I had the most wonderful day yesterday.  As a new person to Oregon, I am still getting accustomed to the continual rain, and the upcoming continual rainy season.  What I cherish most, is that this rain has transformed my sense of analogies… like the phrase, “when it rains, it pours.”  True statement… both in frustrating times, and in great ones.  Yesterday, literally, while it was raining, and pouring, I had the most amazing day full of amazing connections with our outstanding students on campus.  I had the chance to speak to a DPD class taught by Dr. Juan Trujillo, Linguistics, about my language background and how that background shaped my identity.  What an outstanding class, and outstanding students!  It is inspiring to see students make the meaningful connections, and develop inquiry around the things that make us who we are in our lives, and how we can cherish those elements in each other in a way that is authentic.

Later on in the day, I had the chance to connect with first-year students in a Fireside Chat (shoutout to the U-Engage students- woot!woot!).  While we did talk about Oregon State University, and how OSU serves our students, I think I cherished having this time to talk about wellness, managing a full job-full life in a healthy way, and the replication of botulism (you had to be there…).   From that event, I went to the grand opening of the International Resource Center, located in the MU.  If you haven’t visited the IRC, I highly recommend it.  Kudos to all of our campus community members that come together to create such a wonderful environment for our international and internationally-minded students.  So many students connecting with each other in such powerful ways.

As I walked home, in the pouring rain, I thought to myself, it can rain and pour like this every day if it means connecting with our amazing students.