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Fables, labels, and folding tables: Reflections on the student affairs profession By R.L. Mitchell,1999
The task of writing can be as exhausting as walking the floors in the middle of the night with a crying infant trying to soothe the pain while being unable to discover the cause or find a cure so that you can both rest again. The task of writing can also be as thrilling and poignant as that same child snuggling into your shoulder relaxing into sleep with a contented sigh. Once the child is comforted, life is good. There is an eternal hope that the meaningful, precious moments between caregiver and child will help diminish from memory the frustrating moments.
After reading the previous paragraph, the reader may understand just how difficult and exciting writing may be, but perhaps only a parent can truly appreciate the metaphor. Randy L. Mitchell, in his book, Fables, Labels, and Folding Tables: Reflections on the Student Affairs Profession, succeeds brilliantly in using metaphors such as this to describe what it means to be a student affairs professional, how to excel in student affairs, and how to think. He presents a new way of looking at the ordinary parts of the profession of student affairs.
Mitchell is a talented and creative writer who is able, through the use of what appear to be simple stories (fables), guide the reader into the meaning of the profession of student affairs. Many of the humor-filled essays in the book illustrate how theories drive the practice of student affairs....