Live long enough, and the Holidays will always be marked by interesting memories.

This one for example occurred back in 2017 over Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

Saint Joseph's College had been closed for about 6 months at this point, and we had completed liquidating a large number of SJC assets, a necessary but depressing series of events that I found myself having to PM.

/1

As the Chief Information Officer for SJC, I was originally slated to leave around July

Indeed, I wrote the IT wind-down plan as part of my responsibilities as CIO and the President's Cabinet, with my termination one of the final items

Instead, I found myself being asked to stay as part of the "Phoenix Team"; a group that consisted of the CFO, the VP of Academic Affairs, a newly recruited VP for fundraising, the former Rector of the College, and a small group of admin and facilities people

/2

Part of my expanded role was being given the "honor" of being the contact for the press, and quasi-spokesperson for the College. A role I honestly would rather not have bestowed on me again.

For the next 2 years I would be one of the "faces" of the group that, in the minds of many, killed their school.

I also had a local reporter, that despite my continual follows-ups and asks, could not get my title at the College correct:

https://www.newsbug.info/rensselaer_republican/sjc-s-final-auction-a-success-college-shifting-focus-to/article_b392c0a8-d3ed-11e7-a85f-ef850ca8ef1c.html

/3

Unsurprisingly, the liquidation of many of the School's beloved, uh, junk... had not left me in the best of moods, and some of the on-line commentary on social networking, was to put it charitably, unkind.

So, when our facilities manager informed us on Thanksgiving Day that the 6" water main into campus had developed a slight leak, the gallows humor was definitely in full swing.

His definition of a "slight leak" BTW:

/4

This was NOT one of my most pleasant Thanksgivings (that is me in the Red Sweatshirt).

Indeed, it would be safe to say I was seriously questioning what I had gotten myself into. I know for a fact it was really hard to envision what a come-back for this school was going to look like.

Looking back, this was likely the lowest point of my tenure with SJC and my 2nd journey in Jasper County Indiana.

/5

But you know, things did get better.

The water main got fixed, largely due to the efforts of a facilities team that just didn't know the meaning of the word quit.

I stayed on for another two years, and when I left, SJC was still operating, albeit as a very different institution than what it was when it closed. Today it provides vocational educational services for a rural community that arguably needs those skills more than what was coming out of a small Liberal Arts College.

/6

And well, I am now living in California, working as the CIO for a wonderful Public Agency, in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.

And tomorrow I will celebrate the 35th (??? - pretty sure it is 35) Thanksgiving with a person I cannot believe chose to spend her days with me.

It is virtually certain that I could not have arrived here without having been there, staring at an eruption of water and wondering about my life choices, 8 years ago.

/7

So... no matter where you are in your moment of life... Remember, no matter how bad it seems, it can (and likely will) get better.

And if you are in a good place now, take the space to acknowledge the times where that may have not been true, as those low-points are what make the highs so meaningful.

And perhaps show a little kindness to those that are having their "slight leak" challenges right now.

Happy Thanksgiving #MastoPeeps

/8 End