Time to Fly: The Return

What is the point of my job?

As the Director of Marketing, the whole point of my professional existence is to get people to notice Shepherds College, to highlight all the unique aspects of the college that set it apart from other programs, and ultimately, to draw students from near and far to enroll in our program, fill our dorms, classrooms and hallways, and bring meaning to the days of all the dozens of staff members who are called to teach these students how to live a life of Appropriate Independence.

So when the students leave on their long Christmas break, my work days feel a little, well... pointless. No Daniela running into my office for a hug, no Andrew to chatter away with, no Joey to ask me about my birthday, no Miranda shrieking at the camera, no Charles to wish me well, no AiA students to buy snacks from, no delicious Culinary Arts creations to sample, no growth – emotional, social, spiritual or otherwise – to marvel over and celebrate. The students leave on break and take the energy, laughter, stories and photo ops with them.

Sigh.

I lose motivation. I mope. I feel tired and pallid. I sort and stack and file and merge and dust. I leave on vacation and come back. The students still aren’t here. I mope some more.

But, you know, the day always comes when the students return and life is restored to campus. That day was Monday.

The students all met as one big group in the Bolthouse Center on Monday morning, their first official day back at school. New haircuts were noticed and new clothing was admired. Groups of students came together, talked with animation, then disbanded to form new groups in another part of the room. I walked among them with my camera hoping to engage them in conversation about their time away. Did Josh’s mom make him his favorite meatballs? Did Ashley get a chance to spend time with all her grandparents? Did Charles enjoy having a friend stay with him over the holidays? Did Christi visit Chicago and eat breakfast under the big tree in Water Tower Place?

But instead of talking, I got caught up in their precious faces – excited faces, nervous faces, homesick faces – and my questions went unanswered for the time being.

After giving the students a chance to reconnect, Miss Miles called them all to be seated in front of the stage for announcements – their Monday night advisory meetings were now on Tuesdays… and a dear friend and fellow student would not be returning due to a serious illness. Concern and sadness settled over the group, and many students volunteered to pray for their friend.

Nothing relieves homesickness, eases nerves and sets the tone for a fun semester like a bunch of crazy activities, and the staff had those planned in spades.

First, the students were asked to line up and count off in fours.

Each of the four groups had to create one giant snowflake with their bodies, and a little help from the paras.

Then, each group was asked to ball up papers from the recycle bin for…

A big, snowball fight!

Guess which side won.

Miss Miles then had the students divide up by classes. Third year students were dismissed to work at the Salvation Army where they sorted toys left over from the Christmas Toy Drive.

The second year girls left to visit the Agape House where they stuffed envelopes, cleaned the center and had lunch with the Agape girls. The second year guys drove to West Allis to sort costumes at Kim’s Costume Shop.