The Importance of Knowing You ARE Important

As I have been going through my own system of thoughts lately, I find myself reminding others of how important they are. Be it on the event team that I help supervise, the students I advised on the Alt Break trip, or my friends on the daily because I know how much I crave hearing those words from other people.

Trauma can manifest in many different ways. 

As someone who is actively working in a very fast paced environment, it is easy to feel undervalued or unappreciated because there is rarely a time when we can even sit down and talk with one another. It can be a bit overwhelming when I have so much on my plate, and on top of it all I feel like I am never good enough in my office. 

The importance of knowing that you are important is so big in these moments. I sometimes have to close my door to the office, sit in the quiet for a minute, and absorb all that I have done this year. The academic year is coming to a close at BSU and I am scheduling my Summer courses, my final two, tomorrow. There is so much that I have accomplished, so much I have completed. But I still feel like it isn’t enough and like what I am doing doesn’t have the impact that I thought it would. 

I am so beyond wrong. 

In October of ‘23 I created a program for National Coming Out Day for so many individuals in the LGBTQ2+ community to come and enjoy. The turn out for the event was well beyond what we all expected in the office. I remember being in awe of the work that the students that I work with and I had done. We created a space for so many people to come together and just exist; a space where they could be themselves and have fun. 

Later that year I would find my passion in the research that Jordan and I did for our NASPA proposal that we submitted (and ended up getting to present at the conference). Fighting for accessibility for all students and bodies in higher education is no small feat… But we did that. We are still doing that, and we hope to start a knowledge community for fat professionals in the field at NASPA in the future. 

Now, looking toward getting a full-time position, I have to sit and reflect on the experiences that I have had during my time here and what has made it all worthwhile. The truth is, the students that I get to work with are what keep me going. I know that to many of them I am just another human who was (is) in charge, but to me they are so much more. They are the future of the medical field, the brightest lights in the darkest sky, they are the reason I want to work in higher ed.

I had the privilege to advise a group of 20 young adults on a trip to South Carolina in early March as my practicum for SVS. During this week I had the opportunity to talk to some of the students about what their dreams and passions are, and even connected with a couple of the master’s-level students on the trip about education (and higher ed) and what it means to us to be in these worlds. It reminded me why I do what I do. They all cheered for me when I said that I got an interview for a couple jobs while on the trip, and they made me feel refreshed for the week that would follow. 

Getting to go to Seattle for NASPA was one of the wildest experiences that I have ever had. Not only was Seattle crazy, but I was there as a presenter at a NATIONAL conference. When we first got there I felt like such an imposter. I felt like I didn’t deserve to be there because of the lack of experience that I had in the field. But when it came to presentation day, everyone that came to our session reinforced the fact that not only did I deserve to be there, but the work I am doing is making a difference… and that is all I ever wanted. 

Here is the truth: we are often working in jobs where we will not get thanked enough for the work that we do. That is okay. You are so important. 

Never forget that.