Life & Work with Resharia Keller

Today we’d like to introduce you to Resharia Keller

Hi Resharia, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My journey in education actually began before I realized. I was always a highly involved student, and I always found myself wanting to be connected to the educational communities I was a part of. As a lover of people and as someone who values relationship building, I think that I have always felt driven to invest in others and their experiences. It was only after having several high-impact experiences in Student Affairs, as a Black student attending a Predominately White Institution, that I realized there was an opportunity to invest in students and their collegiate experiences. There were so many aspects of my undergraduate experience that left me feeling hurt and, honestly, robbed of the college experience that many students envision. Student involvement and connections with faculty and staff were my saving grace. I sought out ways to get involved at every turn, and through that involvement came the creation of relationships that sustained me throughout matriculation. Oddly enough, it was not until after I graduated that I realized that I could create a career helping students have positive collegiate experiences while advocating for them to have equitable interactions and opportunities, which I hope will ultimately strengthen the holistic student experience and increase the value of higher education.

So, I took my pain and disappointment and made it my purpose (and my career). Identifying my purpose and actively living it has given me so much insight, and it has also helped me understand that my passions and holistic purpose are not one-dimensional or confined to my career in higher education. Through that realization, I started to really make connections around how I can combine things that I love with my life’s purpose: advocacy and equitable care for others.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say the road has definitely had some bumps and curves. As I mentioned before, my undergraduate experience, as a whole, left a lot to be desired; however, I genuinely think that experience prepared me for a future of advocacy and service to others. I knew what I wish that I had experienced, so it became my goal to ensure that my students could have what I did not. With that, I was forced to really acknowledge the depth of my own feelings based around my experience. When I officially started working in higher education, I was incredibly excited, but imposter syndrome definitely kicked in quickly.

I started to realize what existing within a system really looked like. How could I have an impact when I was so inexperienced? I was really starting to understand how difficult it is to be existing within the same system I was fighting to improve. It felt like being stuck in mud. That period taught me the importance of collaboration and connection, and I started to approach relationships with peers and colleagues with care and intentionality. So many of us in the field have the same goals: to see students succeed, to create experiences in which they are treated equitably and to love and care for them genuinely. Knowing that, although certain systems may seem impenetrable, there are amazing people with whom I get to work alongside makes the ups and downs of the journey worth it.

Like many fields and industries, higher education is facing its own challenges, but the ability to share time and space with students as they learn and find themselves is truly special, and I do not think there is a way to replicate the joy that I feel when I get to walk alongside a student on their journey.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a higher education professional with a background in Housing/Residence Life. More recently, I ventured into Student Conduct. I have been active in the field for about five years now, and I have gained such a wealth of knowledge and experience. Residence Life is a functional area of student affairs, which exists to support and develop college students holistically, and I think I have developed a reputation within my campus community as a staunch advocate and lover of students.

Many of my students would probably describe me as relatable, caring and reliable. I genuinely try to give students my very best every day. I work intentionally to show up authentically and transparently, and I have come to realize that my students truly respect and love me for who I am at any given time. Unlike so many other periods in my life, I feel completely accepted by my students and many of my colleagues. That realization reminds me everyday that I am where I should be at this time in my life. I am most proud of those relationships, honestly. I have many students that have graduated, transferred, even some who have withdrawn from our University and they allow me to continue to be a part of their journey. We speak and check-in regularly, and I have been to a student wedding (I’m gearing up for a second), multiple birthday celebrations, graduations, final course/thesis presentations, etc! Each one surprises me a little more, because sometimes I genuinely cannot believe that so many students have chosen to have me in their lives and present for some of their most important moments. THAT makes me proud! To know that something that I have said, or maybe a hug that I have given on a rough day, has had an impact on another human means more than any title, level of authority, or tough situation. I have fully realized that if we give students our best, they will give us even more, and that is an unimaginable sense of gratitude, joy and pride.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I think there a lot of predictions and opinions about where higher education is headed right now. Personally, I think that we are in a really pivotal time given the state of our society. Although there are a number of challenges our nation is navigating, student affairs professionals have a unique opportunity to really create and sustain pockets of safety and care for students. We can see that there is a need for safe and brave spaces, and we are in the perfect position to enhance our offerings in creative and meaningful ways. Over the last few years, particularly as we have fought through the aftermath of Covid-19, my department started to reframe our thinking around student care and support and we began to shift our focus to honoring and meeting the general and foundational needs of our students.

We were seeing that many of our students were prioritizing connecting and reconnecting with others in meaningful ways, spending time and sharing space with peers and those supporting them, and building community within the University and local community. That gave our team an opportunity to switch gears, given that prior to Covid-19, I think we were seeing students expressing the need for more elaborate and individualized programming, more refined and specific residential offerings, etc. At the core though, I think it has always been about community and creating this sense of a home away from home. I will say, I am loving the different ways that our students are starting to express that need, because they are actively prioritizing and advocating for themselves unapologetically. They can identify what they want, AND they often give us the tools to actualize those needs and wants. That is the beauty of the field for me. Students will tell us exactly what they need and want from us, if only we are willing to listen. I firmly believe that when our field, and the systems that we exist in, can find a way to truly put students first, we will never face a challenge that we are unable to overcome.

Just like any other field, higher education has its challenges and drawbacks, and these are simply my opinions and general observations as a practitioner. With that said, I want students that choose to attend colleges and universities to feel supported through the challenges and obstacles and to know that genuine care and support for them exists at every level. I recognize that there are a number of factors that create inequitable barriers to access for many students, and we have a lot of work to do to address those issues. Ultimately though, it is my hope that through all of the ups and downs of the matriculation experience, students leave our institutions knowing that they are prepared for whatever lies ahead and that they can always find home and an advocate at the institutions which served them. I wholeheartedly believe that our students deserve that from us. They deserve our very best, and I am honored to work alongside higher education professionals who show up daily committed to giving students the absolute best that our field has to offer.

Contact Info:

• Email address: resharia4@gmail.com