Congratulations, LoRa!

My youngest sister, LoRa (not her her real name), graduates with her Master's Degree today. For most people, graduation signals an end to college life, but for people like LoRa and myself, graduation is the beginning of a new chapter of college life - life as a professional in higher education.

My sister is entering the profession of Student Affairs, a little known profession that is essential to college life. Student Affairs folks are essentially in charge of everything that happens at college outside of the classroom, though some people (like me) are involved in the classroom as well. Student Affairs professional can be like my sister and run the residence halls, the campus activities, the career services, and the leadership programs. They can be like me and be academic advisors and academic support services for special populations, like student-athletes or first-generation college students. They can be like my co-workers and be admissions and financial aid counselors. And, for those times when college students like to pretend they can do anything and not have consequences, student affairs professionals are the conduct administrators that help students (hopefully) learn from their mistakes. It's a challenging but incredibly rewarding profession.

Congratulations LoRa! I'm proud to have you as a sister and a colleague.