I had a great day! Not for any big reason - it was just full of little delights.
My morning bus driver remembers that I grabbed a newspaper once last week and now always saves me one and hands it to me when I board. I take for granted that I might be rememberable, but I suppose I can't help but stick out in the ethnic and age mix of Hawaii bus riders. I always like to think I can blend into a crowd, but I think I'm just kidding myself sometimes.
I got downtown with enough time to pop in to a cafe/roaster downtown and get a latte. And mine had a heart in it today.
After those two shots of espresso, I was totally wired. I described myself to a friend as "barely containable"... and was only half joking.
I had a handful of appointments today, including an easy graduation audit, a double-major advising, and a degree plan and general advice. Most appointments are solo - not much shadowing any more. I routinely think that I'm not ready for the training wheels to come off just yet, but my mentor advisors think I am, and they let me take the lead. I find myself pleasantly surprised with what I am capable of, more often than I am confronted by the things I don't know. I don't know when, exactly, that ratio turned around, but I'm glad it did.
I'm so glad to be into advising now - it was so much of what I did on any given day that it's nice to make it my primary job description. But recently I've been ... concerned about what I've been brought here to do. I know it's still early - it hasn't even been two months at my job yet! - but most of my appointments have been very quick graduation audits. I just make sure students, who are in their last semester, have completed their degree requirements - and it's not surprising that it's difficult (if not impossible) to forge relationships with them. It's not the point, really. I haven't yet had many degree-planning meetings with students, in which I will actually start to get to know them. I understand that relationships need time to be cultivated. But I've been concerned with the change in rhythm from teaching and the comparative ease with which I could speak into students' lives. You can't help but forge those relationships when students barrel into your classroom on a daily basis. And how would that ever happen when I don't teach now? But I also know that all I have to do is be available; ministry can't help but happen (1). So I've been struggling with thoughts I know better than to dwell on - I just need to trust and be patient.
My last appointment of the day was counseling a student about finishing her undergrad degree, getting into education and teaching high school. PERFECT. She had a bundle of questions and was really personable. She'll be back for several more appointments concerning graduation and her grad program. It was exactly the glimpse of my career to come that was the exact antidote to all the prior concern.
Midway through the morning, an email arrived in my inbox, inviting me to this year's AP Reading! And it's in the midwest, where I have family and friends. I LOVED the reading I attended a couple years ago. Completely unlike any conference I've ever attended (plus the stipend isn't shabby). So, a nice professional-development opportunity, a good excuse to return to the mainland - even if briefly - this summer, and it might overlap with some of my former colleagues!
I had a lovely online conversation with a friend in which I quoted one of my favorite passages from one of my favorite books. Last night, the very excerpt popped into my head while I was sorting laundry. The Holy Spirit knew we'd need it the next day.
A midday appointment cancelled, so I decided to push lunch back so I could attend a weekly campus chapel service in the building next door. We're still looking for a church home, still trying to figure out what the search should even look like (that deserves its own post later), so I thought a mid-week service on a college campus might be worthwhile. Particularly since it's the beginning of the reflective Lenten season. But lunch today, instead, brought a phone call from a dear friend, and I decided to stay at my desk and converse with him . I like to think I chose the better part. I'll aim for chapel next week.
All these joys kept me in a great mood right up through closing time. At the end of the day, I walked out to catch the bus, only to catch this rainbow first. The rainy season weather has returned, with fresh trade winds and mauka showers that bring gentle rain and subsequent afternoon rainbows. I can't believe I get to live here.
(1) Thank you, Frederick Buechner
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