Engaging Your Students + Getting Creative in Crisis
MOTIVATING, MANAGING, AND HANDLING BUSINESS IN TIMES OF CRISIS
With the option to work from home becoming more available than ever, it's important to learn the steps you can take that will keep your team engaged, happy, and crushing their goals. Rachel Sheerin will guide you in ways to immediately boost trust, understanding, and performance.
Student Life is the glue that holds education together!
Covering strategies to boost virtual engagement for events, best practices for managing virtual groups of students and teams, and 3 NEW programming ideas for your student life that you can implement within a week! At the end of this fast-paced webinar, live question + answer session for Student Life pros and teams.
HIGHLIGHT FROM THIS WEBINAR:
The #1 mindset that will help you and your organization succeed in these tough times
The easy ways to boost engagement with students from your couch (and why engagement matters NOW, before virtual events start happening!)
How to stay on the same page with your team and support your student groups
7 ideas for virtual engagement (most for $0) for students
and more!
SOME OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED LIVE BY ATTENDEES:
How do we engage students that do not want to be engaged right now?
How often should we be reaching our to our students? We don't want to overwhelm them.
Any tech recommendations for trivia night virtually?
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS WEBINAR
Kahoot!: Group Learning, E-Learning, and Self-Study Everywhere!
Netflix Party: A New Way To Watch Netflix Together
Tim Ferriss TED Talk: Define Your Fears Instead Of Your Goals
+ Open Full Webinar Transcript
Rachel Sheerin (0:00):
Hey y'all. It's Rachel Sheerin. I am so excited for you to be here today with me. We're talking all things engagement with student life and universities, talking about getting creative in the crisis that we're going on now, this webinar, this very webinar was a live webinar earlier today. Well, we broke the internet. We were expecting maybe 50 a hundred people to show up, but you showed up and you showed out. We ended up with over 550 attendees registered by the time I went live. And apparently the recording is somewhere in the cloud, but do not worry. We, we're working on recovering it and I've gotten so many emails asking for this reply. I want to make sure that I'm getting you this content, these ideas and this inspiration as soon as humanly possible.
Rachel Sheerin (01:05):
So I decided to hop on an the replay re-recorded. We've included the answers to many of your questions. So if you're watching this and have questions, feel free to email me. You will. You can simply reply to the email you got this webinar and [inaudible] and we will respond. So without further ado, listen, I want to say thank you so much. Thank you so much for the incredible job that you were doing right now. Our country, your students and your campuses are in transition, panic and crisis. And the fact that you are showing up and watching this webinar right now, the fact that you're going to share it with your teams, your peers, your friends, it means one very clear thing to me. You cared deeply about what you do. You care deeply about the people you serve and you also care deeply about the people you do it with.
Rachel Sheerin (02:52):
So without further ado, I just have to say, gosh, this is going to be a long few weeks and I know the unknown is real. The unknown adds to anxiety. But I want to, I want to share with you one thing that I think can make a huge difference in your day, in your life. And that is the mindset, the mindset that we do have to do anything. We get to do something. You don't have to show up for your students. You get to show up for your students. And the second we make that shift into positivity, we make that shift into the power that we really all truly own. It is magic. So I know that you might be feeling on the other end of this screen overwhelmed, overworked. You might be in a state of paralysis or you might be in a state of hyperactivity. I know you could even be ping pong back and forth between both of those feelings, but at the end of the day, you mind is so incredibly powerful.
Rachel Sheerin (02:48):
Look for the positives. Look for the helpers, look for the good things that are coming your way. And that are you're also making for others when you were able to shift your mindset, everything around you changes. And that's part of what I do professionally. I am a keynote speaker and I'm a team trainer. I host virtual interactive workshops and webinars all over the world right from the comfort of my own home in North Carolina. And if you're interested, if you get through this webinar and you're like, dang, I really like Rachel or you're looking for more great webinar contact, I want to share it with you. My friends at bachelor, that is who I am extremely proud to be represented by. So Scott, Sue and Chris, they're incredible people. They're probably a little embarrassed that I use their photos, but seriously, check out bash, schuler.com they are an incredible group of not just professionals but long time pro university pros and they are here to answer all your questions around what virtual webinars from someone like me or any of their other great roster folks really look like for sustaining development, your internal team and your students.
