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Author Archives: Niki Rudolph

About Niki Rudolph

I'm a student affairs professional who sees most of the world as a crossword puzzle - read the clues, see the big picture, and find the right words. Oh, and I am rarely without a Diet Coke.

What’s your One Word 2013?

12 Jan

With the start of the new year, many folks, especially in the #sachat and #wlsalt communities, have chosen to forego resolutions and instead, chosen one word that will guide their 2013.

For a few years, we have collected those One Word selections to inspire, motivate, and hold each other accountable (you can see the 2011 and 2012 collections). Currently, about 185 people have contributed to the list, and here are their selections for their #oneword2013:

Thank you all for your contributions. If you haven’t taken the opportunity, please add your One Word selection to our growing list of student affairs professionals who are guiding their 2013 resolution-free:

**My apologies to Margaret Garry. Wordle had no font that would support her selection of λόγος; therefore, I used the loose translation of “word.”

#oneword2013

02 Jan

“’Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).” ~Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

For the third year in a row, I am choosing to select One Word that will guide my upcoming year. The truth is, I have never been a big resolution person. I don’t really have vices, except Diet Coke, and let’s be real: I am not giving that up. But the One Word resolution revolution has worked for me. For 2011, I chose Next, which was a nice nudge for a year with a lot of intentional, and some unintentional, change. For 2012, I selected Push – appropriate for a year where I pushed myself into a new position and I pushed harder on my dissertation.

In a few weeks, I am scheduled to defend my dissertation. It has taken me much longer than I had planned (due to life happenings that I don’t regret one bit), but it is happening. With a few breaks, I have spent much of my life as a student, and 2013 will be the first year in the rest of my life as a non-student. It is a year where I can have hobbies again; I can read fiction without remorse. I can sit with my kids or take Tae Kwon Do with them. I can repaint rooms or take a cooking class. My husband (who just finished his Ph.D.) and I can go on dates that don’t involve coffee shops and our laptops. I can do any of those things, and I will probably do many of them. However, unlike Push and Next, I wanted a word that allowed me a little more reflection. I want to be OK in the quiet and allow myself time to marvel at things, ideas, anything.

So, for my #oneword2013, I chose: Curious.

I will be entering a new identity once again. I am curious what that new role/identity might look like. I am curious what it will be like to be a mom without being a doc student. I am curious what it will be like to read an article for the sake of the article and its application in my field, not its impact on my research. I am curious what events are happening this weekend in my town that I can support. I am curious what it’s like to complete a whole New York Times crossword in one sitting.

Many things are starting up for us this year, and several things are ending. William Bridges (2004) would tell me that I am in the neutral zone of my transition. As excited as I am about what is around the corner and what I can tackle next, I am going to enjoy not knowing all of the details in 2013. I am going to prove to Albert Einstein that higher education has not killed my curiosity or diminished my interest in learning about other things and people and places.

So, 2013, what will you teach me?

If you are curious about what others have to say about curiosity, please check out my pinterest board.

7 Comments

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 2 January 2013 in Inspiring

Tags: #oneword, #oneword2013, curious

Your Focus Pit

29 May

As a kid, I used to spend part of every summer with my extended family in the foothills of the Adirondacks at my grandparents’ home. It was a great place, complete with a swimming lake, canoe & sailboat, rope swing into the lake, campfire, sing-a-longs, and s’mores. We called it Camp Wilson for good reason. But if the rain kept us inside, or if we needed a late evening activity, we played games. Lots of games. One of the cousins’ favorites was Pit.

Pit hand

If you have never played Pit, let me try to explain. It’s a raucous game that replicates the Stock Exchange floor. You try to trade cards (in 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s) with other players to accumulate all 9 in one of the grains (oats, flax, etc). It’s loud, and arms are criss-crossing every which way while people are yelling numbers and swapping cards, until someone yells, “Corner on Wheat!” The older cousins managed to master a silent game of Pit, after the younger cousins were in bed. Even then, it was pretty crazy.

