Loyola Chicago Master in Higher Education

Tiffany Song
Personal Statement

Student life at a university is analogous to solution in a beaker. In chemistry equilibria is

reached when new components have transformed to products in the culminating solution.
Similarly, students help each other undergo meaningful change, resulting in a more global and
compassionate world view. Climates favorable to productive work are maintained chemically by
saline buffer and locally by university employees. As agents for change, the role of student
affairs professionals is to facilitate a climate conducive to works of enduring social equity. I am
pursuing the Master of Higher Education degree because education empowers the individual;
allowing her to grasp newfound opportunities, foster meaningful relationships, and develop a
strong sense of identity. I seek to learn and work at Loyola Chicago because I agree with
Loyola’s educators; extraordinary change is possible for the student who engages with others and
encourages them to engage as well. I am looking forward to a theory-to-practice based
educational experience in preparation for a career in university housing. I aspire to be a student
housing administrator with the ability to draw out the best in her team and project strategies to
university housing more serviceable for the student.

I am preparing for a career in the university housing profession because I am passionate

about supporting a student’s educational experience. Students learn best in environments which
make them feel physically and emotionally safe. By stewarding a student-centered living
environment, I want to create a climate for equitable treatment and social equality which will
empower students as leaders. When people feel empowered to speak, they can validate social
truths which succeed social mysticism and inform equitable social interaction. Within the
inclusivity of university housing students can dependably employ the process of interpersonal
communication and self-reflection to develop a more empathetic internal narrative. An
empathetic voice is more likely to speak of opportunities and inspire change. I aim to facilitate
an inclusive living space to develop altruistic qualities in the student for empathy, the grace of
inclusivity, is an enduring invitation to change one’s mind.

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 My professional aspirations are informed by my experience of grace, opportunity, and
change in a student-centered learning environment. I am a second-generation Korean-American
from a recently urbanized township. Raised with love and ample opportunity in what is now
idyllic Snohomish, WA, a cluster of upper-middle class neighborhoods between Seattle and the
rolling evergreen hills, I was molded by the sordid belief that academic excellence is congenital
with Asian physiology. My elementary experience in bedlinen white Snohomish proved this
rural legend true, as I was one of a handful of Asian-American students and also happened to be
an avid reader. A representative of Chinese culture and the supreme teacher’s pet, I noticed that
my community expected that I become a doctor and excel at math. The sordid belief of rural
legend progressed into subtle urbanity as rural Snohomish progressed into a partly-suburban
partly-propertied township. In middle school, suburbia was eggshell white and I was one of three
handfuls of East Asian-American students. Educated suburban society exoticized the abilities of
students with access, support, and Asian ancestry. East Asians flourished in technical fields of
study. It was the case that I fit into the model minority troupe because I was raised in safety with
reliable school access, had parents who nurtured a first-generation work ethic in their child, and
happened to be a light-skinned Korean. As a student from an educated colorblind racist
community, it felt well within my ability to attend the University of Washington, major in
biochemistry, and attend its medical school. I experienced absolute culture shock my freshman
year when I realized that my social identity from Snohomish was not one I had to maintain. The
student body was ethnically diverse and the campus climate was conducive to helping students
find their best suited career path. I lived in a residence hall with a community which welcomed
me as I was and encouraged that I work towards my own fulfillment rather than the fulfillment of
social and familial expectations. I became a Resident Adviser on the staff of Robert Egnatchik
because I wanted to share that message with future students. It was challenging for me to
consolidate my career path because I was working to satisfy social and familial expectations
rather than to satisfy my own interests. At the end of my first year as a student leader, I decided
that I would not pursue a career in healthcare as a doctor or in biomedical research because I did
not enjoy biology or chemistry. I found satisfaction through interpersonal communication, the
development of my public speaking and peer counseling abilities, and through encouraging my
traditional first-year residents to pursue a career which is right for them. Robert encouraged my
application to the 2016 Association of College and University Housing Officers- International

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(ACUHO-I) STARS College program, a three-day conference for undergraduates to learn about
the student affairs and university housing professions, and recommended that I attend the
ACUHO-I Annual Conference and Exposition after. At STARS I participated in small group
mentorship, large group seminars, and interactive activities. In combination with the supportive
climate of the Conference, this experience culminated in the understanding that by engaging in
my own transformational learning experience, I had effectively succeeded the social mysticism
which produced Asian doctors with equitable change. Robert nominated me as a Fellow of the
Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Undergraduate Fellowship Program
(NUFP), an on-campus program connecting undergraduates of minority status with student
affairs professionals for mentorship. He connected me with my mentor, Adiam Tesfay, and I am
excited to further develop my interviewing skills, my awareness of minority affairs within higher
education, and learn more about the student affairs profession with her.

I am looking forward to learning at Loyola and to a career as a social advocate. I am

excited to engage in a theory-to-practice based educational experience, gain insight into strategic
business planning, and to work with a variety of students. I was able to undergo a transformative
learning experience because I was a student with access to opportunities to explore, I lived in a
supportive community of fellow learners, and had mentors who encouraged me to grow. Student
housing is meaningful to me due to my experience. I seek to contribute my time, abilities, and
enthusiasm to the equitable profession which has warmly received me. In the near future, I hope
to become an empathetic Resident Director like Robert who can effectively encourage students
and a spirited NUF mentor like Adiam. I believe the Master in Higher Education program at
Loyola Chicago is instrumental to my success as a leader in the student housing profession. It is
my honor to apply to Loyola for it is a university of immense grace, empathy, and social
conscience.

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