Rachel Sheerin (03:55):
So as promised, I'm going to deliver the info fast. I'm going to deliver it high level and what I'm hoping from this webinar is that I'm starting to get your ideas flowing. These are some ideas that I've come up with for you all, but this gives you something to push back on. I think that we're in a time right now where you have a great opportunity to throw spaghetti at the wall. That phrase that that throwing spaghetti at the wall is an idea to just see what sticks and y'all, it is magic for creativity time. So biggest question that I'm getting asked right now is how to boost engagement, how to boost engagement with students that are obviously in crisis and if you're like a lot of the pros, I know there's going to be this moment where your students that you're supporting this is one of the biggest things to ever happen to them.
Rachel Sheerin (04:43):
Yes, adults we have been through. If you know you live long enough, you go through hard times, you really do. But students oftentimes for you guys out there, we know the truth. A lot of students, this is their first real serious moment of reality because they've had the gift of being protected by their parents and society. I know this is tough times, but I hope these ideas for boosting engagement really can help. And I think that it starts with getting together and virtual gatherings can look like so many different things. It can look like Instagram and Facebook live. It can look like live stream from cameras. Seriously. Take a note from the zoos out there, if you might've seen it. Zoos are showing baby hippo cams or rhino cans. Even some zoos are letting the penguins walk around. So listen, maybe there's something in you in you that has an idea about something creative, whether it's showing live stream scam campus, whether it's showing livestreams from different museums, whether it's showing live streams from I don't know, your mascot doing a bunch of cartwheels down the football field.
Rachel Sheerin (05:46):
Whatever you can think of. Live stream can oftentimes capture it. And what about just creating zoom and Google hangout rooms? What about if you help your especially clubs and smaller groups on campus? What if you create dorm floors where people can essentially gather in zoom rooms for coworking and give them some kind of normalcy to their life habits and normalcy or part of the key aspects of really working together and also getting back into a productive mindset. Right? Humans love habits and so it's part of your joy and responsibility to to provide that for them. I do see a question since we got your chat questions earlier. One of the questions that's related to this is actually can we live stream you movies or is that a copyright issue? That is in fact a copyright issue. But I will let you know that Netflix actually just came out with a really cool service where you are able, if you, if you Google like net Netflix watch party, you'll bring up information about how people can all gather together and their separate places of residence and watch the same movies.
Rachel Sheerin (06:53):
Now what about other virtual gatherings like AMS? Ask me anything. These are really, really popular, especially because they give access to people, students or folks wouldn't maybe normally have access to. Do you have a famous alumni that you could lean on or what about the president of campus or what about the mascot? I love the, I have the basket asked me anything. These are cool lives threads that really get people a sense of engagement and also access. It also is a cool way to connect with people that may feel more vulnerable, interacting online. You know the student populations that you want to engage, but that seemed to be a little off to the side and don't want to. Oftentimes they are hanging out online so it's awesome that you've joined them here. Additionally, behind the scenes BTS is something that people love seeing. So taking folks even as you're sitting at home or perhaps transitioning to a work from home position, I know a lot of you guys are in that y'all are in that transition, but the behind the scenes behind the scenes is great.
Rachel Sheerin (8:23):
Show them your, your personality. Show them your, your person, a personal life. Show them your dogs, your cats, your kids. Listen, whatever you feel comfortable with because I do want to make a note here. It is completely fine. Of course, to keep professional life and personal life separate, that's totally healthy. But if you are one of those folks that really enjoys that inclusiveness and connectivity, this is a magical time to let students and people you support get to know you. Like my friend Ryan Rhodes has been on my webinars all week this week and I so appreciate it. Big heart and awesome energy and just great suggestions. And so I wanted to shout him out. Look at his adorable dog, smokey and Milo. Are they not so cute? So shout out to Utah. This is one of those things where as soon as Ryan started talking about his dogs, I felt an instant connection to them.
