There is a rather large amount of professional associations one can choose to be active in if education is your career. The acronyms are worthy of the best tongue-tying competitions! I've only dabbled in a few, but my favorite is the Association of College Unions International (ACUI). When funds are tight and you can only choose one conference to attend, or I'm looking for a volunteer experience, I choose ACUI. It feels like coming home- I love these people! There is something to learn for anyone, not just union peeps. It's pretty awesome. Recently I was asked to volunteer at the IPDS conference. (Yay, more acronyms!) Long story short, it's a summer conference hosted by ACUI for people who are relatively new to student affairs or student unions. It's a week long crash course with people from all over the country. I was so excited and honored to be invited to participate!! I made a new friend and colleague in Vinny from University of Delaware. We co-presented a ...