Doctoral Student Success Essay

My passion towards working with students every day has led me to the decision of pursuing a doctoral degree in Student Affairs in Higher Education at Miami University. I have chosen this program to prepare myself for a future role as a professor or a senior level college administrator. This program will allow me to become more proficient within the students’ educational experience and therefore better engage students in active learning.

Some of the graduates stated they believe their determination to persist to graduation was due to having a mentor to help them throughout their college experience. A way to further this study could be to study the experiences of graduates who had mentors versus those who did not have a mentor and evaluate how this had an impact on their persistence to graduate.

In bringing together our interviews, along with current research on academic advising in post-secondary institutions, we will consider student dynamics, needs, advisement issues, and potential ways to effectively advise high-ability students.

From my experience in overcoming barriers, as a past first-generation college student, appreciative advising is important for my work with students. According to recent literature, appreciative advising means “establishing meaningful rapport between students and advisors, and co-creating paths toward success” (Bloom et al., 2008, p. 18). Advising undergraduate students and graduate students is a two-way learning experience for both the advisor and the student. Hence, I am an expert in improving student persistence, and narrowing the achievement gap for underrepresented students (as specified in Goal 2 of the strategic plan implemented by President Mildred Garcia). As the new Educational Leadership and Ed Doctorate Advisor, I can focus on closing the achievement gap for underrepresented master’s degree students and doctoral students. Respectively, I can use the methods of appreciative advising while working with students in the College of Education (COE). For instance, I will communicate with COE faculty and manage assessments to learn the challenges graduate students

The three purposes and missions of higher education are education, research, and public service. The first one to be addressed is education. In his paper, “Goals: The Intended Outcomes of Higher Education,” author Bowen (1977) has stated education is “not only the academic curricula, classes, and laboratories, but also all those influences upon students flowing from association with peers and faculty members and from the many and varied experiences of campus” (p. 24). Educating students is an important mission for higher education, but educating students is not limited to their academics. The mission for higher education involving education can be categorized as cognitive learning, affective development, and practical competence (Bowen, 1977, p. 27). While cognitive learning is based on expanding on students’ knowledge, affective development and practical competence are based on the overall being of the student. The intent of affective development is to help enhance

After reading Sonja Ardoin’s (2014) “the strategic guide to shaping your student affairs career” book, I read a variety of important content that has allowed me to reflect not only in my fieldwork position, as an Advising Assistant for the Puente Program, but also my current status as a graduate student in the Educational Counseling program.

From the perspective of students, positive student/teacher relationships are important in their schooling (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 29). These relationships are important because it gives students more motivation to come to school and to try harder in class (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 33). Some example of positive student/teacher relationship includes extra help, encouragement, motivation, learning their identity, how to form and maintain professional relationships, and develop socio-emotional skills (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 2013). Not only do students do well when they have positive relationships, teachers also benefit from them as they are satisfied when students put effort into their work (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 35). It is cited that a lack of connection to caring adults in school is a variable of alienation, failure, and dropout (Bernstein-Yamashiro and Noam, 17).

The decision to attend graduate school can be one of immense commitment and responsibility. Success requires rigorous planning and well-defined goals, both short-term and long-term. Exceptional communication skills are also necessary to interact effectively with fellow classmates and faculty. Although completion of a Master’s program opens doors to many professional career opportunities, it does not come without challenges. One also must have several strategies in place for dealing with these challenges when they arise. With determination and hard work, overcoming these barriers will lead to success.

DQ #1: Reflect upon the personal journey that led you to this program. Share a transformational event that drove you into this doctorate program. Who, in your life, was the most influential in leading you to advance you to this level of study? How would you expect this program to change your life? What is your personal vision for your future work?  Within these questions, please review and incorporate one peer-reviewed journal article relating to the potential impact of doctoral studies. The intent is to begin to develop your skills in scholarly research and writing.

By embracing challenging academics, I will be introduced to individuals with similar ambitions, as well as being inspired to apply my knowledge outside of the classroom. The competitive and

A student who succeeds is one who encompasses the bravery and courage to start anew. Even knowing that, I was a student who feared every little action I took in high school because of the consequences I was afraid to face afterwards. The uneasiness of carrying out plans alone shaped my character into an indecisive clutter about everything inside my mind. But even with that hindrance, I tackled one of the hardest choices I had to make: choosing Case Western Reserve University over University of Georgia.

The successful completion of the doctoral program requires one to make significant sacrifices and accommodations. Majority of the doctoral students are usually motivated and eager to complete their program as soon as possible. However, many students often enroll for doctoral programs without a complete understanding of the heavy demands of such a program. The doctoral program is unique and bears little resemblance to many previous degree courses and so without the necessary accommodations one can find completing it an uphill task. Each student brings to the program his/her own set of academic strengths and weaknesses (Wisdom, & Leavitt, 2015). The attitude and abilities of each and every doctoral student is unique and so is their management of the program. Therefore, the most important ingredient to doctoral success is the capability to leverage such inherent strengths and find effective ways

A doctoral learner must be able to read and carefully analyze the materials before them and be able to present the material in a way that if they are in conflict be able to show why this information is not in agreement.

The decision to attend graduate school can be one of immense commitment and responsibility. Success requires rigorous planning and well-defined goals, both short-term and long-term. Exceptional communication skills are also necessary to interact effectively with fellow classmates and faculty. Although completion of a Master’s program opens doors to many professional career opportunities, it does not come without challenges. One also must have several strategies in place for dealing with these challenges when they arise.

There have been many studies that proved the benefits of student faculty interactions, but few studies discuss the psychological benefits of student faculty interactions. A study performed by Young Kim and Linda Sax (2014) tested the effect student-faculty interactions had on a student’s academic self-concept and if student faculty-interactions differed depending a student’s major. In this study, 14,450 participants were separated into four of Holland’s six academic principles. The principles they used were artistic, social, investigative, and enterprising. Each principle corresponds to a major. Artistic