Rachel Sheerin (9:13):
Or are you providing that for your students right now? Are you providing that for your community? And if not, is there a possibility that you could think about it through [inaudible] as well? Talking about the three CS, the three CS are something that I live by every single day because I, I value connection and I'm making the idea the big guests that you do too. So the three CS are congratulate, celebrate, and consult. This means that every single time you see somebody that deserves congratulations that deserves celebrations or that deserves consoling and deserves, means that they are living, breathing thing. By the way, it's not unconditional. It's one of those things where when you see it, you do it, so don't miss the opportunity to congratulate during these times. There are still happy things that are going on. Don't miss the opportunity to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, milestones, all things happening right now.
Rachel Sheerin (10:06):
Forget what's, pardon me, happening in the outside world. Forget all of that like these are individuals. Look for them as individuals. Additionally, what about consoling? This is something that's very near and dear to my heart as you watch this. This is mine. Dad's birthday today. My dad is up in heaven. I miss them a lot, but at the end of the day, anyone who's ever grieved, someone will understand that when you lose somebody or you're going through grief or loss, most people turn away and I don't think it's ill intended. I think that it's uncomfortable to consult. I think that's, it's uncomfortable sometimes to look at people that are sad, especially when I'm going to make an assumption that we're very similar here, that we want to fix it and we want to help it, and the truth of the matter is there are some things in life that we can't fix, but we can help.
Rachel Sheerin (10:55):
And I'll give you my favorite line for consoling. It's truly looking at somebody who's experienced any kind of loss and saying, I'd like to hear more about them sometime, or if it's a non-physical loss of a person and more of a loss of an opportunity, maybe a loss of a graduation. I know that's a lot. That's top of mind right now. Just saying. I'd like to hear more about that. I'd like to hear more about what we end up doing. I'd like to hear more about your dreams about next time, about, you know, it couldn't matter so many different ways. There's so many different opportunities, but as you think about the consoling, I just want to make you aware that there's a lot of things around loss there could be lost in graduation. I know that's probably top of mind awards, you know, leadership awards, things like that.
Rachel Sheerin (11:43):
But there's also so much else. Loss of the community, loss of seeing people every day. There's a lot of loss right now. If you see someone hurting you that big and say it out loud. Additionally, making space for students. One of the questions that we got in the webinar was essentially how do you allow space for students and the includes students that really prefer not to be contacted or you know are not as engaged. Listen, my first rule of thumb is allowed them to choose how they are contacted. Do you have the option right now for them to choose texts or email? If not, can we make that happen? Additionally, when they do choose that, do they want daily updates or weekly updates? You know, giving people I, these young adults the choice of what they want. It's oftentimes like talking to a little kid about what they want for lunch.
Rachel Sheerin (12:30):
If you ask them what they want, they rarely know. But if you give them the option of chicken nuggets and peanut butter and jelly, you almost always have a happy kid because they'll choose one or the other. Brain's really like a duality of choice. They feel more included. Now additionally, I will say that this is one of those things where space for student also can be, that maybe you need to bring in new faces to reengage them and energize familiar faces absolutely mattered, but also to bringing a notable alumni or people in the community, right? Maybe they do feel more comfortable talking to strangers right now. Auxiliary support coaches or counselors also make a really good idea, especially when you think about in your alumni network which is a big theme of mine utilizing your alumni network. There are a lot of people working from home right now.
Rachel Sheerin (13:17):
So do you have any coaches? Do you have any counselors? Would they be willing to donate their time to help students through this that are possibilities? So as we're moving on, the second thing I want to talk about quickly, because I know a lot of you, it's top of mind is really talking about managing virtually. How does it look like when you manage virtually either groups of students or even your peers and teams. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the technology that's available out there for you four free, which is very nice on those online team management tools. So on the stream you're going to see there are a few of my favorite ones and it's also going to be in the replay and blog article that we attach to this webinar. So Slack, Isana and base camp. These are free tools to really communicate with your team.
Rachel Sheerin (14:00):
You also too can encourage your student clubs and groups to join on there as well. Now if you like to use Google a lot, Google has a plethora of tools that are already built in. So those can be things like tasks, a chat as well as Google drive. And we've created for you all actually a Google drive template. If you want to keep things single, simple and all in Google, what you're able to do is download our template and that's going to be included in the blog post as well. What you'll see on the template is it really gives space to be able to track the efficiency and project management of what you're doing so that your biggest goals are still accomplish while working from home. Hopefully that's been helpful. Now, additionally, the challenge we have when we're working virtually is that it's forcing us to hear beyond the words and so what some of the most encouraged practices I would share with you is really starting with really being on the lookout and hypersensitive for dismissive words.
