Welcome to the Team - Sara Holtzman!

SIU Residence Life has some great things going on, and we want to showcase some of our proud moments on our blog. We also hope people considering working in RA, graduate assistant, or full-time positions with our department will take a minute to learn more about the things we are doing. More information about our department, including position descriptions, application information, and graduate and full-time staff profiles can be found on our recruitment website.

This post was written by Sara Holtzman. Sara is one of two Hall Directors in Mae Smith, and this will be her first year as a full-time staff member in Residence Life.

Wowza! Time has certainly flown by! I am thrilled to begin my journey as a full-time professional within Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Residence Life team! I completed my grad work here and simply decided that I adored SIU Carbondale Housing’s commitment to inclusion, professionalism, and education a bit too much to say goodbye.

I was a bit nervous to begin my career here, but knowing that I would have the opportunity to build amazing mentorships and friends helped me to stay. A colleague of mine introduced me to the phrase, “there is nothing wrong with blossoming where you have been planted.” I cannot begin to explain just how thrilled I am to blossom here in the Mae Smith Nation at SIU Carbondale!

My arrival was smooth and ridiculously fun as I was welcomed into the full-time group. Days of training and nights of cook outs, movies, and plenty of conversation have been phenomenal. I am on a personal mission to grow some awesome plants, mainly basil and cilantro, continue working on my fitness at the Crossfit gym I joined, and hopefully volunteering on one of the local farms! I am wildly grateful for my counterparts and continue to look ahead most to doing what we love - serving students and having a blast.