I Chose The Field Of Student Affairs

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.

Serving others by utilizing the lessons I have learned through my experiences and my talents is how I want to live my life. As a first generation college student, I want to integrate myself in programs or start my own mentorship program where I am able to mentor and give back to students who are first generation college students as well. I feel it’s important to reach out to first generation college students because the amount of pressure we receive with little to no guidance can be discouraging and lead us to feel alone in this process.

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.

This paper is separated into two parts that are connected. The first part will cover my beliefs about higher education focusing on my Student Affairs philosophy while integrating theories and work from current or previous successful Student Affairs professionals. The second part will also discuss my beliefs, foundation of my faith, my strengths, my challenges, my beliefs, my values, and my goals.

Going to college and being in a university setting was the first time my perspectives and ideas were broadened. I was able to see the world outside my small suburb, and learned harsh realities, which I was sheltered from my whole life. Social justice advocate, Bryan Stevenson, expounds the idea of getting proximate to issues that one cares about. For me, getting proximate was accomplished by being on a university campus, and learning from the ideas of others, as well as new, first-hand experiences. As I was supported and encouraged in my growth at Loyola, I want to provide the same assistance for other students. Through my years I have excelled at organization and coordination, skills that I hope to apply in order to help students in a university setting. More so, I want to help support students who enter college, those who wish to expand their knowledge, viewpoints, and minds. Higher education would offer me a unique opportunity where I would be able to support students in their growth as a person, while offering encouragement and assistance to students throughout their college

For my twelve service hours, I decided to dedicate my time to one organization. That organization is known as College Mentors for Kids. College Mentors for Kids is a program specifically designed for elementary and college aged students. It is a nonprofit organization that works with over 2,000 students and mentors one day a week on a college campus. This program can be found throughout nine states and on 33 different college campuses. I am fortunate enough to be attending Ball State University, which is home to the largest chapter in the country for the program. The program’s main focus is to acknowledge the importance of higher education and career growth as you get older. There are a variety of ways the members of this organization accomplish

My time in undergrad served as a challenging, engaging, eye-opening, and an ultimately unforgettable experience. Being culturally inclined, I joined and became president of Purdue’s only multicultural sorority, Lambda Phi Xi. My need for service excellence in the community led me to become an event coordinator for Tippecanoe Villa, a resident home for elderly and disabled individuals. While I was highly engaged in my social and leadership opportunities, my studies proved to be a different matter entirely. Imagine, for a moment, losing your biggest supporter in life. Imagine being the only person you have ever known to attend college. Then, imagine having a scholarship that only provided you with eight consecutive semesters to graduate with no chance to take time off to find your

In class, we have learned and discussed how during the period of adolescence, it is known that this is the period of time where individuals are finding themselves and figuring out where they belong. It is during this time where individuals are the most sensitive and personal problems tend to arise more commonly during this stage. A major issue adolescents struggle during this stage is gender identity and sexuality. Adolescents are trying to figure out who they are attracted to and how they perceive themselves to be. While the norm is to identify oneself as their biological gender, there are those who develop gender dysphoria. Gender dysphoria is a reoccurring feeling that one’s biological gender is the opposite of one’s sexual identity (Cole,

Transitioning from secondary education to postsecondary education, I feared that I would lose my connection with the development of the student body. Instead, I gained valuable knowledge pertaining to the mission, vision and goals of

My moment of epiphany came when I started working for Upstate Medical University’s Student Affair Department in their Student Success Center as an Office Manager. The Student Success Center focuses on underrepresented medical students through its CSTEP Program. As an Office Manager, I have had the pleasure with working with the medical students and upper faculty members. I have developed a camaraderie with a number of medical students. Many of the medical students come to me to converse about challenges or obstacles that they have had to encounter and/or hurdles they need to overcome. I truly believe my students come to me because I have a benevolent attitude and assiduously work ethic that they have observed. Although, I am not a counselor I appreciate that they feel comfortable to confide in me and these are extra responsibilities that I have embraced has a mentor and an advisor to my students. Then, I had this” aha moment,” that I should do more investment in myself and be a role model for these students as a Higher Education Administration Admission faculty member.

Sex and gender play a big part in american society today and are often misconstrued. These two topics have become progressive as people are starting to express their gender and sexuality in ways other than what is and has been considered the norm. Many people believe that sexuality and gender are synonymous with one another. Gender is socially constructed while sex is biologically determined. In society’s past, Americans often strayed away from discussing controversial topics, but with the rise of different ways of addressing people, it is deemed more important to understand. Along with the blurred lines of gender and sex comes sexuality, who someone is attracted to sexually. When people stray from society’s heteronormative mindset, they are often faced with many more challenges than the average hetero man or woman. People often have the preconceived notion that if something does not concern them, then they should not be involved in it. A person who could be your neighbor, co worker, or even child, may have to deal with the troubles of people confusing their gender identity with their sex. While also facing challenges that deal with the sex of the person they choose to love. Learning the difference between gender and sexuality will open the eyes of many people and see how the two are different but relate to one another very much.

As a first year student, I quickly found my niche by joining an on-campus student leadership group called the Programming and Activities Board (PAB). PAB was a student leadership group that worked on establishing community on campus by planning and coordinating on-campus student events. It was here that I had the opportunity to work and interact with the student affairs office and really understand how building community and developing a student’s leadership ability can really transform a student

The first two chapters of this book set the background for student development and how theory has evolved over the years. As time passed and college student demographics changed, new ideas and views were developed to understand the ever changing student body. Theorists realized that the college experience was different between demographic groups. Being able to develop student affairs practices and activities that can reach the different student groups is probably the biggest challenge a student affairs professional will tackle. It is said that student development is most achieved by involvement by the students. This means that these activities must be designed to accommodate students from all walks of life.

What makes this so different from other educational topics is that the transgender debate is not yet settled. While one can easily make the case that sexual orientation is fluid, it is much more difficult to say the same about gender. From

Student personnel point of view encompasses the student as a whole. The concept of education is broadened o the student’’s well rounded development- physically, socially, emotionally and spiritually as well as intellectually. (sppv) Student affairs not only emphasize on academic excellence but to shape each individual as a unique human by providing a holistic learning and living environment. Student Affairs professionals play a pivotal role in the development of the students. By applying different theories in student development, they can foster student learning to help them shape their identity. Student affairs staff members must view themselves as educators to refute the belief that learning is held only in the classroom. (contested issue, 29). Learning does not only occur in the classroom but through out of class activities as well. Student affairs staff should talk about student learning and development to enhance the multiplicity of growth areas for students in higher education. These learning and development experiences do not simply happen to students. They happen with their active involvement. There are numerous branches of fields in student affairs that attend to the unique needs of each individual. Residence Director trains Residence assistance to cater to the needs of first year students who are new to the college environment. RA plays a major role of introducing the life of college through building relationships and community to help them develop their sense of