The Circle of Life

I'm still here...and so are the new residents...

Move-In weekend went much more smoothly than I would have expected. In the past, when the building was in better condition than it is now, I have always been forced to find ways to pacify the nitpicking parents who were unsatisfied with what we had to offer. Whether they thought there was too much dust for their asthmatic son or the room was too small or the furniture wasn't new enough... it has always been something. And that's in a good year.

Hey, guess what? This isn't a hotel.

This year, the building was most certainly not ready and I spent days gearing myself up for the complaints and dirty looks I knew I'd be receiving...but didn't. This might have been the quietest move-in I have ever experienced. Oh no, don't be misled, there was the occasional voice here and there. "I see a bigger room, can I have it?" "I've paid too much money for my son to live like this..." "This building is cracking my swag..." (verbatim by the way) but at the end of the day, the residents moved into their rooms largely without complaint. And I'm glad it's over.

Actually I'm still waiting for the phone calls I get every year once the students acclimate to their surroundings and report back home. "Is your hall really known as the gay one? I can't allow my son to live there." But that's a tale for another post.

I'll be honest. I'm not really in the mood to get to know this batch of residents. Knowing that I'm on my way out, and that I've been here long enough to have personally welcomed and presided over 2,000 people...I'm not that enthused anymore. I might be burned out on the idea of guiding 18-year-old dreams, enlightening 18-year-old ignorance, suppressing 18-year-old outbursts and comforting 18-year-old emotional angst.

Plus, this 18-year-old swag seems to conflict with my not-18-year-old mojo. I think it's time to go the way of Robert Frost. My road is diverging from theirs, and in about 10 months' time I must take the less-traveled course.

And that will make all the difference

Legal Note: Opinions in this post are my own and not representative of the university I work for or the people I work under. All suppositions, presumptions, theories, hypotheses, etc. are my own. This blog is for entertainment purposes only, blah blah blah. There are purposely no names included in this post, and I have revealed nothing that violates either general expectations of privacy or the University confidentiality agreement, which, actually... I never signed anyway. All of that is to say...don't be trying to sue me.