Excitement!

I leave in just a little more than two days for Boston and the NASPA Conference. NASPA is one of the main student affairs conferences, and one of the biggest places for job searching. While the actual conference starts on Sunday, The Placement Exchange (a.k.a. job searching) starts on Thursday morning. I can't believe that the time has finally come! It seems like we've been talking and planning for this trip forever (I did order my plane ticket in September!). I don't have a lot of job interviews set up yet, only two to be exact. However, there are a few more that I need to apply for and hopefully will have at least 2 more set up before Thursday.

I have reached a good point in my job search. There are people around me who are searching and who are truly desperate. They apply for every job that opens which sounds remotely interesting, even if it is at an institution they wouldn't like to work in, or a place they wouldn't want to live. There are also the people (sometimes they are the same people) who say that the first job is just a job. It's just roughly a two year commitment to gain the experience to get a better job. The goal is just to get one and keep it until a better one comes along. It is truly challenging to watch that and not start to feel a small amount of desperation creeping in. It's also hard not to develop a spirit of pity towards their lack of confidence in their purpose.

I have not grown desperate, and I won't either. My job search comes out of a place of deep calling and passion. I refuse to live my life half-heartedly or to apply for a position just to say that I have. God has called me for a specific purpose, and His time line is much different than the time line of those around me. I have developed a since of pride and confidence in God's hand and calling on my job search. I know that He has an amazing first job lined up for me, and it will be at a place where he has truly called me to serve. The Lord has been truly faithful to me, and I have no doubt that he will continue to be. He has blessed me with a strong sense of discernment, and I know that he will reveal things to me in the right time. I am truly excited to see what and where it is! I pray that I will be able to keep my eyes and my heart focused on Him through this time. I believe I'm called to be an example of peace around chaos. When I have tried to live that on my own, I have failed. I need to remain focused and allow God to work and talk through me. I pray that he uses me to plant some seeds that might grow some day.

On an unrelated note- Safe Spring Break Week started on Thursday. This has demanded a lot of my time as a member of the planning committee and I love seing things come to fruition. Part of the events included two nights of passing out water at bars. Thursday night we passed out water at one of the big dance halls that has a popular college night. Last night we passed it out behind Northgate (the bar district across from campus). The free water was a big hit and we had a great time in the process! Both were long nights (2:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m. respectfully), where around 700 bottles of water were distributed. I also was able to see a fist fight and report it to the police, which was a first!

The next couple of days means ironing, packing, finishing up some school work that's due on Thursday and getting work stuff ready for me to be out for a week. My NASPA roommates and I drive to Houston on Tuesday evening to stay in a seedy hotel. Our flight to Boston (non-stop, thankfully) is at 7:30 a.m. An early flight is good because it means I can sleep the whole time- which is a blessing for someone who hates flying. Because we have to be at the airport so early (between 6 and 6:30) we decided to drive down the night before. We get into Boston around lunch time, and interviewing starts on Thursday. Sunday the conference starts and finishes next Wednesday. We fly out on Thursday evening. We thought it'd be fun to have an extra night in Boston to sight see and have fun, since it is our spring break!