Author: Amma Marfo (she/her)

This isn't my first retreat. Far from it. I can't even say that it's the first retreat I've gotten to lead, or the first where I was working with such a competent group (because the CSI group is an amazing one, and I've loved working with them for the two years that I got to … Continue reading Retreated with UP

One of the biggest ways for me to deal with my anxiety is to make sure that I create a sense of balance for myself. Running and yoga have been big parts of that, but I've also learned that sometimes my line of work feeds that anxious energy. So I'm being intentional in living my … Continue reading Forced Myself on the Charging Dock

I've just returned from a retreat with the Student Activities Center staff, and am so energized about making the work that we do better, collaborating closely with my fellow staff members, forming good relationships with all of the grad students in our office, but at the same time honoring a commitment that I made to … Continue reading I Got a Mentee

How often does the first day of work involve a serious game of Harry Potter Uno? And I mean serious--there was talk of office wars and shifting of office hours... Today was the first day in the office for four new grads: Alyssa, Karli, Cassidy, and Sendi (the graduate assistant who I will directly supervise). … Continue reading Advised a Grad

Like much of the higher ed world (And likely much of the rest of the country), I was transfixed on surrounding TVs and my computer with word that a gunman had been spotted on the campus of Virginia Tech this morning. While we had so much fear the first time such a notice was published, … Continue reading Got the Call About the Hokies

I consider myself to be a pretty nice person. While I have my missteps, my moments of "bucket dipping" as they say (as do we all!), I hold doors for people, bless strangers when they sneeze, am a chronic thanker (I say thank you ALL. The. Time.). But one thing that I've noticed at FSU … Continue reading Questioned My Own Niceness

Let me say first, that I hold a tremendous level of pride in my relationship building skills with students. I think that I've learned how I like to be in the office, how to relate with students in a collegial manner, but at the same time have avoided gray areas of what's "right", "ethical" or … Continue reading Came Close to "That Line"

The day after my kickball team's first victory (GO STUDENTS OF HARES!), I learned something special about the field on which we played, from my boss Lori. Lori told me that the intramural sports complex at Florida State is the largest intramural sports complex in the country. I was amazed- I love learning factoids like … Continue reading Learned We Were Special

AMC showed The Shawshank Redemption at least twice today, possibly three times. I finished watching it on DVD roughly five minutes before it started on TV. There are some movies I don't own because they're on TV so often...didn't realize Shawshank could be one of those!Thing is...*deep breath* I'd never seen it.There are many movies … Continue reading Beat AMC To the Punch

Like so many other Thursdays, I participated in the Student Affairs Collaborative's weekly #sachat. Today's discussion was on Mental Health of Student Affairs Professionals. As someone who's looking at this topic (or as I later learned, some version of this topic) for her dissertation several years down the road, I was really interested to see … Continue reading Said the A-word