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Student Affairs is Not a Sprint, It's a Marathon

November 7, 2016 Angie Kim

This month, I ran the Staten Island Half Marathon with a friend from NYU, Adam. It was my 14th half marathon, but perhaps the toughest race I've ever ran. Hurricane Matthew that had been looming over the East Coast for some time, unexpectedly hit Staten Island in the morning, and we ran all 13.1 miles in torrential downpour. We were getting slapped by wind and rain from all different angles and were running through puddles that might as well be rivers, but we still had such a great time!

At about mile 5, it hit me that my journey in student affairs very much reflected my half-marathon experiences. As we have concluded celebrating Careers in Student Affairs Month this October, I’d like to share a few a-ha moments throughout the race last weekend that led me to reflect on the lessons I learned as a new professional thus far.

Mile 1: Representation and Inclusion Matters.

During one of my first half marathons in high school, I remember looking around mid-race and thinking to myself that there isn't a runner that looks like me and feeling incredibly alone. When I did find other Asian American runners, I would let out a sigh of relief and become oddly energized. Ever since then, it has become a habit of mine to check out the crowd during mile 1.

I felt this exact sentiment throughout my graduate school and at conferences. For graduate students and professionals of color, being "the only one" is not an unfamiliar feeling. It wasn't until I found other NUFP fellows and professionals at APIKC that I felt a tremendous sense of belonging. When I became a professional, NYU’s Administrators of Color Network and Staff of Color affinity spaces have helped me immensely during my transition period.  If the graduate students and professionals experience this consequence of lack of representation first hand, what about our students? If our students can't see themselves in us, how can they trust us to understand and walk alongside their journeys? Therefore, having a department and an institution, where the social identities professionals carry reflect the student body is crucial for both professionals and the students.

Mile 8: Your Energy & Attitude is Everything.

Mile 8 is always awkward. It’s at a point in the race, where you're a bit more than halfway through, but you suddenly realize there are still 5 more miles to go. This is when you have dip into your reservoir of positivity and the “why” to get across the finish line. I reflected on why I decided to run the race in the first place. For some, it's to celebrate an individual or a cause. For me, I ran the Staten Island Half to get back into challenging myself physically and mentally, and to promote body positivity within myself. Adam and I also motivated each other hugely through mile 8. Without his energy spurts generated by Destiny's Child, I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to finish the race.

When I was a NUFP fellow, one of the first things I've learned about higher education and student affairs that made me fall deeply in love with the field was that student affairs is a passion-driven career field. Your passion sustains the attitude and energy you carry, and they speak volumes about how you set your intentions and your work. Now that I'm a new professional in residential life, I become mindful about how contagious my energy can be to the RAs I supervise and the colleagues I work with, and how my attitude can shape my growth process as a new professional. Living in a “fishbowl,” I’m constantly learning how to navigate my emotions and the energy I carry at work.

Mile 9 and 13: Half Marathon Races are a Community, and so is Student Affairs

The road leading to the finish line at mile 13 was downhill and slippery from the rain and mud, yet the combination of adrenaline from seeing the finish line and desire to escape this awful weather condition led everyone to run faster. Soon enough, a runner slipped and fell, and their head began to bleed. Immediately, Adam, myself, and a couple of other runners began to call for medic, trying to escort the runner. Although the runner was so determined to finish that they immediately started running again, it was incredible to see the runners, who were complete strangers,  jumping into help. Throughout the race, I saw an overwhelming sense of community over and over again. At Mile 9, when Adam expressed that he was hungry, another runner offered him a granola bar and cheered us on. Despite the weather, there were countless strangers cheering us on until the end.

I witness this on the Student Affairs Professionals Facebook group and at various points throughout NASPA. There are celebrations of each other’s successes, sharing of ideas and of moments with students that make us laugh, and discussion of topics that will help us and our field continue to progress. This very sense of community is what makes me come back to NASPA year after year and give back to the field.

Entire race: Student Affairs is Not a Sprint, It’s a Marathon

There are days when I’m frustrated with certain processes that take longer than usual, or conversations I have with students that leave me helpless. Then I remind myself that student affairs is not a sprint, it's a marathon. Changes take time, but it's all about celebrating incremental progress. I don’t get to impact students overnight, or even through one conversation - student development takes time. The beauty of student affairs lies within our ability to celebrate milestones, however small or few, with the students and each other, just like Adam and I celebrated every time we finished running a mile during our half marathon. No matter what gets thrown our way, awful weather or an unexpectedly challenging month, the outcome of the race will be determined by how willing we are to center our intentions, attitude, and work around our passion and our students.

Do you have thoughts on this blog post? Share them with us on Facebook @NPGSKC, on Twitter @npgs_kc, or on Instagram @npgs_kc!

Angie Kim serves as a Residence Hall Assistant Director at New York University's Residential Life and Housing Services. She graduated from NYU with her MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs and from University of Southern California with her BA. Angie currently serves as a Professional Development and Advancement Coordinator for NPGS KC.