I avoid group activities at higher ed conferences like parasite-infected lettuce. They’re too personal. I don’t do let’s-be-vulnerable-with-strangers. And being a journalist, it can feel like I’m an interloper in higher ed’s tight-knit professional communities. I have no relatable work experiences to share.
But this week at the National Association of College and University Business Officers’ annual meeting, keynote speaker Suneel Gupta, an author and host of Amazon Prime’s Business Class, tricked me into sharing. Before I could slip out the back, Gupta had us pull the note cards from under our chairs and write down our biggest worry in life, anonymously. Then, I was among the 1,600 attendees walking the enormous hall swapping card after card and writing “+1” on the back if we’d ever felt the same thing.
I learned that someone’s middle child was probably going to jail and they are draining their retirement fund to pay the legal fees. Another person was terrified by the world her unborn child is coming into. I read that someone’s father recently died and without his guidance they felt adrift. Several people were worried about excelling in their careers and still being able to show up for their family. A scary number of marriages were in trouble.
