ACPA Wrap-Up

The idea of posting during the conference definitely did not work out as planned. ACPA was one big huge glob of events and sessions that was over before I really stomached that it started. My thoughts about this year.....

It was definitely great to get to experience the sessions at the conference and not worry about placement. I stepped into placement once, for about a minute while I was looking for someone, and then immediately left. I was not ready to handle the measurable level of stress in that room. The sessions that I went too were mostly good; I really started thinking about a few different topics through what I learned and I got excited about a few things. Some sessions were really bad, and I was generally disappointed by how many good sessions (at least in my opinion) were stacked on top of one another.

The social aspect of the conference was amazing. My old grad school friends were there and it was great to reconnect with people and see how they're doing a year later. I met lots of new people (yay for networking!) and had what was undoubtedly WAY too much fun. What you don't know until you go is that the OTHER side of ACPA is all about socializing to the max. I got swept up into that world and here I find myself wanting to be back there. It's incredibly euphoric to be able to absolutely have fun in a new place and not worry about your staff and your building and how you're getting home (because you're either in the hotel you're staying in or right down the street).

The downside to everything is that you come back feeling incredibly wiped out. I am finally feeling a bit more normal and like I've caught up on sleep (because at ACPA you always sleep much less than you do normally - there's just too much fun to be had!). It's a hard reality to face when you walk into your office and see piles of things on your desk and a full mailbox (both in real life and the virtual world). The post-conference snap back to reality is a little too much to bear at times, and leaves you counting down the days until you get to go back.

But the best part is that my building survived! My staff had a handle on everything and nothing occurred that was beyond all repair. All my worry was for nothing, as I came back to normalcy. Spring semester moves on as I plan out closing the building and start thinking about what I want to do special for my staff before the year comes to close....