My husband (then boyfriend) managed to alter the game dramatically. Apparently tired of the frenetic pace of the game, he approached one round at a snail’s pace. He didn’t yell. He didn’t rush. He simple stated, “Two, would anyone like two?” at a normal voice level.

A funny thing then happened. We all had to slow down.

We couldn’t barge on with the game if he was holding three of my Flax and two of my cousin’s Wheat. it just didn’t work. We all had to take a breath and play the game his way.

I was reminded of my husband’s playing this morning, when I read an article by Peter Bregman on Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning. Bregman reminds us that we often rush right through because we can. We need to take a breath and focus. There will always be distractions, but we need to focus on what’s important and (more importantly) what’s not.

I would challenge you to refrain from explaining away the lack of time or the last-minute approach. Of course, there will be emergencies that arise and demand your attention. However, I would encourage you to stop, focus, and get the important work done. You have more control over the pace than you give yourself credit for.

What things are on Your Focus list?

4 Comments

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 29 May 2012 in Higher Education, Inspiring

Tags: Professional Development, work

The Top 6 Reasons I am An Evernote Mom

05 Apr

It’s no secret that I am a big fan of technology. I am admittedly well-gadgetified. And because I have a device for all mobility, I spend much of my time on the Cloud. I live my life on Google Docs, Dropbox, and social media. But the cloud that I have my head in the most as a mom is Evernote. Here are the top reasons that Evernote keeps my home life organized:

1. School Memos. I have a child in elementary school. That means a whole lot of papers coming home, stuffed haphazardly in a backpack. Since I rarely have time in the walk-in-the-door chaos after work, I just take a picture of it and save it under the file for that child with a school tag. If I have to buy something for name that fundraiser or event, I go straight to my shopping list (see #4). Capturing all of the school info quickly is priceless, which leads me to…

2. Homework help. We get a spelling list every Friday to be studied for the following Friday’s spelling test. I snap a picture of it to add to my daughter’s file, and that way, I have her spelling list for our commute together, or when we are out and about. Much easier to study spelling when they see the word on a sign or recite the spelling from the backseat. Additionally, for other homework I can use Evernote’s Peek to quiz her on my iPad.

3. Home improvement. My house was built in the late 1800s. Let’s just say we are on a first name basis with most workers at Home Depot. When I am trying to plan the next project, I can make a list of what we need to get from the store, the measurements of that window to cover, or the comparison prices I found online. When I am at the store, I snap pictures of the item’s tag, which includes price, brand, specs, etc. Time saver.

4. Groceries on the go. From #3, you can see how this can help at the grocery store. I always have my list with me, since I always have my smartphone with me. And if my husband is taking the trip to the grocery store, I can email him the note for his phone.

5. Brainstorming. Blog ideas. Fundraising ideas for school and my other projects. Presentation ideas. Cool websites I wanted to include in another conversation. All of that, I use Evernote. It makes my “notes to myself” much more manageable. I can tag them six ways to Sunday, so that when I return to them, with whatever prompted me to find them again, I can find them.

6. Just plain notes. Notes from the presentation at NASPA I went to? Tagged. Notes from my last staff meeting? Tagged. Notes from that meeting with Barb about Girls on the Run? Tagged. It’s like a really awesome notebook that is cross-referenced.

I would love to hear about the ways that you use Evernote, or another organizational software, to make your life more manageable. I appreciate the order that Evernote brings to my permission slip, field trip money, pick that up at the store after work filled life.

2 Comments

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 5 April 2012 in Parenting

Tags: evernote, technology

Freedom to…

19 Feb

We the People, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare and hence, and secure the Blessing of Liberty, for ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution, for the United State of America.

I have to admit that I just recited* that. Actually, I sang it, and I have to give credit Schoolhouse Rock. (If you are not sure what I am talking about, please reference the catchy tune.) I was reminded of the Preamble of our Constitution while I was reading The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court by Jeffrey Toobin, a phenomenal look at the power and influence of the highest court in our country.

What I am reminded of is that our founding fathers had amazing foresight, not for everything they included, but in the structure they created to make it amendable, with the realization that they could not account for everything our country would face.

