Gabriela Gaya

I think there are a lot of things that have contributed to my success. Having a great support system of friends who really believe in me, even when I might struggle to believe in myself, has been honestly really instrumental for me personally, especially when I might doubt myself or have critiques in different spaces. It's really good to have a support system and a network of people who are like, hey, no, you can do this, and just kind of walking me through different processes of how to do things has been really helpful. Additionally, just having great parents who really have been awesome about raising me in a way that helped me prioritize school and academics and success in a way that I really feel was helpful for me later on, when I think other spaces or other people might not have prioritized those things as much. I think it helped me just not even question it - I'm gonna go and try and be the best I can be, because my parents always wanted me to be, and that helped a lot too. So definitely both of those things, but heavy on the friend support.

I think the best career advice I've received is just kind of taking experiences as they come, as opposed to getting too mired down in needing to have a very specific five or ten year plan, because interests change, markets change, and your interests may change as you continue to find out more about yourself, especially as a young professional. I think giving yourself grace to know that maybe the thing that you thought you were gonna do at 18 isn't the thing you're gonna do forever, and that's okay. For those plans to change and evolve as you get to learn and grow is a really natural thing, and it's a great thing that you're able to do. I think giving myself that grace to be like, hey, it's okay that I'm not still in music education specifically. The fact that I'm finding something that I'm passionate about is really what is important. And kind of giving that same advice to other young professionals has been really full circle for me.

I think the biggest advice I would give is to meet yourself where you're at and give yourself grace. I think seeing a lot of people just kind of be like, oh, I have to do this next thing, this next thing, and this next thing, and maybe you just have to learn more about your field. As a young higher ed professional, I was jumping into my master's thinking, oh, I have to do research, I have to jump and say yes to maybe a lot of things, and I think it's easy to just compare yourself to other people. You might just need to be like, hey, this is where I'm at right now in my interest spaces, and give yourself that time to acclimate and get to know your own field, because then I think that'll make it easier later on when you're actually having to maybe do actionable steps to get involved in research or get involved in conferences. Taking the time to understand what it is that you're interested in is really instrumental. Someone said that comparison is the thief of all joy, and they're right on that one. You just gotta do what's right for you, and whatever your version of success is, is the right one, because it's you.

One of the biggest challenges I've faced in my field is maintaining balance consistently. While balance is a value of mine, it can be a little bit challenging, especially when expectations or routines change on a regular basis. With retention, it's not as common, but I know with residence life, the routines on a day-to-day basis can shift, and those hours can shift, so then making sure that outside holistic space is still maintained, and that self-care and wellness overall are prioritized, can definitely be difficult, especially when you're part-time working, part-time being a student, and there's not a lot of time outside of that. In terms of opportunities, there are definitely a couple of big professional associations that host internship matching programs. One of them is called ACUHO-I, which is a housing association that works with Residence Life, and there's also a NODA internship platform for orientation and new student family programs. I was able to utilize both of those platforms this past year to start looking into summer internship programs, and I was able to match with Harvard University for their pre-college summer program. These kinds of opportunities are really exciting for getting more housing experience and growing in different areas, as well as exploring institutions outside of Florida to broaden those horizons and see what opportunities might be out there.

I think balance is really important to me. I try to maintain not only the work-life balance of it all, but also the school-life balance, keeping all of the things that are big priorities to me as something that maybe I can make a SMART goal out of. So, for example, if I want to make sure I'm spending enough time with friends and getting outside of my bubble, I make sure on a weekly basis I'm checking in with my schedule and saying, hey, I'm setting aside time just for me, I'm setting aside time just for this, and actually making sure I'm dedicated to not curtailing any of that time for school stuff or for work stuff. I think we get really mired down in the pattern of going to work and then going home and not really making use of the five to nine outside of the nine to five. So making sure you're checking in on those spaces and making sure you're balanced in all the areas is a big value for me.