training-end review

well, RA training is over and my life is about to be normal again.
the past few weeks have been chaos, but i can't believe it's all over. i feel like it's only been a few days since we were putting 27 binders together and worrying about training sessions. now, all but 42 residents are in and classes start on monday. for the first time in my memories, i will not be starting school. it almost feels wrong to still be at SUU and not be a student: i guess it's a feeling i'm going to have to get used to with my future career.
training went incredibly well. we have 26 RAs  and one LC mentor successfully trained and currently getting to know their residents. i honestly didn't think we could do it short a CC, but we did. our new area coordinator starts september 1, and as weird as i thought it was planning training without her, i think it's going to be harder on all of us adjusting to having her here. we're doing just fine: sad, i know. but when i think about her coming and beginning her role as both a CC and my supervisor, the idea i'm the most excited about is not having to be on-call every other week. i've really liked having the extra challenge of doing paperwork and helping to support the eccles RA staff as well as my own. i hope that they have a smooth transition and will go to her with their needs as the year progresses.
i felt like a pop star for the first week or so of training. the female RAs adored me. they told me i was pretty every day, sat with me at dinner, told me i did great on my sessions, wanted to hang out with me at night, and wanted me to share my housing experiences. i felt like i had a posse and it was the best confidence boost i have ever had. things are shifting as i am seen more as a supervisor and having to address issues with performance.
i presented some really awesome sessions and some not-so-awesome sessions. the sv protocol went terribly, but my community and policy session was probably one of the best presentations i've ever done. i came up with a really cool analogy about how the floors/communities are like gardens. i even cricuted the RAs little daisies for their reflection journals.
my staff is going to challenge me. that's all i'm going to say. they call themselves "kate + 8" and it cracks me up and i think it's so cute that i don't have the heart to remind them of the 'i' in my name.
our last night of training, after two rough days of BCDs and before 3 work days of solid hall-dec creation, we spent an evening up the canyon. there's just something magical about housing people around a camp fire. we made banana boats, toasted marshmallows, took pictures, talked, and did a round of "touch someone who. . . " it was beautiful and emotional and as everyone held hands encircling the fire, bearing their hearts about their training experience, i realized that we had done it and done it right. i couldn't help but cry feeling so much love and excitement for this incredible staff. that moment made the two weeks of sleepless nights, long days, and sheer exhaustion more than worth it. i know this is how i want to spend the rest of my life.
i have hundreds of pictures on my iphone that i need to share. the amazing hall decs my staff created, my staff, their teambuilders, awesome moments, and our last night at three peaks. i'm never going to forget this experience.