Personal Narrative: A Career As An Assistant Unit Administrator

As a Correctional Officer for the State of Colorado, I am motivated and tempted every day to promote but do not currently have the degree to move further into my career. I would like to increase my knowledge and experience in my career through law enforcement, but the only way to guarantee that I excel with experience and education depends on my motivation into evolving a Bachelor’s degree. My plan is to follow through my ideas and turn them into my dream coming true. I lost track of education and motivation when I was at Colorado State University of Pueblo in 2010, not realizing what I was throwing away at the time. Knowing that I was incorrect and foolish to get rid of something that is critical in life has made me want to complete something that was broken and make it whole again.

Currently, I am working as a graduate assistant to Dr Melody Eaton, associate director of the graduate program. Dr Eaton is an inspiring woman and provided me many interesting projects to complete. In addition to graduate assistantship, I am doing my practicum at the family practice and pediatric office. This semester I had an opportunity to work with MD and nurse practitioner (NP). This was the first time I had MD as my preceptor. This was definitely an eye opener to me because I noticed a difference in the approach of MDs and NPs. For instance, MD preceptor focused more on diagnosis and treatment while NP on connecting with their patient. Also, I noticed NPs were better able to convince the patient and MDs had deeper understanding of pathophysiology

I have been an Administrative Assistant for over 30 years, since I graduated with an Associates in Secretarial Science – this was a blessings to be hired in my field of study. However, when I relocated to Florida it took me an entire year to be hired as an Administrative Assistant and though it took such a long time, it was worth the wait. I went straight to being the assistant to the second in charge of the company. However, after two satisfying years of service there, I was let go, and though I did not understand the reason, I did not question God. You see, I knew that if God allowed this to happen, then I though He must have something better in mind for me. Fortunately for me, during the year I was waiting to be employed, I took a course and was successful in receiving a license to be a Certified Nurse Assistant. That

It was very exciting to see the Administrative Secretary job posting last spring at Twindly Bridge Charter School! Then I was even more excited to receive a phone call from Mr. Weetman offering the position. Now, I’m ever more engaged and everyday amazed by the dedicated families of Twindly Bridge.

Before I began this unit, I assumed I had a firm grasp on the English language. Throughout this unit I learned that I have much to learn. After reading Communications Toolkit, I opened my mind and was surprised at how much language entails and the principles for Written Skills. The KISS principle was interesting, as I learned about formal writing, using simple, direct language, avoiding redundant phrases and clichés, writing in active rather than passive voice and avoiding ugly English. Not having had much experience in formal writing, I was made aware of the fact that written language is just as important as oral language. I learned about the different styles of writing such as reports, narratives, recounts and many more that can help express points of view,

During my six months as a Clerical Assistant II, I have upheld the professional standards, confidence and faith that our citizenry has placed in this unit to uncover any and all records relating to their issues and questions to full exhaustion of department resources.

This past year I served as an administrative assistant to my regions largest convention in its history. Part of my job was to run the rituals steering team as well as overseeing logistical tasks. This convention only succeeded because of the logistical preplanning and precautions that were taken by the coordinator team.

I learned about the administrative assistant role from Stephanie Paul at the Royal Bank of Canada. We met recently at a networking event for financial services at Skills for Change. I believe that my business qualifications, administrative operations experience and strong client service focus will make me a valuable addition to the RBC Dominion Securities' team.

Professional writing has been the cornerstone of my nearly 15-year career in the U.S. Army. I have completed hundreds of hours of formal training on writing numerous types of reports and educational documents. As an intelligence analyst, I have written well-over 3,000 intelligence reports. Similarly as a member of large-unit staff my primary duty was publishing operational orders for subordinate units distributed throughout several countries. In that capacity I would draft those orders or I was the quality control point of contact ensuring they were error-free and executable. My current position as an instructor of entry-level analysts has given me the chance to delve

Since joining, I have looked for opportunities to serve others as well as those that have challenged me, personally and professionally. When I advanced to Chief Petty Officer in 2008, more opportunities were made available and I have served in numerous leadership positions in which I provided guidance, mentorship and oversight. I had my first opportunity to serve as a collateral duty Command Chief in 2008. While I was not the most senior Chief at the unit, the Commanding Officer believed I possessed the necessary skills to perform my primary duties along with effectively handling delicate personnel issues ranging in severity and complexity. At the same time I qualified as a Deployable Team Leader, a qualification typically held by a junior officer.

In this course there was three areas that I believe will be most helpful for me in my career as a healthcare administrator. The content about the United States government I feel will be very helpful in my career path. In my current job I help people sign up for Medicaid. This is a government program that has been in the forefront of the news recently. Many of my clients have questions that go beyond the scope of Medicaid and deal with do does the government make the choices they make. I find myself paying more and more attention the news to find out what is happening with the health care bill and what can I do as private citizen to fight and protect my rights. Helping people with their Medicaid has also forced me to learn all I can about how

My parents had a dream to assist college, but unfortunately they were not able to accomplish their dream. Therefore, they sacrifice to allow my siblings and I to achieve a goal they were unable to. My mother does not work due to her lupus condition. My father is a maintenance worker for Sealy Co. Inc. They are also helping my older brother financially to pay his education expenses. My younger sister is a junior in high school and a cashier at a fast-food restaurant. I am a work-study student, working 10 hours a week at the Career Center as a Career Service Assistant. I am also applying for other scholarships and Federal Student Aid.

I am a Business Admin major. With this major I hope to proceed into law school and thereafter become a corporate lawyer.

Everyone was upset with the amount of work involved in the creation of the unit plans and the extra demands that the district placed on us. I was the lead teacher for world history and it was my responsibility to ensure that the units were completed. At first instead of focusing on creating the unit plans, my group of teachers kept complaining, getting up to make copies and grading. As much as I tried to keep them focused and on task, they seemed very agitated and were not productive. I really did not know what to do and turned to my respective vice principal for advice. He said that administrators often encounter this problem and that our job is to create positivity out of negativity. He told me to try to listen to their concerns, acknowledge their concerns, and assist them in taking control of what they have control over. He then gave me examples of how to do this and demonstrated strategies that I could use. He told me that as an administrator I would have to spread positivity.

As the Chapter Assistant for the MS Society, a fundamental part of my job was focused on the overall working and organization of the office. These tasks included organization of event materials, mail sorting and a re-organization of the resource library. In undertaking these basic tasks, I learned that in order for an organization to be successful there needs to be organization at all levels. A big organizational project I offered to undertake this year was to purge and shred the old and outdated financial, membership and fundraising documents from the filing cabinets, as it was more efficient to have them online and the required length of time to keep them in paper had passed. In doing so, it allowed my manager to focus on other more important things, de-cluttered the office space and made reviewing these documents easier. Through my classes in Organizational