I find that making lasting relationships with other faculty members challenging. I am not sure why but this has always been a struggle for me, even before GCC. I know that the faculty here at GCC are all trying to create quality instruction for their students and we are all attempting to help our students achieve their goals.If any relationship should be easy to build it should be this type. We all have a good amount of job related characteristics that we share. However, I still find it difficult. FYRE has probably been the best way for me to meet faculty outside of my department but within my department opportunities are limited.

I want to feel connected with the faculty here at GCC and I believe the best way to do this is to start saying yes to extracurricular events. I am not a huge fan of happy hour but this might be the best way to build lasting relationships with my fellow faculty members.

When making relationships with Staff, I feel more at ease. I feel comfortable coming to the staff for help on pretty much everything. This level of comfort helps me to connect with the staff. I get to learn about their families and we can usually find common interest fairly easily. These relationships mean a lot to me and I put forth a good deal of effort in making connections with the staff.

Creating relationships with my students is the easiest for me. I have had a good amount of practice since I have taught for 10 years. I like to start my semester off with introductions surrounding their hobbies, interests, and long term academic goals. This helps me connect with the students outside of them being in my class. I also start to learn their names fast since I can parallel their hobbies with their names.