Letter from the President

Happy New Year PennACE! I hope each of you had a wonderful holiday season and enjoyed some time away from work, spent with friends and family. It’s hard to believe it is already 2022, especially given the last two years and what we have all been through. I’m sure many can relate to the feeling of wishing things would go back to normal and craving the mundane routine you maybe took for granted – I know there are times that I do. While there’s been a lot of grief, sadness, and disappointment the last few years, something that has helped me to stay positive, is to keep a gratitude journal and focus on all the good things I have in my life, and I challenge you to do the same! The things you list can be as simple as your first sip of coffee in the morning, a great conversation with a colleague, or starting a new book – when you start looking for the joy in your day-to-day life, you’ll realize you have a lot more to be thankful for than you might have once not considered.

Speaking of things to be thankful for, I would be remiss to not mention our wonderful PennACE members. I have continually been impressed at the resilience displayed by so many people working in higher education, especially given the internal and external challenges our institutions are facing. Many of us pivoted our services to be fully remote and/or hybrid and then transitioned back into a face-to-face capacity and the challenges keep coming, but I am continually in awe of people’s ability to adapt and do what’s best for our students. It’s a privilege to get to work and learn from so many outstanding career professionals.

I am especially looking forward to connecting and recharging with many of you at the PennACE Conference in May – our first in person conference in 2 years! The conference is always one of my favorite events each spring because it marks the end of the academic year, the start of summer, and the chance to connect with colleagues old and new. If you haven’t attended PennACE Conference before or maybe it’s been a while since you’ve joined us, I hope you will consider participating this year! The Conference Committee has been hard at work to plan an informative, fun, and safe conference for everyone.

Wishing you all a great rest of your academic year and all good things in 2022!

All my best,

Kelsey Thompson