I’m still kinda sick; I can taste the sinus trouble creeping its way down my throat at a miserably glacial speed. I sometimes think that the speed at which this mucus is moving is indicative of how soon I’ll be over this cold: the next ice age, perhaps. But, at least I slept in later yesterday morning (although I had gone to bed at three) which I suppose is meant to help in the recovering process. I’d say hitting level 20 in EQ with my ranger was more up-lifting than the pseudoepedrine.

So I’m up early and back to work despite the general upswing in snottiness this morning. I kept class short because, despite the bottled water I kept sipping, my throat persisted in shorting out much like the local 80s radio station. Before and after class saw quite a number of random questions from my students. Most of them were related to things having to do with their classes like “How do I change this?” or “I can’t get ahold of my teacher; what do I do?” kinds of things. And you know, I’m happy to have questions. I told them last week in class to question everyone, question everything. The administrators, the staff, the advisors, the faculty–we’re all here because of the students. If there were no students, there’d be no classes, no colleges, no universities.

Honestly, I’m glad that my students feel they can come to me to help them out even if it’s with Financial Aid or the Office of the Controller or if they’ve just forgotten their password and need to talk to someone in the IT department. I figure that once I show them what resources are available and how to use them, they’ll be more likely to know how to do all this on their own the next time the question arises. Also, since I’m an “authority figure,” if I call these offices and ask questions, they seem to get answered faster because, as staff, I shouldn’t be part of the run-around. Students shouldn’t be given the run-around either, but they are. That’s what I’m trying to prevent: running students all over the place especially when the question can (and should) be handled with a phone call.

College is becoming increasingly common in people’s lives, and so there needs to be people on campus trying to make college more accesible, more coherent, just more. ISU’s current slogan is “More from day one,” and I’m trying, I really am. I’m trying to be at least one person who can answer questions, who can prevent the run-around, who can be trusted.

It’s strange, actually. I’ve wanted to be a teacher for so long because I’ve always seen it as a way of helping people, of reaching people and giving them information that they didn’t have before. Advising is turning out to be a lot like that only there seems to be more red tape, more hoops, and far more obstacles. I’m part of the system, which would lead some to feel that I am therefore likewise part of the problem. I like to think I’m part of the solution, and I’m trying to learn as much as I can while I’m here as an advisor so that I can seek out similar positions in the future where I both teach and advise. I love college, and I want to make other people’s college experiences valuable and enjoyable, whatever they may be. I’m trying, at any rate. It’s a start; I just wonder where I’ll end up.