Rachel Sheerin (15:01):
Dismissive words are words like, I know this is silly or this might seem stupid, or I know I'm being ridiculous. When words get shared like that and phrases get shared, it really provides an opportunity for support and encouragement from you. Stop them. When you hear those kinds of words say, that's not silly, that's realistic. That's not stupid. You're very aware and I know this is a tough time, that is not being ridiculous. Being ridiculous would be, you know, wearing pancakes in your hair, whatever the example might be. Just make sure that you're encouraging people to reframe. Additionally, there is an incredible Ted talk by Tim Ferriss. We'll link to it in this blog article, but it's on fearless fearless Dean is the idea that essentially whatever your fears are, you can put them into the light and you can put names to them and they won't merely hurt you as much because what happens is that you talk about how to prevent the fears from coming true as well as out repairing it.
Rachel Sheerin (16:03):
If the worst things actually happen. I've created a worksheet to go along with Tim's talk and you can definitely check that out. Making sure that we're helping people put names to their fears and working through the fears can really call them a lot logically. Now. Additionally, I would encourage you, if you haven't already started with your students as well as your team and yourself, perhaps also loved ones to really start help them painting a picture from a year to now, what would you like a year from now to really look like? And by the way, don't get held up on the hat. Do not get held up on the house because the how it's going to look a little different. It just, it must because the world is evolving right now. Don't be attached to the how. Be attached to the vision and be open to creating it along the way.
Rachel Sheerin (16:52):
There's going to be a lot of magic that can happen now. Additionally, as we're managing virtually and we're making sure that we're stopping and sharing and being there, we've got to remember that one of the powerful things y'all are able to do is help them remember the good times. This good time picture of here is a magical moment. It's me doing a keynote, which is what I love to do as a speaker. Speaking and changing lives and motivating. And one of the things that matters to me about this photo is that my mom is in the audience and my husband is in the audience and so is my best friend. And this, this photo gives me such joy and such power and such pride. I revisit it often. So how are you helping students in teams really revisit? Is it pictures from past events or celebrations?
Rachel Sheerin (17:39):
Are you reminding them of all the togetherness? Are you reminding them of the excitement? What about the awards or the first days, those memorable milestones that everyone on campus shares together or you were able to provide and highlight individuals. What about the podcasts or the books or the articles you think that enjoy and benefit from? And by the way, not just academically, right? They said, we're talking about you are leading. And I think this is what's so cool about the group of professionals. You all are, you know that you are not just leading minds, you are leading hearts and you are not just leading, you know, future professionals and future you know, adults and future leaders. You're also meeting people and you know, you manage things, you don't manage people, you lead them. And so there's some beauty in really trial being them develop, you know, what books did you enjoy when you were in college?
Rachel Sheerin (18:33):
What books did you hit you in your mid twenties that really made an effect on you? Guess what? It's probably going to be helpful now to the folks that you support. And what about the zany random things you find online? I, you know, between Buzzfeed and random stuff on Instagram means are always a good idea. Make sure that you are just, if something strikes you, listen to that intuition and really start to share. It's okay to laugh. Actually laughing's encouraged right now. If you can find comedy to this great share it spread like wildfire, you know, whatever, whatever we choose to focus on is going to be contagious. I choose joy, I choose motivation, you know, I hope whatever your choosing to focus on and you want to spread, I hope that it is impactful for your computer community. If you are feeling good, they will feel good.
Rachel Sheerin (19:25):
It is a beautiful ripple effect. And finally, personal photos, right? Babies, puppies, kitties. People are having babies still today. A cute kid is still a cute cat. A cute puppy is still a cute puppy. And I just, full disclosure, anything in miniature form is cute. It's just fact of life. So feel free to share visually what you'd like folks to think on. Now I did promise when I started this webinar, I would give you three virtual programming ideas. And so these are some of the ideas I came up with. The first one is the lip sync battle. Make sure that you know you've got a secure system to upload these photos to and make it a campus wide vote. People can vote via Instagram or via comments or tagging, but Olympic battle is always a good idea. And with the rise of tech doc, it honestly makes it easier than ever.
