My three years are up. Finally! I say that half in jest and half very seriously. Which half you get just depends on the day and how many other things I’m trying to juggle. When I first took over the position of communications coordinator, I did so to help out with the expectation that I’d only be in the role for a year to help with transition until another person could take it over. I’m not sure how it happened but somewhere in the process, I ended up with the job.
Normally, I’m pretty protective of my time and can be reluctant to take on more than what I already have on my plate. However, in this instance, I can say that I didn’t mind because I have a genuine respect and appreciation for the leadership of this division and I believed strongly in their passion to make our experience better. Were there days that I wondered, “What the hell did I get myself into?” Absolutely! Were there other days that I just looked at the listserv and shook my head wondering if I needed to intervene? More than you probably realize. Nevertheless, I can honestly say that those days were balanced out by good conversations, interesting perspectives, and a good mix of the energy contributed by many of our up and coming professionals.
As I look back over the past three years and more enthusiastically look forward to passing on this responsibility to someone new, I would like to thank you all for giving me a small audience and another platform to have a voice.
I don’t anticipate that I’ll be gone for good because I have the Div. 47 diversity page that the additional free time will allow me to work on. I have a lot of ideas and some articles I’ll be working on to cover a wide range of diversity and inclusion topics. Of course I’ll be asking for assistance with that page from time to time. Just keep in mind that when I ask, you better not say “NO” or I’ll interpret that as a macroaggression. Just kidding...or am I? With that being said, the communications role is at an end for me but the focus on diversity is my “to be continued.”
Thank you for reading and please feel continue to support whomever takes over the position starting this fall.