-: You know, the work that I get to do
is really about humans finding connection.
I don't, you know, I joke with students.
Whatever identities you bring into a space,
I'm not checking your cards or your qualifications.
I want you to find a space
where you can be and thrive.
And so that you can be successful
in your educational, personal journey,
and that's my end goal,
and those are the most gratifying moments.
There's not always, you know, in social work,
counseling work, educational work,
there's not always an endpoint.
There's not always a you did this, great job,
here's your next step.
But in this work it's you may have saved someone's life
by the small interaction you had.
And giving yourself the moment to reflect on that
and the power of that, it's amends.
And those are the moments that I have to remind myself
in the business of conversation and day to day life
that this work is important and its impactful.
But those are the ones that I hold onto
as those human work experiences.
You know, I've been talking to folks a lot about this,
and many times it's the justification of resources
or the justification of need.
You know, I just spoke about us getting
a brand new physical location, and what does that mean?
What's the value of human work?
That's always been a constant of, you know,
prove to me exactly what you did.
Saving someone's life, or you know, having a referral
or some type of intervention
that has put them on a different path,
or provided support for them,
or allowed them to finish their degree,
isn't necessarily quantifiable.
And so I think the biggest challenge is,
is really defining and providing the scope
of what we do.
And I think I do that through individual, you know,
narrative telling of students
that have allowed me to do that,
because I think their lived experience is why I'm here,
and it's making sure that we can share those stories
to share and provide insight on the power of our work
and the impact of our work.