Your 2018-2019 Executive Board celebrating #HESALove at the End of the Year Banquet on April 30, 2018. #KrazyforKuh #Challenge&Support #IEOAstin My experiences with summer has always been interesting. It has been the time to take as long as possible to spend with family because, during the rest of the year, there is always something going on that requires immediate attention.
My family has always been extremely important to me because they are fiercely loyal, intelligent, ambitious, and undeniable strange. But now, as I have decided to move hundreds of miles away from home, I have had the incredible opportunity to create a new family. I believe that last summer was the most interesting for me because it was the first time I was moving away from my family in New York and embarking on a new adventure in Alabama. It was a place I had only visited once before and did not know anyone close by. In such a small cohort, there was a chance that myself, Cokie, and Amos would not have liked each other. However, we have become great friends this past year as the Higher Ed. group has become another family for me. Alabama has become a home away from home - very cliché, I know. This year, we sincerely hope that all the new students in the M.A., M.E.d., and P.h.D, programs will join our HESA family because we are using this time over the summer to plan out some really great events throughout the year, both social and for professional development, and to foster a sense of community for all of the students joining the University of Alabama’s Higher Ed. program in the fall. What should you plan for? Stories, fun, activities, learning, community, development, and so much more! I can’t wait to meet you all in the fall, but until then, Roll Tide! - Jordan Dedrick
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Your 2018-2019 Executive Board celebrating #HESALove at the End of the Year Banquet on April 30, 2018. I love summer. It is a season of sunshine and possibilities. It is when you have enough daylight to finish reading that book or watch the sunset with your people after a good meal. It is when you meet up with your camp friends. It is when so many graduates take the steps that walking across the stage led them to. It is also a season of second chances. It’s when you reckon with those goals you didn’t meet in the past academic year (or even since January). It’s when students rise strong when a class knocked them down and try again. It’s when you heal with saltwater and Summer Snow. In education, it’s also a time for dreaming your biggest dreams for next year. College campuses slow down, or at least shift gears. We catch our breath. We reflect on assets and challenges. We adjust. Come August, the perfect year is so close you can almost taste it. And y’all, do I have big dreams for HESA next year. I hope I’m writing to you in June about how we exceeded every goal, landed every dream job, made a difference for every student. And maybe I will. No matter what, it’s going to be an incredible year for us. You’ll hear from the rest of the executive board in the coming weeks. Amos and Jordan are rock stars who are changing the world by being themselves in every way. It is an honor to learn and grow alongside them. July on the blog will be about our internships. I’ll save all my good stories until then, but I will leave you with this clue: “Ecce quam bonum et quam iucundum habitare fratres in unum.” Roll Tide, y’all! -Cokie Thompson |