Welcome to ASCI 21 and to SCU! Whenever you have a blog assignment due, you'll check this site to find instructions for your posts. We'll be spending 10 weeks learning about each other and reflecting in and out of the classroom and these blogs will create a creative space for personal reflection and connection with one another.
Your first assignment is easy: First, introduce yourself using a few paragraphs. Please feel free to give it some flair - share pictures, links, video clips, whatever will help us learn about you. Second, tell us about something you've done that you're really proud of.
Since I'm asking you to share about yourselves, I want to share a bit about me with you.
My name is Gillian Cutshaw and I'm originally from Fountain Valley down in Southern California. I went to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and spent a lot of wonderful years living on the Central Coast during and after college. It is where my parents live and where I consider my home to be. I've spent 8 years working in higher ed, first in sexual assault and dating violence prevention at Saint Mary's College in Moraga and now in leadership education here at SCU. In my role here, I get to advise the Santa Clara Community Action Program (SCCAP), SCU's oldest and largest social justice and service organization, and I get to put on the Magis Leadership Retreat and teach ELP. I absolutely love working with students and I greatly enjoy building relationships with them and helping them grow and find themselves during their college years.
I'm a mom to a sweet, fun, and energetic 1 year old boy named Logan. He goes to daycare at Kids on Campus so you may see him being pushed around campus in his little car. He turned 1 in February and is pretty much the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. He just started walking in January (see video below) and my world now revolves around trying to keep up with him.
Before Logan came along, travel was a huge passion of mine. I went to grad school in Ireland and was fortunate enough to travel all over Europe during that time and since. I even went to swing dance camp in Sweden - twice! A lot of my travels were done alone but now I'm married to another travel enthusiast. My husband Kameron works here at SCU as a Network Engineer. He lived in Japan for several years and has traveled all over Asia. Together we've been to Italy and Ireland and have plans to go to many more places once Logan is older. For now though, we mostly hang out at home and enjoy cooking and eating all kinds of food, watching Marvel movies, Game of Thrones and This Is Us, exploring with Logan, and sleeping whenever we can.
Being a mom has changed my life in ways that I could never have imagined. Now I have a tiny person who gets up at 5:30am and looks to me and his dad to take care of him and show him how to be a person. It's awesome and at the same time it makes me think a lot about who I am, what I value, and how I want my son to see me as he grows up. It also makes me more invested in the world around me as I think about how Logan will be impacted by our society and culture as he gets older. It feels more important than ever to educate myself and make my voice heard on issues that I'm passionate about.That's enough about me for now. I'm so excited to learn more about all of you and to take this adventure into exploring leadership with you. If you need anything or have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out! Thanks for taking the time to read my post and get to know a bit more about me. Now please enjoy this video of Logan taking his first steps:
