Home Is Where The Heart Is

Shelter may come in different shapes and sizes, but at least I've been lucky to consistently have a place to call home. 

• Levittown, PA
• I don't remember much about actually living here. I just know that after I was born my mom moved back home and we lived in my gram's house. I have sporadic memories of this time as I was very little. I call this place home because all of my extended family still lives here. I used to spend every summer and major holiday here. I miss it dearly. It's a nice suburban place to call home.
• Blossburg, PA
• I also have very little memory of living here. I just know that we lived in an apartment building next to a factory when my mom moved up north to take care of my cousin after my aunt died. I was two or so when we lived here. I drive by the apartments now and somehow remember being there.
• Ralston, PA
• I moved into our first rented house the day after my 3rd birthday. I don't recall the first few years really. I remember more so when I was 5. We lived in the old church rectory which was located right next to the church. Every Sunday we would hear the church bells and have to get up at the crack of dawn (7am mass) for church. I didn't understand the logistics before. My uncle helped my mom find this place so she could take care of my cousin, my sister, and I. I don't know how that worked out but it was my home for many years.
• After the 1996 flood we had to move. The Candlelite Inn was where we stayed for nine months in the single room. It was the strangest nine months of my life. We had little privacy. It was a strange time for me as well seeing as I was going through puberty. Sometimes you just need your own space, or at least I know I did, and it was not easily found living in a room with your family.
• After that experience we moved into a basement of a friends house for the next nine months. This was a bit better. The family had two children so we had company and were able to have some normalcy. Although we lived in the basement and it wasn't actually accommodating  it was better than nothing.
• Finally we moved into a place of our own. However it was old, and very small. It didn't stand up to the weather and gave us more problems then a home should've. Those years were quite interesting.
• 1998 is when my mother purchased our first and last home. We've lived in the same place since then. Every time I've needed to move home it's been there for me. I've become accustomed to that seeing as though there are times I need to do that. I may not get along with my mother, but she at least has some good left in her...even if it's hard to find.
• Rindge, NH
• 2003 I moved here for college. I lived in Granite Hall and although I had a horrible experience with my roommate the fall semester of my freshman year it was a great experience.
• 2004 I moved back into Granite Hall as a RA of the East and West wings of the 3rd floor. I absolutely loved that experience, and believe it has gotten me to where I am today.
• 2005 I was back in Granite Hall again, same floor, same room. I had a great experience this year as well but would've rather been able to be a RA in an upperclassmen area. I just wanted to experience something new and different. I wanted to be able to have the professional growth of the different challenges that the upperclassmen area brought.
• Summer 2006 I stayed on campus. I finally got to live in the upperclassmen area, but not as a summer RA. I didn't return to the position for my senior year due to professional differences as I was placed back in the freshman area and felt stilted in being able to grow as I knew I wanted to pursue Higher Ed as a career. This was an overall good summer besides working for Facilities cleaning all of the residence halls and working at Petco in Keene. Ew.
• Fall 2006 I moved into the senior housing area with friends. It was a good start but ended poorly. I moved to another townhouse in the Spring of 2007 and had a great senior year. Was pleased to have friends that let me live with them.
• Greensburg, PA
• After graduating college I started on the road to pursue my career. I enrolled as a full time graduate student at IUP in the Student Affairs in Higher Education (SAHE) master's program. I moved to Greensburg to work at Pitt-Greensburg as a Graduate Resident Director. I enjoyed my experience here. I however felt like an outcast in the master's program as I was alone at my assistantship site and had to travel an hour to classes. I decided that the set up just wasn't for me and left to pursue full time work.
• Keuka Park, NY
• Ah I entered the working world! August of 2008 I started my professional career as a Resident Director of an all female hall at Keuka College in Keuka Park, NY. It was a great experience. I throughly enjoyed learning from my supervisor. I also enrolled in an online master's program so I could continue to pursue my goal of obtaining my masters. This was a highlight in my life.
• Williamsport, PA
• July 2009 I left Keuka due to financial reasons and obtained my second professional position at Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA. Hindsight is 20/20 and I know now that I should've stayed at Keuka for at least one more year. I hit a lot of hardships at Lycoming and it was a very difficult time for me. This was definitely a low period in my life, but I got through it.
• South Portland, Maine
• From February 2011 until present I have called this my third home (after Ralston and Levittown). Although I haven't been able to make it to PA to visit as often as I had hoped, my experiences here have been enlightening and uplifting.I don't know where my road leads after this but I know it'll be to a place with shelter.

I am thankful for shelter. I am thankful that I work in a profession that provides shelter for me. I am also thankful that the profession is starting to realize that these buildings, this shelter, is our home and treating us like we're adults and able to handle items such as pets and live-in partners. I do hope that there are more colleges and universities that look at their policies and start developing living situations that suite their staffs. Although we are not students and we are not bringing in revenue for the college, per se, if we are doing our jobs wells enough we do have a hand in keeping residents here and keeping money coming in - do we not? Working in residence life is not easy and it is not for everyone. The people who stay want to be here. We want to make differences. We want to impact other lives. We want to help the college and university we work for grow and succeed. Please treat us as such entities. Please allow us to care about our homes that have come with our positions and make them our own. The more comfortable we feel, the better job we do and the longer we stay.