With just a few weeks left before students arrive on campus, we asked faculty and staff about the ways they are recharging their batteries for the fall. Draw inspiration from their self-care routines—some are easier to emulate than others!
Count the Moments
For Stephanie Roddy, associate director of Campus Ministry and director of Fordham’s Spiritual Retreat Ministry, making a “List of 12” at the end of the day is one of her favorite ways to slow down and refocus. She writes down a dozen good things that happened—anything from a laugh with a friend to a quiet moment in the sun.
“The beauty of this ritual is that it nudges me to notice moments I might have overlooked, reminding me how much goodness can fill a single day. … I end up carrying a sense of gratitude and peace into the evening, and often, into the next morning too.”
Get Lost in a Book
“Summer allows me to return to reading, something I love but often don’t have the energy for during the school year,” said Jessica Hawkins, associate director of disability services. “There’s nothing better than sitting outside with a great book and a drink of choice.”
Unplug in the Woods
“It’s great to spend some time away from everything out in the woods,” said Stephen Holler, Ph.D., associate professor of physics, who goes camping upstate at Lake Taghkanic at the end of every summer to fully disconnect before student orientation. “I’ll throw up a hammock and lounge between trees and read a good book, go on hikes, and bike trails with my kids down to the beach at the lake,” he said. “It’s changed a bit over the 50-plus years I’ve been going, but it’s still a great place to go.”
Enjoy ‘Type II’ Fun
Nathan Lincoln-Decusatis, D.M.A., associate professor of music, enjoys the “individual sport” of backpacking, an “obsession” that began 10 years ago as a way to escape the city. Now, it fuels his artistic practice. He creates “sonic postcards” of the wilderness areas he visits and plans to use his upcoming trek across Wyoming’s highest mountains, the Wind River range, to compose an orchestra overture commissioned by the National Orchestral Institute.
He calls these trips “type II fun”—the kind you have in retrospect when you can appreciate all the work you put into planning the route, hiking from sun up to sun down, forgoing showers and good food. “No one’s there at the finish line when you get back to town and you’re like, I just went a week across the mountains and I survived. But you have a sense of accomplishment that you did it.”
Seek Out the Unfamiliar
“Each year, I make it a priority to visit at least one place I’ve never been before,” said Grant Grastorf, academic operations administrator at Fordham Westchester. In addition to his travels abroad, he’s 26 states into his plan to visit all 50. “This summer, I’ll be heading to Williamsburg, Virginia … Travel not only restores my spirit but also helps me return to the academic year with renewed focus, fresh ideas, and a deeper sense of purpose.”
