PLSO The Oregon Surveyor Sept/Oct 2019

6 Vol. 42, No. 5 The Oregon Surveyor | Fall is Here Time to Visit Your Local Chapter From the PLSO Office Aimee McAuliffe PLSO Exec. Secretary Show up and have a real conversation like the real person you are. Raise a glass, stay for dinner, and ask questions. Share your opinion. Just hang out and talk to the people at your table. Whatever works. Just show up and get to know the professional community... S eptember has finally arrived, and the kids are back in school. It’s a fun time for a lot of people. My own daughter just started the 8th grade. It will be a year of bittersweet lasts for our family—she’s been at the same school since she was an over eager 4-year old in pre-school. By the end of the year, she will be saying goodbye as an indif- ferent 14-year old to a place that’s been her home for the past decade. All her friends will go to various high schools to continue their academic careers. A lot has happened during those ten years—for her and me. It’s a special community. One that requires parents to put in a fair amount of share hours each year. Yes, it can be cumbersome. Sometimes you just don’t want to make the time. In the early years, parents excitedly sign up for everything. They want to be on those field trips, making those fundraising phone calls, attending the parent association meetings, etc. It was through involvement that I became friends with so many awesome people with alternately sweet and annoying chil- dren. I can text another parent and ask about some drama I heard about in class and get a more well-rounded version than the one my daughter told me. Or when homework started coming in and she was still learning how to manage it, I was able to double-check with other parents. Or the time when a handful of us became increasingly frustrated with something that was happening and were able to get our voice heard because we were louder together, making it harder to ignore. Admittedly, as the kids get older a cer- tain amount of burn out happens. Thank goodness for the kindergarten parents to keep it going! But, let’s be honest, when it’s gone, and our kids havemoved to high school, we won’t know the other parents like we do now. It will be a transition that brings a certain amount of anonymity back. People won’t know the story be- hind some of the harder times of my life or remember that time in carline when I accidently turned up the stereo ear split- ting loud from my steering column, and then unknowingly kept honking the horn at the car in front of me in an attempt to turn it back down. Yet it won’t nearly be as helpful or fun either. They are the ones that suggest a house party to cel- ebrate milestones in our kids’ lives or happy hour while we wait for the middle school dance to be over, waiting to hear about what new scandal couple debuted on the dance floor [read: never been on a date, but maybe awkwardly flirted in the hallway and decided to share an equally awkward dance]. As I was thinking of this little story arc that has been my family’s life, I reflect- ed on how similar it is to involvement in professional association communities. In