SEAHO Report - Summer 2017 - 46

SEAHO Features

for 180 residents. The event was, well, uneventful; the residents enjoyed mingling and sharing their excitement
about finally being at college. Today the drinking age is 21 and kegs are prohibited on campus. Much has
changed over these 38+ years and it is jarring to consider them.
* The drinking age changed from 18 to 21
* Kegs and common source alcohol containers are prohibited
* Smoking is prohibited within 25 feet of buildings
* We had no computers, emails, cell phones, or social media to manage
* At one time only a very few halls were coed; now they all are
* We offer gender neutral housing and housing for transgendered students
* We accommodate residents with assistance/comfort animals
* In those 38 years we added over 1,500 beds, yet only two professional staff members
* We closed the campus twice for hurricanes (no power for 11 days when Isabel hit)
* Two buildings endured serious fire damage; one was offline for a year
* We converted one hotel to a residence hall and are in the process of converting another
* 38 years ago there was only one air-conditioned building on campus; now 73% of our halls are airconditioned (one of my failures was not making it to 100%)
My journey to retirement has happened in stages. We think about retirement as freedom to do whatever we
want. Initially, that was a scary, overwhelming thought because I had to figure out not just what I wanted to do,
but who I thought I would be without a job title and defined role. These months leading up to retirement have
helped me realize that my years of experience are now imbedded into my soul. My life will change but I will
still be me, and I will take this person I've become with me. I will enter the new stage of life armed with the
confidence gained from leading a large complex organization, many times through crises. I'm still a spouse, a
mother, a grandmother - these are the titles that have always meant the most to me; they are the titles that truly
define me. Providing for my family was my reason for working but mostly my family was my support and
my strength. My grown daughters knew me as a working mother who loved her job. My husband is a public
school teacher and we built our lives around the rhythm of our school years.
I read somewhere that retiring too late means you don't get another chance. I don't know what that chance
will be for me but I'm eager to take the step to discovering what I can do and how I will want to spend my
time absent the confines of a work day schedule and a profession that required me to be available and ready to
respond to emergencies 24/7. Stay tuned and keep an eye on my Facebook page. If you don't see my postings
reflecting a life of meaning, adventure, and grand-parenting, then please find me and kick me in the behind to
get me back on track.
Gerry Kowalski
University of Georgia
Executive Director of University Housing
Retiring January 2018
Looking Back and Learning
As I contemplate and prepare for retirement at the end of 2017, it has become clear that I could never have been
smart, insightful or wise enough to author a script with such a beautiful pattern of blessings and opportunities
in my life and career. In the spirit of this group writing experiment about retirement reflections with four (4)
outstanding WOHOs who humble me with their sagacity, professionalism, care, intelligence and grace, I write
to share "looks back" and some lessons learned.
Since 1976, teaching and coaching have been the frames from which I have approached my life and career.
Over time, those frames merged with the wonderful world of college student affairs and student housing.
SEAHO Report Summer 2017

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