to Miami for the week anyway so that we could enjoy a more
traditional experience. We laughed about booking flights all the while knowing that doing so would still leave
us locked in hotel rooms logged into a virtual world.
We were assigned our cohort groups and I immediately provided an email outreach to start connecting. This
was the fun part! Bonding, mentoring, sharing our experiences and helping each other look beyond our
current positions as we pursued both our personal and professional goals...this what it! We established a
GroupMe chat and I will say one thing about our group...our GIF game is strong, my friends! The ice was
broken at the very least as we looked to close our campuses for the summer and connect during this RELI
experience.
The week finally arrived and we all were ready to dive in. Our presentations were shortened to allow
for breaks and avoid the dreaded Zoom fatigue. We tried our best to find fun, after-hours activities to
enjoy together without making them feel forced. I asked fun questions and discussed both personal and
professional topics that might bring folks out of their shells and away from their actual jobs. That was quite
possibly the most difficult aspect of it all. Thankfully, my institution supported my " working from home "
during RELI week, so I was fully able to cut off work when necessary and enjoy my time with my cohort. Many
were not so lucky simply due to the amount of work still needed to be done. Regardless, we went to work
fulfilling our roles and advising and mentoring the individuals that our coordinators had matched us with.
My cohort, lovingly called Ruff Housing due to our mutual love for puppies, connected quickly. From the
bringer of the hype Christal, to our sweet and reserved Sydney, our loveable then engaged (now married)
Ali, to our mover and shaker Seph (transitioning to a new role days after we closed our proceedings), we
bonded and celebrated each other every day. My fears about forced connections slipped away quickly. We
immediately began encouraging each other. I, as the mentor, was uplifted by the genuine inspiration my
cohort provided not only to each other, but to me as well. This was it, this was RELI!
I had both the blessing and the curse of providing my presentation for Occupancy Management first. I say a
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SEAHO Report - Winter 2022

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