Ten Conference Highlights

For my October Ten Things on the Tenth of the Month post, I want to share highlights from the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Conference that I attended in Denver, Colorado from October 1-5, 2011. This was a wonderful conference!

1. One of my favorite sessions from the conference was on "Women Thriving in Higher Education." An extraordinary panel of women honestly shared their career experiences and advice. One woman pointed out that in your career sometimes you do things out of desire and sometimes you have to do it out of need. They discussed changing positions to stay in line with your core values and the topics of taking a pay cut or a part-time position. They shared their various experiences with completing a doctorate degree. Their willingness to honestly share their experiences made this session so valuable.

2. I was happily surprised to see my graduate school advisor at the conference. I did not pre-select my conference sessions, so I did not know that she was presenting. She has served as a reference for me and we email occasionally, but I had not seen her in seven years. Of course, I attended her presentation.

3. Since I did not pre-select my sessions, I took advantage of going with the flow and attended great sessions on a variety of topics: Sophomores/Second Year Students, Assessment, Technology in Advising, First Year Students, and Graduate Interns.

4. I hung out with two conference buddies in Denver. I enjoyed spending time with these ladies.

5. I also had the opportunity to connect with other UTSA advisors who I do not regularly get to see at work. We enjoyed getting together for dinner two nights in a row.

6. The weather was beautiful and I enjoyed walking around Downtown Denver.

7. A friend introduced me to Pinkberry frozen yogurt. If you have one in your area, go get some peanut butter yogurt with your favorite topping for me. There are not any locations in San Antonio. (Someone with more money than an Academic Advisor should start a franchise here!)

8. I got to meet other academic advisors from all over the U.S. and the world. I chatted with advisors from Ohio, California, Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, Indiana, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma, and Hong Kong.

9. I learned so much, including more about Sophomores/Second Year students and Assessment. I have taken a lot of ideas home with me and hope to use and implement them.

10. I am finally on Twitter and looking forward to the Academic Advising Chat each Tuesday.

For more Ten Things on the Tenth of the Month posts, visit shimelle.com

Thanks to one of my conference buddies for taking my photo at our hotel.