The students want to be given the resources and
opportunities to thrive at the University of Florida and
gain as much as they can from the experience, as the
patients want the same opportunity to be a part of a
community as children that their epilepsy has kept them
from. Everyone wants to belong to something, whether
that is on the floor of his or her residence hall or the
playground of their school.
"Everyone wants to belong to
something, whether that is on the floor
of his residence hall or the playground
of their school."
Chris said that working for Residence Life and
Education has taught him a number of skills.
While the desired outcomes of both groups are very
different, the same care goes into helping each. There
are a number of skills that working for the Department
of Housing Residence Life and Education has taught
me. Learning how to listen, how to be patient, to look
at the big picture, and to think outside the box while
providing quality care and service. Being able to listen
to a student and understand their needs while also
providing them with the resources and guidance to be
successful is a rewarding experience when you can make
that connection and see them succeed. It’s the students
that we do it all for.
Working with a patient is not so different – you listen to
them and work hard to understand what they are going
through so that you can utilize all available resources to
help them recover and hopefully get closer to a normal
lifestyle that they, and their families, desperately desire.
Seeing a child benefit from the care and work that goes
into the research you perform is one of the greatest
accomplishments anybody working in medicine can ask
for.
"It's the dedication and desire to see
others succeed that makes wearing both
'hats' so important." - Chris Anderson
Whether you’re working in Student Affairs
or in medicine, one thing is consistent
about both, and that is the fields are always
changing. A student’s general needs and
expectations change year to year with each
passing generation, just as the available
research and treatment options for patients
also continuously change. With both, it is
important to also be adaptable and willing to
make your own adjustments to keep pace. It
is easy to stay grounded and stick with what
has worked in the past, but if the goal is to
help those succeed and make strides towards
personal improvement, then trying new
techniques or practices becomes a necessity.
It’s the dedication and desire to see others
succeed that makes wearing both ‘hats’ so
important and so valuable to both patients
and students. Sometimes you have to have
those tough conversations with a student, or
utilize new programming and counseling
techniques to make a connection. The same
goes for medicine, while it is easy to continue
what has worked in the past, every patient is
different and has specific needs. Being willing to explore new treatment options, even
those as controversial as medical marijuana
for children, is what is needed to keep the field
moving forward and to keep helping those so
desperately in need.
Whether you’re in the lounge of college
residence hall or the clinical room of a hospital,
the goal is the same: doing what it takes and
putting in the care and effort to help improve
the quality of life for those in your community.
Sometimes wearing more than one hat can
be tricky and look funny, but a lot of times
you find that one just isn’t enough for the
occasion. It is this that both working with
students and with patients has taught me, and
my experience with both has been a valuable
and prized experience.
DISSERTATION PRESENTATION
Parents play an especially unique part in each as well.
Parents of our incoming students are both excited and
nervous. They are seeing their son or daughter begin a
new chapter of their life and are hopeful that they will
succeed and continue to grow from their experiences.
Parents of the patients in our study aren’t too different
– they too are nervous and excited for the potential that
this new and unexplored treatment option could provide
their child with an opportunity they otherwise wouldn’t
have.
HRE ALUMNI MAGAZINE | UF STUDENT AFFAIRS
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