At the age of forty, I finally got my first leadership role–as an Administrative Coordinator for a large, urban university in Orlando, Florida. I can’t tell you the school’s name, only that I work in the Orientation department and I also work very closely with students. As a matter of fact, I manage a group of 12 student employees in a typical office…which is rather small by comparison to the number of students my colleagues supervise. At any rate, it’s a challenging position and I’m here to tell all.

Of course, Jackie is not my real name. Because I work with confidential information, I am not here to disclose real names, only stories. The tales I plan on telling are real from my own personal experience and may differ should a different person tell the same tale. I hope that makes sense :)

So why I am doing this? Because I’m learning so much about working for a university that I feel like I can’t keep it all to myself. Higher educational institutions are its own world, a microcosm of experiences and perspectives. In a way, it protects people from the outside (aka “real”) world, for it’s a place of learning. But it’s also a place full of complicated things, things that doesn’t always make sense to those who aren’t in it but makes perfect sense for those who are.

I’ve always been someone who journals, and I fear that if I don’t write these things down, I will forget them someday and therefore, will have no proof that they ever occurred. Besides, I like telling stories and I’d like to have some evidence to tell my future grandchildren.

I hope you’ll join me on this adventure, or shall we say, endeavor.