Rachel Sheerin (20:12):
What about high energy speakers around mindset? Motivation? I mean, it can literally be any topic, but for great high energy, digital programming, the energy has got to be real, that the atrics have got to be real and it's gotta be a little bit the more edgy or forward thinking than a lot of your programs in the past. The reason being is there is a lot of digital noise out there. It is your responsibility, Andrew privilege, right? Don't have to get to provide content, provide titles, work harder on the than you ever have before. I have this awesome program. I think that I do a lot of times for Greek life or different leadership or honestly all graduating seniors that focuses on nailing the interviews and rocking your first job. And this is one of the things we go over resume writing. We go over interview etiquette.
Rachel Sheerin (21:05):
We go over how to make sure that a job is a great fit for you because let's face it, there are people, the people you care about and you serve. There a lot of them that are about to launch into a very unknown job market under their program that I do. That's really popular is building a LinkedIn that rocks and this is one of those things. Most of your folks are not on there on every other platform, but they are not on LinkedIn. I help them make a profile that stands out to both applicants as well as peers and then how to stand out in a digital world. Just in general. Professionally, the do's, the don'ts, I mean he listened. They're the people that may or may not clog up LinkedIn with a bunch of junk, so let's make sure that they know how to use LinkedIn for their benefit.
Rachel Sheerin (21:46):
Another virtual program in idea is a mastermind or digital mentorship. This is where essentially you arranged folks and essentially match, make them with mentors, mentees being your students and mentors. They can come in all shapes and forms. This is where I see alumni networks being such a huge advantage. Tap into your alumni number. A lot of us, we're working from home. Okay. I'm UNC Charlotte in the house and it's one of those things where mentorship can come in so many different ways for so many different reasons. A program that I put together, a webinar teaching universities on how to develop mentorship programs is definitely available through bash Schuller. But one of the things about digital mentorship that I would keep in mind are really the three rules of it. You have to commit to the timeframe that if people want to be mentored and mentees, right?
Rachel Sheerin (22:35):
So it can be 30 minutes, 60 minutes every week, every two weeks, every month, something like that. Another thing is the expectation, what is expected of the mentor and what is expected of the mentee. So the mentor, for example, can be open communication and also not pushing the idea of success onto the mentee. A mentee, for example, needs to show up timely, be open, and also be a vulnerable, right? When a mentees turning to skirt around things, it's not as effective of a relationship. The third thing is just an understanding of goals. For example I'm sure a lot of you watching have tried to teach someone something it did not want to be taught. It is brutal. But listen, when people know that they want to talk about something, for example, a mentor may say that they are great at building a business and you may have a mentee that's interested in learning entrepreneurship.
Rachel Sheerin (23:27):
That could be a great a great match. But if you know, this particular mentee and what they really need is humility, guess what? They don't know that. They don't know that yet. But if you give them what they need and what they know, they want those beautiful mentor, mentee relationships, you're lucky enough to have one. What's great is you go into it thinking that you're going to have one thing out of it and then you've got so much more. Now I promise three virtual programming ideas, but it couldn't stop. So again, these are not things that you have to deal. These are just things to train, inspire you to think outside the box. Because in coaching you have this beautiful phrase and it's called something to push back on. It's when somebody gives you ideas and you say, Oh, no, no, no, no, no, but we could do this.
Rachel Sheerin (24:11):
Or, Oh no, no, no. That wouldn't work. But we could. And it's supposed to spur you. And so I hope these are doing that for you. So what are some other things? A shark tank pitch and panel. If you have entrepreneurs, which I'm sure there's so many of them out there. Entrepreneurs, get them the shark tank, give them the experience of pitching and negotiating. No negotiation is another topic that I speak on via webinars for leadership training and teams. But when it comes to a great shark tank, try and get a panel of folks. I am always available. I would love to see your young sharps. But this is something where business leaders, investors, bankers, and help them. You've done that experience so that when they do, if ever ask for money or get a pitch or get a bank loan for a business, that they would be prepared.