I am reminded of this especially during an election year. I would challenge you, actually I would push you, to educate yourself: on the issues, on the candidate, and especially on the rights we have as citizens.I hope that you each seriously consider your freedom to think and your right to vote.

*Reference was made to the original text to correct for capitalization, punctuation, and correct word usage.

2 Comments

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 19 February 2012 in Inspiring

Tags: asking questions, democracy

What’s Your One Word?

06 Jan

As part of the refresh that the new year begins, many in the #sachat and #wlsalt communities (and beyond) have chosen to forego resolutions and instead, choose one word that will guide their 2012.

Last year, I made a small attempt to collect the choices that people made for #oneword2011. This year, in trying to live my one word of Push and with a little help from a hashtag and a late-to-the-game Google doc, I have collected the choices of 200 people. This makes me ridiculously happy, which I think fits in my monthly theme of Positivity. So, in order to push some positivity, here are your #oneword2012 choices:

What an amazing collection of hopes and plans for the new year. You all inspire me, and I look forward to how your #oneword2012 choices will guide your throughout the year. Keep us posted!

If by chance I missed your word choice (and perhaps a related blog post), please add to the Google Doc.

11 Comments

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 6 January 2012 in Inspiring

Tags: #oneword

#OneWord2012

31 Dec

For the final prompt of the month-long challenge of #reverbbroads11: What is your “one word”? One word for this year, one word for next year.(from Amy)

I am excited to see 2011 go, not because it was a bad year, but because I really enjoy change. I enjoy new starts. My #oneword2011 was Next, and I truly feel like 2011 has been a year of nexts of which I took advantage. I am ready to call this year good and move on to new stuff. I like new stuff.

Perhaps I like the #oneword project because it allows me to pick a theme for the year, rather than specific resolutions. I like being open to what the year has in store for me.

For this year, I have chosen Push.

I want to push myself to do more good, to contribute more to my field, to sponsor more young professionals, to be more present with my family, to take advantage of more opportunities. I want to push myself to be more.

I also want to push others: to live their authentic lives, to trust themselves, to push themselves to be more of what they can be.

I want to push the conversation: around women leaders, around redefining girly, around student affairs, and around higher education.

I am also in the final push of my dissertation. This word seems more timely than ever.

So, here’s my Push into 2012.

I have set out a theme for each month of 2012 to push myself to be more mindful about my conversations in person and on social media. Modeled after Gretchen Rubin’s Happiness Project, I have chosen a theme for each month of areas on which I would like to focus.

January: Positivity

February: Love

March: Promote

April: Fun

May: Growth

June: Breathe

July: Celebrate

August: Explore

September: Learning

October: Facing Fear

November: Gratitude

December: Family

I am hoping you will push me along the way. What’s your #oneword2012?

8 Comments

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 31 December 2011 in Uncategorized

Tags: #oneword, #reverbbroads11

Backpack and a B & B

30 Dec

Day 30 prompt for #reverbbroads11 is: If you could go on a trip regardless of cost, where would you go and what would you see? (from Dana)

I am cheating a little in the fact that my husband and I have our dream trip in mind. While reading a Backpacker magazine, Brent came upon several hiking routes through Wales. That enough was to peak my interest, but here’s the fun part. You stay at bed and breakfast inns along the way, and they shuttle your backpack to the next B & B while you hike the day. They call it the Welsh version of hut-to-hut hiking.

Hiking along the coast of the Irish Sea, B&Bs, and a few pubs along the way? Sign me up.

Mix Tape

29 Dec

#Reverbbroads11 prompt for Day 29: What was the soundtrack of your year? Of your life? Which songs most strongly represent the various eras of your life? What songs were playing for the most crucial, formative moments of your life? Or, if the chronological approach doesn’t work for you, which songs best capture the different facets of your life? (Childhood, Love Life, Adulthood, Loss, Growth, Career, Happiness, Sadness, etc.) Please elaborate. (from Bethany/Katie)

This is probably the most difficult post for me to do. I like too many songs. I fall in love with too many lyrics. But let me see if I can pull together an appropriate mix tape (yeah, I’m going to admit to sitting by the radio during the Top 40 to record popular songs). Let’s see if I can do this…

1. Best Friends by Frances England: Much of my childhood involved my best friend, Kelly Jones. I did everything with her. Every New Year’s Eve, I am reminded of how many sleepovers we had at each other’s houses to watch the ball drop.

