Why I Keep Saying Yes to Higher Education (Even When I Don鈥檛 Know What I鈥檓 Getting Myself Into)
Castleski/Shutterstock
We're All Figuring It Out
Few professionals in higher education arrive by following a linear career plan. Instead, most careers unfold through a series of intentional but uncertain choices, often shaped by formative student experiences, unexpected position openings, and a steady commitment to learning through each job transition. Fifteen years into my own higher education journey, I've held roles in student affairs, community education, instructional design, and faculty development. With each change, the profession has asked more of me. And each time, I've said yes, without knowing exactly what the new role would entail. That "yes," I've come to believe, is at the heart of both individual growth and the institutional resilience of our colleges and universities.
There Is No Perfect Plan
Many faculty and staff embark on higher education careers rooted in their undergraduate experiences. Early experiences like leading campus tours, taking part in student research, or tutoring their peers is where we learn the unwritten curriculum of working in higher education: where to focus our energy, how to talk about our work with others in the field, and how to deliver results for our department or program. These roles also provide important insight into how interconnected every function of our institutions truly is.
Equally important, these positions help us begin articulating our work in professional terms. Learning how to translate campus-based experience into interview-ready language is useful, especially when navigating job searches across institutional types or collegiate systems. After graduation, job sites become powerful career exploration tools. By poring over job postings, we see directly how different institutions project themselves, how their organizational structures distribute responsibility, and how our own labor might help catalyze the efforts of others.
My first professional job search led me 1,000 miles away from home. Like many in the field, I've found that willingness to explore -- to imagine ourselves as capable of change and helping others do the same -- is what keeps our careers moving forward, even when employment certainty is in short supply.
Every Job Application Is a Teacher
Each position we apply for is a type of bet on our adaptability, our values, and our capacity to create a meaningful difference. Though it may feel laborious, the process enables each of us to imagine what the next chapter of our story might look like, whether we land the job or not. In turn, each in-person and virtual interview we're granted teaches us something about how higher education works in different places. In the same way, times of transition serve as open invitations to revisit core institutional priorities, policies, and the purpose and identity of our institutions -- and our personal commitment to support them, improve them, or seek new opportunities elsewhere.
Often, the pursuit of career growth can be discouraging. At other times, when the right opportunity appears, it can feel self-affirming. Over time, it becomes clear that titles and degrees may open doors, but they're only part of the picture. Great employers and leaders also look for readiness, curiosity, and the ability to build trust and solve problems in complex environments. Even roles that seem out of reach on paper may align closely with lived experience. affirms the practical reality; nonlinear career paths to and through higher education often produce the most capable professionals.
Privilege, Pressure, and the Pace of Change
Working in higher education is, in many ways, a privilege. It offers a chance to stay connected to cutting-edge research, to help students navigate their formative years, and to collaborate with colleagues equally committed to inquiry and opportunity. Professional development opportunities -- from local workshops to national conferences -- can provide intellectual nourishment that's unique to the field of education.
But the field is not without its challenges. Institutional fatigue, resource constraints, and constantly shifting (often growing) sets of responsibilities are common. For those who've stayed in the field for a decade or more, it's not uncommon to experience feelings of disillusionment -- especially when campus politics risk interfering with the work of serving our students.
Still, the tension itself can be clarifying. Each challenge is a reminder that higher education is not static. It evolves -- often awkwardly, sometimes urgently. And those who stick around have an opportunity to shape that evolution with humility, honesty, and a commitment to improving the systems they inherit.
The Future Is Always Unknown
If you take on new responsibilities, over time, circumstances will challenge you to communicate more effectively, to listen more fully, and to lead from a place of humility and curiosity, even if colleagues fret that taking on administrative responsibilities means . When my recent department chair hiring announcement went out, the congratulatory notes poured in -- but one message stood out: "Hello Jordan, congratulations on getting the chair for our department ??. I hope you know what you have gotten yourself into." Instead of , the email triggered a "Eureka!" moment for me. The truth is, at no point in my 15-year higher education career did I ever really know what I was getting myself into. I just keep saying yes -- to new roles, new institutions, new challenges -- because each one held the possibility of helping me grow into a more knowledgeable, helpful, and impactful community college employee.
Sure enough, my job announcement eventually surfaced a familiar split: leadership celebrated my promotion, while some faculty questioned when and how they were included in the process. The posted job responsibilities may be clear, but the expectations and institutional memory surrounding the role can be anything but.
Moments like these are not uncommon in higher education. Change often reawakens long-simmering conflicts and concerns. What matters most is how we respond. Leadership, especially in uncertain times, isn't about having all the answers. It's about being willing to listen, adapt, and help institutions improve their processes without undermining their people.
Keep Saying Yes
Higher education careers are built not just on ability, but on adaptability -- the willingness to navigate ambiguity, to build trust amid uncertainty, and to keep learning long after the degree is earned.
For those working in the profession today -- whether newly hired, mid-career, or approaching a major transition -- there's rarely a moment when the next step feels entirely predictable. But invitations to contribute, lead, and grow will continue to present themselves no matter what tomorrow brings.
More than ever, today's students need our wisdom, our leadership, and our example. In the age of AI, they need us to work together to build the colleges and universities of tomorrow. Keep saying yes -- to learning, to service, to improving the systems our students depend on. Then invite others to do the same. Their future -- and ours -- depends on it.
