Times They are a Changin'

With my name plate on the last day of work

As many of you know, we've been experiencing some exciting changes in our household over the last month or two. At the beginning of July, I finished up my last day of work at Elmhurst College after 8 years serving as the Director of Leadership, Service and Engagement.

As you might imagine, this is a very bittersweet change, as I am leaving a wonderful group of students, colleagues, and programs that I care about very much. That said, when I started working 8 years ago, I didn't have many evenings or weekends. I also didn't have children! Eight years later, with frequent evening and weekend commitments and two growing kiddos, it was important for us to make some decisions about changes that were good for our family.

With my friend Laila in my last few days of work

With all of that in mind, on Monday, July 13th, I started a new position at Lewis University. Lewis is a private, Catholic and Lasallian Institution located in Romeoville, IL (near Joliet). There are around 7,000 students - about twice Elmhurst's population - with a wide array of undergraduate and master's degree programs, in addition to a few doctoral programs. There's a strong aviation program, so you can see planes flying to and from campus every day!

In my new role, I serve as Community Partner Liaison in the Office of Service Learning. In this capacity, I'll be working to identify new community partners through which to engage students in community service connected to their coursework. It's an awesome opportunity and I'm joining a wonderful team! This is a truly exciting opportunity for me to move over to work in academic service learning and I'm thrilled.

Look how official I am! My name's on the door :)

What I haven't mentioned yet is that my new gig is part-time. This means I'll be home two additional days a week with Owen and, before and after school, with Jules. I've already been loving the time with my little minions and I think they're enjoying it, along with the extra trips to the park and time to snuggle. YAY for great new opportunities!