Well the jet lag, time difference, and a new is starting to prey on me rather heavily now. I am very tired a lot. For those that have not noticed on the blog I have posted a “time in Kabul” clock. The time here is +4.5 hours from Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). Eastern Time is -6.0 hours when not observing Daylight Savings Time. Back to math class when you add +4.5 to -6.0 you get a 10.5 hour time difference. This translates to the fact that when I am going into work at 8 a.m. you are most likely headed to bed or at least thinking strongly about it. It takes a bit to get the body out of that despite what the sun is doing in the current location. I am just not there yet as I sleep in spurts at night. I will get 2 to 3 hours then be wide awake for an hour or so and then sleep for an hour or two again if I can. The first night I went to bed about 9:30 and was up at 3:30 until 5:00 a.m. and then I slept until just after 6 when one of the housemates stirred me from my slumber by making coffee in the kitchen. Last night I was in bed at 10:30 and up from 4:30 beyond as I had to be in to work for a morning staff meeting. So yes, despite a nice long shower and a shave I was dragging, dragging pretty hard too.
I was pretty excited about the 9:30 all university staff meeting. It was my opportunity to be introduced, to introduce myself, and to meet all of the folks who work here. However, about 15 minutes before 9:00 I was asked to attend a meeting with a group students and the Board of Trustees. That was even more exciting. While in my experience board of trustees have select student members how often do they have the opportunity to sit down with a rather large group of students. The students present in the meeting would be characterized as student leaders. They presented very thoughtfully, very mindfully, and very respectfully some of what they see as needs on the campus. I would not view the students her as apathetic at all. They are fairly vocal and express themselves well. They have the same desires and goals for the University as do its board members and the vast majority of its faculty and staff. However, they are young and like young folks all over the world they want it now. Immediate gratification is what they desire. The hard work will be to keep the passion burning in them despite the realities that we cannot have some things today or even tomorrow. I think that is where the seed of apathy can be planted.
To me in the meeting, I think though the most inspiring thing that was said by the students is that they have no doubt that from this young and vibrant institution will be born a President of Afghanistan. It was not that the student said he wanted to be President, in fact he stated he wanted to work in the foreign affairs sector, but it was the fact that he, very strongly, stated that he and his fellow students know that from this institution will rise a President. Amazing words!
The energy and excitement carried through to the staff meeting immediately following. Our President and even the Board of Trustees who came to our meeting expressed that there was a great energy on this campus that they were indeed proud to be a part of. Now, I am proud to be a part of it as well. Students are the key word in Student Affairs. This is why I got into this field and why I remain here. The great thing is that these young minds inspire and energize me every day. On a day that I went in dragging I did not drag throughout the day because of that energy.
As a side note, I am official now. I have a University ID card that we wear around our necks for security, a new email address, and a University laptop. Now the last thing and we will be 100 percent are business cards and that normally takes a while everywhere.
I was pretty excited about the 9:30 all university staff meeting. It was my opportunity to be introduced, to introduce myself, and to meet all of the folks who work here. However, about 15 minutes before 9:00 I was asked to attend a meeting with a group students and the Board of Trustees. That was even more exciting. While in my experience board of trustees have select student members how often do they have the opportunity to sit down with a rather large group of students. The students present in the meeting would be characterized as student leaders. They presented very thoughtfully, very mindfully, and very respectfully some of what they see as needs on the campus. I would not view the students her as apathetic at all. They are fairly vocal and express themselves well. They have the same desires and goals for the University as do its board members and the vast majority of its faculty and staff. However, they are young and like young folks all over the world they want it now. Immediate gratification is what they desire. The hard work will be to keep the passion burning in them despite the realities that we cannot have some things today or even tomorrow. I think that is where the seed of apathy can be planted.
To me in the meeting, I think though the most inspiring thing that was said by the students is that they have no doubt that from this young and vibrant institution will be born a President of Afghanistan. It was not that the student said he wanted to be President, in fact he stated he wanted to work in the foreign affairs sector, but it was the fact that he, very strongly, stated that he and his fellow students know that from this institution will rise a President. Amazing words!
The energy and excitement carried through to the staff meeting immediately following. Our President and even the Board of Trustees who came to our meeting expressed that there was a great energy on this campus that they were indeed proud to be a part of. Now, I am proud to be a part of it as well. Students are the key word in Student Affairs. This is why I got into this field and why I remain here. The great thing is that these young minds inspire and energize me every day. On a day that I went in dragging I did not drag throughout the day because of that energy.
As a side note, I am official now. I have a University ID card that we wear around our necks for security, a new email address, and a University laptop. Now the last thing and we will be 100 percent are business cards and that normally takes a while everywhere.
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