Some of my colleagues were contacted directly by the Secret Service, while others became instant White House Liaisons. As for me, I ended up doing ticket distribution, crowd control, and press credential checks for the majority of the two days. I had to attend a White House briefing on how to manage these areas, and I was surprised to find how human the White House staffers appeared most of the time. Stressed out, sometimes friendly, sometimes rude, sometimes grounded, and sometimes superior, they worked every day from 4 AM onward. Here are my White House credentials:
I also had the opportunity to stand about 40 feet away from the President during his remarks on reducing student loan debt and creating more affordable repayment plans, already blogged about by Amy and Holly. A photo from my point of view during Obama's visit:
While being that close to the President was thrilling, it was nothing compared to the pride and joy I felt when I was able to witness my work as a student affairs professional pay off in a huge way. Out of all the students at CU Denver, one of my student staff members, Peer Educator Mahala Greer, was chosen to introduce the President of the United States. Mahala introducing the President behind the Presidential seal:
Chosen for her personal story and her ability to articulate a perspective that resonated with many other students, my heart overflowed when she stood up in front of a crowd of over 4000 attendees, national and local media, Michael Bennett, Michael Hancock, and John Hickenlooper, and, for lack of a better term, kicked some ass. She also ended up on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams. It was a reminder to me of why we do this work, why we take the time to develop student leaders, and why we believe in Peer Education. Obama's visit did so much more for me than introduce a loan repayment plan. Though I had never lost it to begin with, his visit reinvigorated my passion for why I do the work that I do.
Regardless if the job was whether small or large, the value realized through the efforts of the person to serve others and community, and through the practice that appears to the person new experiences in his work which are exciting and giving him a sense of pride of his work, such as your experience, you and that through your work you could to be in the center of a global event, millions of people watched it through TV, and your job made you a few steps from the most important person in the world, and these experiences remain immortal in the memory of the person and make him proud of his work no matter how it hard.
ReplyDeleteJill, what an awesome experience for you. It's ironic that the topic focused on repayment. So many people in our society focus on the dollar amount one can earn by completing certain tasks. We, myself included, often forget that there are other ways of "getting paid."
ReplyDeleteAs a counselor I trust that greatest payment is witnessing others fulfill their dreams while making a positive impact on others. Thanks for sharing Jill and I hope that you continue to "get paid" throughout your time as a student affairs professional.