Being Old Staff...

Hello, friends!

In March of 2007, I was a Senior at WashU (Go Bears!) and was invited to apply for InterVarsity staff as an intern. My staff worker, Jean, invited me to go to San Mateo, California to meet the Asian American staff from all over the country. That was my first AAMSC.

Back then, I wasn't even a staff. I was just a wide-eyed 22-year-old trying to decide whether or not I would apply to join this staff team (spoiler alert: I applied). AAMSC19 was my 5th AAMSC and after attending 5 of these bad boys, I've come to a realization... I'm Old Staff now.

Maybe I already knew I was old staff but seeing it in the Asian American Ministries context was something new. Of the roughly 220 staff in attendance, 125 of them had been on staff fewer than 5 years. Another 40 had been on staff between 5-10 years. Our group of 10-20 year staff was 16.

Not all of it is just numbers. A lot of the staff who either joined staff the same year as me or were already on staff when I hopped on, are no longer working with InterVarsity. Since AAMSC only happens once every 3 years, it's a bit of a shock when you arrive and realize that a few more of your old friends won't be there.

Of course, there are advantages to being Old Staff. One of those advantages is that since Asian American culture leans more hierarchical, I am afforded a certain level of reverence and respect from the younger staff. Whether or not I deserve it is another question altogether, but either way I still get it. =0).

Another advantage is that there's more freedom in the afternoons. Each day we had afternoon workshops but in talking to the staff who were leading those workshops, I realized that each of them was designed for staff in the 4-7 year range. That meant that I didn't have to go to them if I didn't want. I saw a fair number of Old Staff out and about during the workshop time, just like me. Of course, spending more years on staff also means you have more stuff to do, so all the Old Staff were in meetings or doing other work (I had a few meetings myself), but it was still nice to have that freedom.

Honestly, I love being Old Staff. It's fun to share stories with the younger staff about how things "used to be" and I love the freedom of not feeling like I need to "do it all" while I'm there. It's a bummer not seeing as many old friends but it's also great meeting new friends. Besides, I'm an old soul anyway so being called the old guy doesn't bother me.

We'll see what happens at AAMSC22, when I'm OLDER Staff. =0).

Have an excellent day!

~Adam

Back Home