Michelle Wilson

One of the things people often report when they move to North Dakota is the hardiness of the people. Sometimes I take that community characteristic for granted. But, I was reminded of it recently at Fargo Fest, a community celebration centered aptly centered on the movie Fargo. As we gathered together and gazed up at the outside viewing of the cult classic, I found myself smiling. Not only due to the kettle corn coma, but because I was connected with community.

Even being surrounded by Facebook posts, and laments from people longing for just a little more summer I can’t hide my giddiness for fall. In large part due to my unapologetic love of sweaters, socks, and my trusty NorthFace. But more than that there’s just something fabulous about Fall. The crispness, the extra satisfying sips of coffee on my way across campus, the softer sunsets that seem to linger just a little longer than their summer cousins. Possibly due to the fact that I’m not holed up in my apartment sitting in front of my air conditioner, but nonetheless, it’s a time of year I’m a little more mindful than usual.

Coming into a Graduate School program, it’s the assumption that we come in knowing how to get things done. Looking back over this first year, figuring how to accomplish the next task at hand with the plethora of other roles has been a richer experience than I would have thought. Professors take special care to set things to maximize our learning and construct assignments to help us become effective counselors. You can all remember this, or maybe are the midst of this now. Sometimes, there’s a lot to do. Sometimes there’s more to do than you feel you have hours in the day. Sometimes it’s necessary to be very thoughtful in our plans in order to get where we’re going. For some of us this thoughtfulness involves careful plotting and strategizing our workload in a planner. For me, the magic really came--wait for it…when I threw away the planner.