5:49 am on Thursday, July 19, 2018: when I received the piece of writing that brought my career within sight- Canaan. What I'd been waiting for, hoping for, praying for, had arrived in my inbox: the acceptance letter into East Carolina University's Master of Library Science program for Fall 2018.
It didn't take much reflection to realize why this letter was a vehicle for moving forward on the road to transformation. Re-entrance into ECU as a student what about far more than another degree and more lucrative career. Student Pirate 2.0 was also about resolving a regret harbored since my first go around as an ECU student. The regret: not getting involved on campus through organizations, special events, and volunteer work.
This regret, I set about quickly to overcome. Fortunately, I had more than determination on my side: there was Pirate Port's OrgSync. Through it, I requested and received membership to campus organizations aligning with my passions and personal goals.
Via OrgSync, I found out about special events such as PiratePalooza and Get a Clue. Through it, I discovered volunteer work with Campus Kitchen and the Hurricane Florence Food Drive. In fact, OrgSync remains the primary way that this college experience is becoming the one I've yearned for (though Pirate 411 and the Events section on ECU's website has provided a lot of information as well!).
Becoming: I'm still striving to get there. This semester has offered a learning experience about on-campus involvement. The learning experience has been generated by teaching valuable lessons about time management and prioritizing those passions and personal goals. How I can best illustrate the lessons learned is through this analogy: lake vs. ocean.
Lessons learned, of course, came from some mistakes made. Campus involvement has yielded my getting somewhat involved in a lot of campus organizations, special events, and volunteer work--far more than what I listed above, really. Because of it, my current portrait of campus involvement resembles many lakes: broad but shallow. I've given a week here, a week there, in various on-campus endeavors. A week here and there means I haven't invested sufficient time or energy in anything.
What I realize now: the ocean approach would have been the sager one. With it, the measure of input and output could have been broad and deep. Instead of a hit or miss attendance in a lot of campus endeavors, I could have had consistent (and to my fellow members, dependable) attendance in a few. Through weekly investment and tangible proof of commitment, I could have yielded friendships, rather than acquaintanceships, with my fellow Student Pirates.
By this point in the semester, I believe it's not about the org, event, or volunteer work, but the people you meet through them. More important than any mission statement or goal is the friendships fostered in the midst of collectively working toward a mission statement or goal. After all, friendships offer a place and space to help, encourage, and nurture each other. Because of this, our friendships begun in college can last way beyond those pivotal four years (or however long it takes).
Speaking of the time it takes to finish, consider how you would answer this question after you graduate [insert your graduation semester and year here]. How was your college experience meaningful?