Rachel Sheerin (24:57):
What about a mural design contest? Where on campus do you need a new mural? Want a new mural? Once we all get off a quarantine, it would be awesome to see some bright colors and art going up. Why not do that? A tick tock challenge. If you're social media savvy. I have not downloaded tic-tac yet, but I certainly love the idea. Why not do the challenge? You know Sierra and Russell Wilson right now, we're doing an awesome kind of dance off. So many people are in on it. Why not get in on the fun and additionally, why not create an award? I mean I, it's award season anyway for you guys. Why not best score and Tina give an award for the cleanest, give an award for the most creative. What about the best social distance, sir? Seeing what people can do and giving them awards.
Rachel Sheerin (25:41):
You can let them vote. Why not? These are all opportunities for engagement. Most of them coughing very, very little money and it's one of those things that just ups your connection and connection I think is really the goal. So I'll end with this. This is a durable in a tiny hat [inaudible] tiny piece of pumpkin pie. I think it's funny, it proves the things in miniature form actually are funny. And also did you have to laugh? You might be surprised to see the slide. You might be wondering what the heck is going on. Yes, it is a time that is okay to laugh and it's okay to share. I will let you know that some of the things that I love to share are around these few topics. So whether it's student programming or team communication and Paxil presentation or leadership development both for students and for campus leaders.
Rachel Sheerin (26:32):
This is something that I provide virtual, motivational and professional development for herself. I include all the technology and this is something you can ask special or my Sue Scott and Chris about. If you are interested, I'll leave you with this before I move into answering questions. This quote by Malcolm X always, always, always gets me, but it feels more pertinent and timely now more than ever. Simply put when I is replaced with wi, even illness becomes wellness. Yeah. Not my friends that reinforces that. The I, we are and the we, we feel they're both so powerful, but the we is even stronger. This is the message that your universities need right now. Your students need right now or are you delivering it? How are you delivering it? And do you feel it's so true and so deeply are you being that change? Are you delivering that message?
Rachel Sheerin (27:29):
I hope so. I know your heart is huge. I know your spirits, they're probably taken a little bit of a beating, but keep strong and hold onto the fact that the [inaudible] aye if it can become a wee, even illness becomes wellness. So from the recording earlier, these were some of the most popular questions that were asked. I would absolutely love to answer these as if we were alive. So one of the questions is, you know, how to move awards online. Listen, I think that there is so many opportunities for great virtual events. Some of it starts with being high energy. Start with, some of it starts with making sure that the consistency, if celebration is there, that it's not just a onetime online awards and we're done. What it can be is it can be, I'm sending congratulation notes. It can be following up 30 days later.
Rachel Sheerin (28:19):
It can be having recording videos that flood and Hey, congratulations. Taken graduation seat. Congratulations. you know, there are so many different ways to move awards online from a technical standpoint. And from an emotional standpoint, it's something that I absolutely love to do. I would say that one thing I do love seeing, I see it oftentimes at weddings or funerals and it is one of those things where people will collect stories of the couple or the person. Why not do that now, why not send out a campus wide survey and ask people to write about these award winners so that they can treasure that forever. That they can have the words, I'm not just a nice speech, which is nice in person or online, but why not have those memories, gathering them together for them and give them as a gift. And then if you did want to talk about having either a high energy and see someone like myself the technical side of things, all stuff that bachelor can really speak with you on now.
Rachel Sheerin (29:16):
One great suggestion we really loved from earlier as webinar is the cook with us idea. So this idea about just cooking classes and teaching people maybe life skills or doing at chop style, which I really liked. One of the things also was asked was should I use my personal page for social media connections? A lot of people do not. They go with the university page only. But I would say that, you know, first of all, consult your university handbook. What's appropriate, not appropriate. This is an interesting time. There's going to be a lot of innovation and there's going to be a lot of ways that changed the way you connect with your students and your your teams. So what I would say is if you feel the intuition that that is something that you would a not only like, but also really feel like folks would benefit from, I would love for you to bring that to your leadership and ask, I personally love connecting with people personally.
