Tag Archives: US Play Coalition

Clemson, Friends

I’m Back!

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Oh it is good to be back to writing! I have missed this. Where have I been? Well, mostly at work – or should I say, at play? Allow me to elaborate:

As the Administrator of the US Play Coalition, my primary responsibility has been the planning and execution of the 2013 Conference on the Value of Play, which took place February 17-20 in Clemson, South Carolina. By all accounts, it was a huge success, and it could not have been more fun. We had over 300 people participate, 10 countries represented, 3 keynote speakers, 1 keynote panel, 70+ educational sessions, 1 full hour dedicated hour of play with many more short activities, 2 adult tricycles, 1 giant parachute, 20+ hula hoops, and more smiles than you can imagine. At the closing banquet, we awarded $6,000 in grant funding in the form of one $3,000 research grant and three $1,000 action grants. In conjunction with our conference and official play hour, Clemson Provost Dori Helms declared February 19 as Clemson University’s Official Play Day for the second year in a row. We also were covered by the Anderson Independent, The Tiger, and had three hours of live cut-ins on Fox Channel 4. All in all it was tremendous fun, and I am already looking forward to making the 2014 conference bigger and better! Plan to join us, you can ask me how.

13.2.20 Anderson Independent Conference Coverage 5
Just a regular “day in the office”

On top of the long hours both before, during, and after the conference. I have been doing my best to stay in touch with numerous friends, read for book club, watch awards season, complete my online coursework, rehab my injured foot, learn big ideas from TED, maintain awareness of current events, find a new place to live, oh and sleep too. There is so much I want to fill you in on all at once, but for now, we will both have to settle for this brief reconnection via the blogosphere. It’s good to be here, and thank you for reading. Be PLAYful!

My new book for... you guessed it!
My new book for… you guessed it!
Discovery, Flux, Goals

State of Flux

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flux |fləks|
noun
1) the action or process of flowing or flowing out
2) continuous change

As I state on my homepage, I am in a state of flux. This can unsettle me. I thrive on structure and am challenged by my present lack of a career plan. Here is a look at where my plans have been, and how I am addressing my occasional unease.

In elementary school, I thought I wanted to be a veterinarian. It’s a great answer to the question “what do you want to do when you grow up?” Ranking right up there with doctor, teacher, and lawyer, parents and educators smile and say that’s a fine idea, and you’re safe until college.

Prior to the start of college, I decided to follow a path more outdoors related. I thought “conservation biology – that’s where I will make my mark.” (In the meantime, “conservation biology” became “wildlife biology,” but that is a minor detail.) I could become a researcher and university professor. Again, smiling approval from those around me, and I felt more certain of this direction, until Fall 2011.

Faced with an upcoming graduation, I began to apply to PhD programs in wildlife biology. As I did so, I began to think globally about the decisions I was making. If I was going to pursue a PhD for 3-5 years, my course of study would very likely determine the course of my career. This was an uncomfortable revelation. Uncomfortable first because I had a sense I was not wholly taken by any of the projects I applied to, and second because without those projects, my plan forward became uncertain.

Fast-forward to fall 2012. I completed my master’s degree in August and work almost full-time for the US Play Coalition. Most days, I feel like I must be one of the happiest people in Clemson – I have a job I enjoy, a fantastic boss, good friends, a sense of belonging and of being needed. I finally have time to read books, blog, go to football games, go out to eat, watch TV and movies, and more. Still, moments of doubt creep up, and I question my decision to stay. In large part this doubt is fed by knowing the overwhelming majority of people around me are students “progressing” toward a degree, and I am not. The juxtaposition causes me to feel as though I have stalled.

Then in a timely moment, I read this article: Gala Girl. Now I see that I have not “stalled” or stopped “progressing,” rather, I am “developing myself.” I am building career skills, from budget forecasting to strategic planning to serving customers to developing products. When I succumb to doubt, I diminish my ability to fully engage with these opportunities. Thus, my new goal is to maintain a perspective of self development, which will take reminding from time to time, but now I have this post to help me do that.