Returning home after the whirlwind that is a conference can be a jarring experience. With the HighEdWeb 2023 Annual Conference a few weeks in the rear view, here’s some advice that can help you settle back in.
What is Con Drop?
For first-timers, the Annual Conference can be A Lot, with so many presentations to watch and opportunities to network and learn.
For returning HighEdWebbers, the conference is a chance to fill our cups with connection and knowledge that will sustain us throughout the rest of the (academic) year.
It is common to feel physically and emotionally low after attending such a big event. Our brains get pickled in feel-good chemicals for a few days and when Wednesday rolls around and we start saying our goodbyes, all that stimulation comes to an abrupt end. Our brains and bodies need time to build back up and while they do we can experience sadness, loneliness, or deep exhaustion.
Dealing with Drop
First off, it is important to know that Drop is temporary and there are some things you can do to help offset its effects.
Take care of your body
Our normal patterns of sleeping and eating are often disrupted when we travel and attend big events. Focusing on resting and nutrition when you get back home can help your body recover.
It is important to test for COVID when you get home, even if you aren’t experiencing symptoms. If you need tests, the USPS is offering free mail-order tests again.
Take care of your mind
It is tempting to try and take everything we learn and immediately set ourselves to the task of doing All The Things once we get home. But affecting change on any campus is hard and we can overwhelm ourselves by trying too much too soon. That’s why you should search for your golden nugget: that one thing that you can take home and make happen. Take the momentum and success of that small project into the next larger one.
It is easy to feel a sense of missing out on good stuff when you’re at the conference. But recordings of all the sessions you may have missed out on will be available shortly after the event and then added to the Professional Development Library later.
Take care of your heart
It is easy to feel a sense of missing out on good stuff when you’re at the conference. But recordings of all the sessions you may have missed out on will be available shortly after the event and then added to the Professional Development Library later.
HighEdWeb is more than a conference, it is a community. Participating in that community through our Community Groups, the Slack channel, or by volunteering (check out open volunteer roles and watch a recording of our Oct. 24 Volunteer Info Fair) are good ways to hold on to that feeling of connection. Photos from events are also on HighEdWeb’s Flickr if you are in the mood to reminisce.
Reconnecting with your friends or family when you return home are also good ways to help offset the feelings associated with Drop.
Take it slow
There can be a lot of pressure to jump right back into the thick of things when you return. “Strike while the iron is hot” only works if you’re made of iron. Humans are squishy so try to take it easy for a while.
Once you’ve recovered, go do some awesome stuff and come back and tell us about it next year.