2. Bad Day by Barenaked Ladies: My parents divorced when I was 10, and this song pretty much sums up my mood during that time.

3. Day by Day from Godspell: This covers most of high school. First, I was in show choir with friends I have to this day, and I loved (and still love) Broadway. Second, this was also when I was a born again Christian, and my faith was a guiding force. And third, it was high school, and we were all just trying to get through it.

4. Power of Two by the Indigo Girls: College. It’s where I met Brent. It’s where I took a lot of road trips with Brent and our close circle of friends. It was a time when “five miles out of the city limit we’re singing…”

5. I Alone by Live: This covers much of the years between college graduation and moving back to Michigan. Long distance relationships sucked, and this song’s angst worked for that. Although, I met some incredibly wonderful friends during that time that kept my life rocking.

6. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Jewel: I couldn’t resist, and I was happy to take Brent’s name when we were married. If you saw my Christmas photos from this year, you know I’ve had fun with it. (Also, this is one of my favorite versions of the song.)

7. Welcome to This World by Renee & Jeremy: This is where I really get into the children’s music, since this is where my first daughter enters the picture. She was a surprise in the fact that I was dead-set that I was going to have boys (since I had 4 brothers, and many boy cousins). She has surprised me every day since and has treated “each moment like a prize.”

8. Family Tree by Frances England: We grew by one. And she was quite the one, and has been a stubborn, hilarious, and precocious additional “branch to our family tree.” It also really summarizes what an amazing big sister my oldest has been.

9. Fast Train to Grandma’s by Frances England: Yes, I really like Frances England, but this song also really reminds me of my wonderful grandmother, Gramma Mimsy or Grimsy, whom we lost in 2009. She was an over the river and through the woods grandma, since she lived in upstate NY. She was always so much fun.

9. Jungle Gym by Jack Johnson: There hasn’t been a weather-accommodating weekend in our life with kids that has not included a trip to the playground. A penny for each “Can we go to a park?” would make me wealthy. (Also, Jack is one of the best concerts I have been to.)

10. Firework by Katy Perry: I do enjoy the lyrics to this song, since they seem to encapsulate my hopes for my girls. But mostly, I chose this song because my youngest asks for it to be played three or fours time in one 15 minute commute to daycare.

I could go on and on, but I will just hop back on iTunes and think about all the ones I should have included.

The Hopeless Romantic

28 Dec

#Reverbbroads11 prompt for Day 28:Do you consider yourself a romantic person? Do you prefer fancy dinners, roses and chocolate romantic, or are you more non-traditional? What’s the most romantic thing you have ever done for a loved one or had done for you? (from Kassie)

Hmm, let me answer this prompt by explaining my last Mother’s Day gift. My husband and I don’t exchange Christmas presents. We tend to look for things we both want for the house, or places we want to go, or just a simple date night. When it comes to Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and birthdays, we tend to have a little fun – read: go overboard.

So, this past May, for Mother’s Day, when my husband was hinting that he needed ideas, I told him.

Me: What I would love, more than anything, is to have my Jeep reeeeeaaally cleaned. Cleaned out, washed, detailed, the works.

My husband: Really?

Me: Seriously. I’m in that car so much, and it’s driving me nuts – and I don’t want to do it.

My husband: OK.

So, if by romantic you mean please-do-the-stuff-that-I-don’t-want-to-do, then yes, I am romantic. If you mean those sweet nothings and rose petals and candlelight dinners, then no, I’m just hopeless.

1 Comment

Posted by Niki Rudolph on 28 December 2011 in Uncategorized

Tags: #reverbboards

Niki Rudolph