The Happy Wall

This afternoon, Mike came into my office to show me a message he had just gotten from one of his students that essentially let him know how much the student appreciated Mike as an advisor. As you can imagine, Mike was really proud and felt really touched by the student reaching out and letting him know the impact he had on them. Since this is his very first year in a professional Student Affairs position, it is even more special for him to get notes/messages like this. Of course I was super proud of him too, but it got me thinking about something that I have done since 2007 when I started my Graduate Program.

Some days, working in Student Affairs can be hard. You can have incredibly long, high stress days where you feel as though you are doing everything wrong and are terrible at your job. When you have those days, it is really nice to be able to reflect back on the positive impact you’ve had on students, colleagues, and institutions. My grad school experience was challenging to say the least….especially parts of my graduate assistantship. I knew the work I was doing with the fraternity and sorority chapters along with the students I was advising and supervising was making an impact, but there were days where I just felt totally defeated because of things outside of the work I was doing directly with my students. I made the decision that I needed something that could remind me of two things. One, I wanted to remember why I made the decision to go into Student Affairs. Two, I wanted to be able to look back on how I’ve helped students (because helping students grow and develop in college was the reason I decided to go into this field). So I started “The Happy Wall”

The current "Happy Wall"

It’s been almost 9 years since I started this tradition which has continued at every place I’ve worked, so I don’t remember what the very first thing I put up on my “Happy Wall” was, but I can tell you that the collection of cards, photos, hand drawn pictures, paper glasses, and door decs have grown. When you have that terrible, no good day, you need something to keep you motivated. For me, I’ve found “The Happy Wall” works. I can take a 5-10minute break and just read the cards, the letters, the notes and everything else to remind myself of all the amazing opportunities I have had, the incredible students and colleagues I’ve worked with, and the fact that I’ve made a difference to someone. I’ve collected so many items for “The Happy Wall” that I have to keep some of the items in a little box on my bookshelf because they don’t all fit. Sometimes, students have made me something specific for the happy wall, like this window because at the time, the office I was in didn’t have a window. Sometimes it is the little things that really make a difference.

I’m in a position now where I interact with lots of students, but not in the way I did when I was in Residence Life or Fraternity and Sorority Life. I know I’m still making an impact on students and the community I work with, but the notes and cards are less and less since I switched functional areas which means I cherish the ones I have so much more now. I think the further removed an administrator becomes from students, the more important it is for that person to have something like “The Happy Wall” because it will always be there to remind you of your students and the reasons for going into the field. And if you don’t work in Higher Education like I do, there are probably plenty of ways that you can create something similar to my “Happy Wall” for your position, even if it just consists of pictures of friends and family. Doing something like this can also be great for your mental health, so there is another reason to create something if you don’t have anything yet.

Some of the Door Decs I've saved over the years

Hopefully Mike takes me up on my suggestion to print the message he got and start his own “Happy Wall” but either way, I’m going to keep adding to mine when I can and using it as a tool of reflection and motivation. 

Picture wall with past staffs