Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

I apologize for not writing in this space for the last two months. It's been a remarkable time. For those of you who have followed these articles over the last year (thank you for that), you know I have not only been describing the evolution of my division (and college), but a personal evolution as well. I don't really have a more accurate way of describing the change than saying I've just decided to accept the reality that for the world to be a little fairer, people like me have to get a little more uncomfortable. For me, it meant leaving a place I was very comfortable, and accepting the challenge of taking my message to a bigger platform. So, tomorrow is my first day as Vice President of Academic Affairs at Minnesota State College Southeast. It's a big change after seventeen years at my prior institution, but it's time to take Toni Morrison's challenge and be uncomfortable enough to embrace an opportunity to do more for those who have been left out. To be clear, this is only stress in the middle-class sense, but I could stay where I was and do the things I was doing and be "successful", or I could challenge my middle-aged comfortable self to do more. I choose B.

The transition has been eased by seeing signs of momentum and future success at my prior institution. Not only did they immediately (and wisely) appoint my partner Mandy to my old job, I was pleased with a few clear wins in my waning days, including a beautiful moment at a final planning retreat I attended to be with my colleagues. Just a year or two earlier, the Academic Dean's Council at my college would have smiled and looked at me when the word poverty came up. But now, I heard them discuss "barriers" and "flexibility", and the power of knowing our students. The ultimate moment was a discussion of a health science student who was about to be disciplined for being late to clinical a second time, but instead the instructor and Associate Dean asked deeper questions and found a homeless student who couldn't miss an appointment to get housing... feels like winning. There was also a discussion about providing free hygiene products in our bathrooms, and when it was questioned because of a perception non-students might use them, there was a resounding chorus of "So What." I also leave knowing the HOPE Center survey will be administered at Western this fall, and knowing I will be back to provide two last days of training around this idea of poverty-informed practice. These ideas that were once discussed as "welfare" or as "too much too soon" are now mainstream topics in the college conversation. I can't wait to see where they take it.

Last week was a great chance to remind myself of what is important, as I strive to broaden our focus on those who have been left out. I took the time to travel to Amarillo and spent two days training with the amazing Dr. Donna Beegle. In addition to becoming a certified Beegle Poverty Coach, I was reminded of why what we are doing is so important. Dr. Beegle reminded me that without significant support and a poverty informed environment, students from generational poverty have an 11% chance of graduating. That is just not ok. She also reminded us newly certified coaches that advocating for people in the crisis of poverty can be very lonely. We live in a unique country where we tend to blame poverty on the poor, and they in turn blame themselves. So, when you try to help people think about it differently, you can be seen as challenging assumptions that are held quite deeply. That can be uncomfortable, but embracing some discomfort seems reasonable in the face of that awful 11% statistic. Between the time with Dr. Beegle and her team, and a visit to Amarillo College, it was hard to not be recharged, and I was reminded once again poverty is an urgent and treatable issue. Ask the folks at Amarillo College, who have tripled their graduation rate in 5 years.

Part of getting comfortable with discomfort is remembering who you are. I shared a podcast earlier this week (listen here) about myself and the topic. Complacency is the enemy, and this is why change is important if you are really trying to make a difference. I remember talking to a fellow teacher when I was new in K-12 twenty years ago, and she told me she was working with the "most unmotivated students she'd had in 30 years"... they were first graders, 6 years old. I immediately called her on it and told her six quick ways I could think of to engage children in their learning. She didn't talk to me the rest of the year. I'm embarrassed to say I "toned it down" after that and tried to fit in better. In hindsight, I was dead right, and I think she was just dead wrong. I'm guessing most readers think so too and can't believe someone would talk that way about children. I hope those readers would also think it is inappropriate to talk that way about college students. But I didn't always live up to that conviction, because it was more comfortable to go along. I hope I stopped doing that about the same time we re-committed to people in the crisis of poverty.

So, I'm getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. You don't have to change jobs, although for me that made sense, but you better avoid getting complacent. How could complacent ever be the answer when that 11% statistic remains? How could you be comfortable when you hear students called dehumanizing things like "Last Minute Larry's" when they come to register shortly before the term starts. How different would the world be if that student had a name and a story? How different would our colleges be if we admired the courage it took to come to us at the last moment and ask us to help change your life? The world is in a difficult and divided place in many ways, and I have been fortunate enough to reach a place of stability and a little bit of influence. So as Ms. Morrison said, it is now my responsibility to empower somebody else. I can't wait for day one tomorrow. I can't wait to find the kindred souls who know that our technical and community college can truly change our community and world. If I'm honest, I've got butterflies, a headache, and I'm sure I won't sleep tonight. It's pretty uncomfortable, so I know I'm right where I should be. Can't wait!