Professional Development for a Not-Yet Professional

I've made a decision. I will be attending my first "professional development" event in a couple of weeks, even though I am not yet a professional in anything. I will be going to the MCPA conference in Duluth later this month. It was brought up to me last spring as a good idea by a staff person at BSU with whom I've discussed my career aspirations. I hadn't committed to it until the last few days because I initially wasn't sure I'd be in MN by this time, since I applied to several jobs out of state. Well, obviously I'm still here and when it popped up on my iCal as i looked ahead at October, I thought I'd go ahead and do it.

Why does one attend a professional conference when he is neither a student nor staff at any school?

• A chance to learn more about areas of student affairs in which I may want to work.
• The opportunity to get my name out there and meet people from schools across the state.
• The chance to meet students in graduate programs that are on my long list to consider for fall.
• Potential for employment leads through networking.

It'll also be a chance to visit my sister who goes to school up there at UMD. I'm actually lucky it's there because I can stay at her place, thereby saving me the money a hotel would cost. Of course upon being asked if I could stay with her for a couple days, her initial response was "$30 bucks a night and a bottle of Captain." I asked her if she's running a Motel 6 now.