[Oasfaa] FW: [SWASFAA Team Chatter] Getting Older, Getting Wiser

Tue Apr 21 14:53:27 CDT 2015

As of this moment, there are still 2 spots left, so if you've been thinking about registering for Mid-Level Training, you'd better act fast!!

Andrew, thank you for all your hard work this year (and last year, as well!)  You push us all and I thank you for that.

Mendy Schmerer, M.Ed.
Assistant Director
Office of Student Financial Aid
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
1106 N. Stonewall, Rm 301
Oklahoma City, OK  73117
(405) 271-2118, x 48817 (p)
(405) 271-5446 (f)
Mendy-Schmerer at ouhsc.edu 
http://www.ouhsc.edu/financialservices/SFA/ 

 Become our fan on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/OUHSCFinancialAid 

-----Original Message-----
From: SWASFAA Team Chatter [mailto:blog at swasfaa.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2015 2:48 PM
To: Schmerer, Mendy M. (HSC)
Subject: [SWASFAA Team Chatter] Getting Older, Getting Wiser

SWASFAA Team Chatter has posted a new item, 'Getting Older, Getting Wiser'

At the end of the month, I have a meeting with the SWASFAA board of directors in Arlington, TX. That same week, I celebrate my 39th birthday. This is the last birthday I will ever acknowledge, so I expect it to be good one. ::Cough,
cough:: I like Amazon gift cards! ::Cough, cough::

A few weeks ago, I was not looking forward to my birthday week, and not because I hate getting older. Some parts of aging are actually enjoyable. My short term memory isn’t quite as sharp as it used to be, but I think (hope) that I’m a little smarter about the choices I make. I was such a naïve teenager—sheltered, inexperienced, idealistic to the point of being stupid—and I cringe every time I think about the embarrassing series of events that made up my twenties. Oh, the angst! The humiliation! The ramen noodles, and the tiny apartment, and the student loan debt! Stephen King could write my biography, except my life was too boring to document.

The thirties have been much kinder to me. I’m financially stable now; and although some of my friends might disagree, I think I’m more emotionally stable, too. Most of the time. Whenever I think about Gainful Employment and SULA, my mental state begins to tremble and my blood pressure skyrockets. But overall, I’m content with my lot in life. Is it perfect? No. Would I change things if I could? Absolutely. Yet I’m grateful for the mistakes and imperfections. They keep me humble. And if I didn’t have problems to overcome, I would probably be bored. I need a few challenges to keep my mind occupied and my adrenaline flowing.

But sometimes I set challenges for myself that seem a little overwhelming. For example, last November I proposed to the SWASFAA board that we bring back Mid-Level Training. I wanted to capitalize on NASFAA’s offer to provide our registrants with the opportunity to take free NASFAA credential exams. We didn’t know if this offer would extend past June 30, so we had to act fast.
Too fast. We scheduled the training for the last week of April, immediately after the board meeting. And that is why I wasn’t looking forward to this week. I was worried that after all the work the committee had put into making Mid-Level Training a success, no one would register to attend. I was so full of guilt! I thought I had done a poor job as president and our budget would suffer the damage.

I’m very happy to report that I no longer dread the upcoming week. I’m very excited about it, because people have registered for Mid-Level Training.  In fact, we exceeded our goal and had to negotiate with the hotel to increase the number of registrants we could accommodate. After the increase, we still have two spots left as of today. But even if no one else registers, we will end up with eight more registrants than we originally anticipated.

For a while there, I allowed the nagging self-doubts to creep into my mind. What if I’d missed the fine print in the contract and we had to pay the hotel thousands of dollars for food and AV that we couldn’t afford? What if the training committee didn’t have enough time to study for the NASFAA credential exams? What if April was the worst possible time for people to be out of the office? What if Mendy Schmerer never spoke to me again because I had asked her to chair yet another committee that didn’t have guaranteed success?

So imagine how happy I was when I found out that we will break even on the event. Imagine my elation when I learned that all the committee members had passed their NASFAA credential exams and that we could offer all our registrants the opportunity to take up to seven free NASFAA credential exams. Imagine my relief when Mendy didn’t punch me in the stomach at the OASFAA Conference a couple of weeks ago.

I never should have worried. Mendy and her committee—which includes Erika Cox, Brent Small, Jan Terry-Sanchez, Katraya Williams, and Lisa Hopper—are all hard workers with creative minds. I didn’t doubt their abilities, but for a while I doubted my own decisions. The lesson I learned is that it’s important to take risks sometimes. This is hard for me, because I don’t like uncertainty.

I experienced another round of uncertainty a few weeks ago when I took my first NASFAA credential exam. I’ve been avoiding these exams for years because I was scared I would fail. Last fall, Justin Draeger challenged all the NASFAA board members to get credentialed, and I felt obligated to follow through on this. And you know what? This was some of the most rewarding training I’ve had in years.
I passed the exam, but not without studying first. Before I started to study, I thought I already knew a lot about student eligibility, but after I began to review the study guide, I realized just how much I didn’t know. While I was studying, someone on my staff asked me a complicated question about secondary confirmation for a non-citizen. If I hadn’t been studying for this exam, I wouldn’t have known how to answer her question. Several times since then, I’ve encountered unusual situations that I knew how to handle because I had studied for this credential. This saved me lots of time on research. So when people ask me if these credentials have any value, I have to say, “Yes, yes, yes!”

I don’t care what level you’re at in your career—there is always room for growth. And it’s important that we push ourselves constantly. Don’t be satisfied with the status quo. Set goals for yourself, and set them high.
Otherwise you won’t know what you’re capable of achieving. Another important
lesson: Surround yourself with people who make you stronger. The reason Mid-Level Training will succeed is because there was a strong committee working behind the scenes. All I did was sign a hotel contract for the event, but they were the ones who put in hours of work to make this training a success. I’m excited for the Mid-Level registrants to get to know the committee, because I think there’s great potential for them to develop professional relationships that will pay off in dividends.

I know next year’s SWASFAA President, Janell Valdez, is already thinking about possibilities for next year. We are here to enhance the professional development of the financial aid administrator (that means you!), and we take this mission seriously.  So if you have ideas on what you'd like to see in the future, please let us know!  We shouldn't be afraid of challenges.  The only thing that should keep us from getting a good night's sleep is the thought of growing stagnant.

You may view the latest post at
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__swasfaa.org_b_general_older_&d=AwIDaQ&c=qRnFByZajCb3ogDwk-HidsbrxD-31vTsTBEIa6TCCEk&r=-Lnq0C7sCiFyP0whbJJ3dxf5JnVjhYZXejVPgZDRGLk&m=IPi0NlGgrsC7sKrFZtZO_IGu1WnSDLkriH2qGwhcpvs&s=1PWdOXkpNLNskelc6mb1zSoJN-QTF4Z6lndDJZLw1VE&e= 

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