Since not everyone reading this knows who I am, perhaps an introduction is in order.
Hi, I’m Kathay! I’m the Administrative Specialist for the FHSU Honors College. I’ve been with the HC for a little over 3 years now. It’s been full of ups and downs, even pre-Covid, but I’m grateful to be here every day. I graduated from FHSU with my bachelor’s degree many years ago, after attending a couple other institutions. FHSU was what I call my Goldilocks school. I had attended one much larger (too much), one much smaller (not enough), and then I came here. It makes me happy to be able to share with prospective students that FHSU is just right. Fast forward a bit and here I am in the middle of earning my Master of Science in Education, in Higher Education Student Affairs (HESA). I’m able to do this because, for one, I was given a chance to return to this environment and finally have the realization that it’s where I want to be, but also because FHSU supports their staff in advancing their education. It’s unlikely that I would have been able to pursue this otherwise.
I’ve been reflecting on the last year, as one is prone to do near the end of it. This fall semester was not easy. Many of our students (and many others across the board) struggled to return to their full schedules, fulfill all their commitments, and match their usual high standards. We McGyvered this semester and got through it. Maybe not all with flying colors, but with gently breezy ones. We’ve seen students change their priorities, adjust their expectations, and dedicate their time to what matters. We’ve all lost a lot over the last couple of years—people, experiences, opportunities, connection; but some have gained a lot as well. This has been a crash course in making purposeful decisions and in letting go of what isn’t meant for your path. We’re really proud of all they accomplished, but we’re equally proud of how they have taken stock of what is important to them. Sometimes what you leave behind is just as important as what lies ahead.
I’m confident I can speak for Kevin and myself when I say that we’re grateful for our Honorables—current, past, and future, every day. They make our jobs so much fun, even on those days when it’s more difficult than we might like. We’re grateful for our Forsyth, Makerspace, and ESL neighbors who are always along for the ride. We’re grateful for our KAMS/AMS, international, and other Tiger friends who join us for merrymaking and silly fun times. We’re grateful for all of those who help us keep things rolling—from our committee members and honors course faculty to Residence Life and Financial Aid. We’re grateful for all the hard work of our FHSU leadership, the support of our Admissions staff, the reliability of our custodian Steve, anyone with the power to ease our technology battles, and all those likes and shares of our successes from our social media fam. We can’t do it without a team, and we have an awesome team.
I give an inadequate but hearty thank you to our Director Kevin for being an amazing support to me and my family, including his 3 kitty nieces. I’m incredibly lucky to have the support of my husband Jason, my Hays/Colorado/virtual/everywhere family and friends, my students (aka my Precious Nuggets), and student staff. There is always someone to help me through the doom and gloom, to celebrate my successes, to talk about stuff that we don’t even know how we started talking about, and to make me feel like I’m doing something right sometimes.
A bonus shout out to my HESA classmates for a fun semester, my advisor Dr. Olt for being tolerant of my occasional breakdowns, and Joe Bain for a surprisingly enjoyable class (which is not as condescending as it sounds, I promise). I learn a lot every semester, even if it’s not quite the thing I was supposed to learn.
If you’d like to learn more about HC happenings over the summer and fall, take a look at our latest newsletter here.
Before I go, allow me to ask you to consider some year-end giving while you still have a little time left!
