Reflecting on my NASPA IV-WE Experience: Candice Cadena

I had the opportunity to attend the joint 2016 Region-IV NASPA conference in St. Louis, MO. This was my first time attending a regional conference for the NASPA organization. I have been to a couple of the national conferences before and often found myself overwhelmed with all the sessions that were offered, as well as how spread out the sessions tended to be. However, that was different at the regional conference. Everything was very central and attendees had many opportunities to regroup during the different keynote sessions.  The keynotes were one of my favorite parts of the conference. I got to hear from four different professionals about the work they do, their history, and how they discovered their passions. Listening to these different stories left me feeling refreshed each time and motivated to return back to my institution with a newfound energy I could spread to my students. Another aspect I appreciated was the mentor opportunity presented to conference attendees. I’ve had a mentor and been a mentor at the national conference at different points, but it was always difficult to find time to meet with my mentee/mentor. We have long lists of sessions we want to attend and there are thousands of attendees to surf through when looking for one another. My experience at St. Louis was quite different. I was able to formally check in with my mentor a couple of times, but we also were able to connect in passing all throughout the conference because it was much more intimate. I felt like I was able to make a lasting connection with my mentor, shout out to Erin Shaw! I feel fortunate to have been able to attend the conference this year and I am super excited for the IV-E regional conference to be in Detroit next year. I hope next year’s grant recipients are able to enjoy their time and experience as much as I was able to. Also, I highly recommend downloading the NASPA app to your smartphone if you are able. It was such a big help in staying organized, but also very helpful when I was selecting sessions to attend. Also, if anyone has a chance, I recommend participating in the case study competition. You can have the chance to work on a problem, find a solution, make recommendations, and learn more about our professional competencies while possibly getting to know colleagues from other institutions. It puts your critical thinking to the test! While my team didn’t win, it was great to collaborate with other institutions.

Candice Cadena is in her second and final year of her graduate program at Grand Valley State University. Originally from California, Candice moved to northern Michigan in 2013 where she worked in housing at an arts boarding school for two years before moving to the Grand Rapids area for graduate school and position in housing. Candice’s career interests include housing, spreading multicultural competence and humility, as well as recruiting, retaining, and graduating students from underrepresented backgrounds.