Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Narrative Reflection
Narrative Reflection
Narrative Reflection
Ed Higher Education
program, I got wait listed. I wasnt that surprised because for me, graduate school was
never something that I thought was attainable. I knew that I wanted to work in student
affairs but I also knew that I had never been the brightest student, so completing a
masters degree would be the biggest challenge I would face to date. When I got the
email on March 27, 2013 that my status had changed from waitlisted to accepted, I
knew that my life was never going to be the same. Throughout my time at Loyola I
have felt supported, challenged and everything in between. Because of that, I have
learned more about myself both personally and professionally than I have ever thought
possible.
Impactful Course Content
From the courses that I have taken at Loyola, I will take away three very
important pieces of content. The first piece of content came in my first year at Loyola in
the Student Development Theory course I took with Dr. John Dugan. It was in this class
that I realized that what I learned in the classroom I could directly apply to my outside
experiences in higher education. Through this course I learned various theories that
related to how students develop throughout their time at an institution. From Arthur W.
Chickering and his vectors to Marcia Baxter Magoldas theory of self-authorship, we
learned a variety of paths that students may take as they learn about themselves and
how they relate to the world around them. Most importantly, however, we learned that
these theories and research arent definitive. Each student and person develops, learns
and grows at a different pace. What is important for us as practitioners and educators is
to support students wherever they are along the journey of their development and use
these frameworks to help guide our work.
The second piece of content that I will take away from my time in the program
was from the Leadership in Higher Education course that is offered your second year
taught by Dr. John Dugan. This course was centered on various leadership theories and
their relation to our own leadership journeys as well as our work with students.
Through this course I learned that like student development theory, leadership theory
serves as a framework for the work that we do. Leadership theories such as Team
Leadership and the Social Change Model can help us understand how to work together
to affect change, but they are not stagnant. One of the most influential parts about this
course was learning how to deconstruct the various theories and then reconstruct them
in multiple contexts. Through taking a critical approach to theory in this course I am
now able to not only connect my own personal identities to theses theories, but also
guide students along in their own personal processes. From this course I have learned
that it is essential to listen to and value the experiences and stories of students that we
work with, not just what the research tells us about them.
My final piece of course content that I have taken from this program comes from
the Curriculum Development in Higher Education course taught by Dr. Patrick Green. In
class this semester we have taken time to dissect and analyze not only what we learn,
but also how we learn. From conversations around the work of Dr. L. Dee Fink I have
learned the importance of connecting the learning outcomes that we create for our
students with intentional activities both inside and outside of the classroom to provide
students with a significant learning experience. This course content has shaped not only
my practices every day at work as a graduate assistant for Student Conduct at the
Illinois Institute of Technology; but it has also effected the way that I approach
programming and leadership development in the various areas of higher education that
I am involved in.
My Graduate Assistantship
Throughout my time at Loyola, I had the opportunity connect what I had learned
within the classroom to my experiences and develop both personally and professionally
at my graduate assistantships at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Throughout
my time at IIT, I have learned what it really means to do student-centered work and
how to navigate campus politics. During my first year at IIT, I served as the graduate
assistant for Gender and Sexuality services. As my first position out of my
undergraduate experience, I learned a lot about the day-to-day work of a student
affairs professional. In this role I worked with programming large-scale events that
support students who identify as female and/or LGBTQ. In this position, I learned a lot
about how to balance a budget and build effective campus partnerships. I also learned
about how student populations vary from institution to institution. The students at IIT
are mostly Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematic (STEM) majors and have
a different way of thinking and learning. Finding ways to engage this type of student
population was extremely difficult, but also extremely valuable in building my
professional skillset.
experience and my personal growth in the program he taught me to trust what I know
and helped me gain confidence in my academic work. Because of his mentorship and
endless support, applying to a doctoral program is now in my future. I have also found
a support system in Tricia Banach, a coworker at IIT. From my very first day of work,
Tricia took me under her wing and helped me develop my professional identity. She
showed me the importance of being authentic to I am and the promise we have to the
field to support our students. She is an incredible example of a strong woman, and
someone I hope to channel every day in my work and in my personal life.
Most importantly, my experiences in this program have taught me the value of
each person and their story. For a very long time I believed that I was not worth much
and I let other people define who I was. Because of my experiences throughout this
program, I have come to understand that I am more than enough. I have also come to
realize that I am in this field because I care for people. I want the people I interact with
to know how much they are valued. This world is beautiful because of them, because of
you, and because of me. I ground what I do in this life in what I value; love. You
matter. I matter. We all matter.