Rachel Sheerin (30:09):
This is why you can find me on Instagram and you can meet my dog and my husband and everything like that. Another thing that was mentioned [inaudible] Spotify playlists. You know, any suggestions for creating playlists to get students through or anti-anxiety? I saw, I thought that was an incredible idea. Music is so encrypted, incredibly powerful. What I would suggest though is that you put the videos on YouTube, so actually find the music on YouTube and make a playlist there because Spotify is a paid service for the most part and we want to make sure that everyone has access to it. Netflix watch parties. Since you can't stream live, like I mentioned earlier, it is a classic solution and canceled graduations, how to celebrate anyways. Some of my ideas that I spent balled earlier about this would really register around keeping the celebrations going. Also being able to celebrate not just today, but 30 days after, 40 days after, six months after.
Rachel Sheerin (31:04):
I mean there's nothing better than getting a surprise email or a card and saying, do you remember where you were? And I think, Oh my gosh, I like Facebook memories. If you're familiar with that, you completely forget about it because we're all living in the now. What are the ways that you can strategize the graduation this year is not going to be one day. That would be my big takeaway and encouragement for you all is how can we make it multi-day. Additionally, you know, celebrating any ways can look a lot like asking your network, your sponsors, your vendor partners, your peers, your alumni to see what they are able to donate. Oftentimes gifting is going to go, I mean after tragedies or tough times, gifting does go way off. What are the able to do now? Quick suggestion I said on earlier's webinar is about maybe talking to resorts or cruise lines and seeing if you get an a, a, a deal on something for your for your students that might not be applicable because maybe your campus organization doesn't allow alcohol or travel or things like that.
Rachel Sheerin (32:03):
But I would challenge you to think what can you do that gives us similar feeling. A lot of people are missing out on the fun. Now how to do peer mentoring. I do offer a webinar in that, so let me know if you want to attend. But when it comes to virtual peer mentoring, I think zoom, Google Hangouts, what's great is that you're able to record in both of those. So make sure that your sessions are recorded and it's great for your participants, your mentees to be able to reference back later too. One of the great questions I got earlier and it really gave me pause was how to engage students that are panicking and resistant and I would say how would treat them if they were adults. The answer is is we would respect their boundaries and I think that that is probably the best call of action and we keep checking in on them.
Rachel Sheerin (32:49):
The text that I think is most underrated in life is, Hey, I'm thinking about you literally a, Hey, I'm thinking about you. How are you? Those small things are going to bridge a huge gap between people who really don't want to be in the group and people who feel like they're still part of the grief even though they don't show up. So additionally, how to keep bondings moving. There were great ideas around running virtual 5k, so go ahead and Google that. I think it's virtual 5k.com additionally, you could ask your recreations department or your athletic trainers and really ask them, you know, what courses can we do online? What can we stream online, what can be in the portal? Can we have, you know, like a cardio Mondays and hip hop Thursdays and things like that. Additionally, I would say this is a great opportunity to really stress the perhaps the benefits mentally and emotionally of exercise in a new way because you're going to be able to see and identify that a lot of things right now in the world, they're stressing people out and we're doing a lot of sitting that includes your students.
Rachel Sheerin (33:57):
So make sure that you understand, Hey, are you fighting with your partner more than usual? That's probably because you've been cooped up in the house. Join us for yoga, meditation, breathing, stretching a gray one. How about your personal trainers and your physical trainers for sports medicine? Why don't they lead a training class? That would be awesome. Additionally, how did you trivia and I virtually, we got a great question around that and awesome help from attendees. They said that Kahoot was the perfect platform for that. So that is kahoot.com. Listen, I have loved being with you all. Thank you so much. I could not believe 500 and I mean 550 registrants on a Friday working from home. It just during massive, massive chaos. Listen, thank you. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for who you are. Listen, this is my information. You have questions. Call me. Feel free to email me. I would love to come to your campus and if I can't come soon, I'd love to connect with you again. Let us know what kinds of webinars you'd be interested in, what you're looking for for development right now, and just keep the faith. It's going to be a new world and it's going to be a great world. Thanks for developing the minds and the hearts of the world for the future. We'll see you guys soon. Thanks for stopping in. Okay Bye.
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