This question has been on my mind since it was posed at the NASPA Drive-In held at Chapman University last Friday, the 11th. I've been trying to make sure that each day I do something that is unique to the degree I'm pursuing in Student Affairs. I want it to be worth it. I'm spending my money and my time on tuition, at classes, doing homework and working with students, and it would be an unfortunate waste of my talent if I didn't do something each day that made my degree worth all of the work I am putting into it.
I began this semester with the goal of trying to be a better advisor. Being new to the advising scene with little guidance from those who preceded me, I had no idea what to expect. My current GA position is new to the Student Affairs cohort, so I spent last semester trying to get a feel for what the expectations were, which left my advising role on the back burner. I'm now more comfortable with the expectations of my GA position and am enjoying the challenges that come with it, but I feel that my connection with students is limited. So, I sent out a Doodle survey to my students to find out when they would be free for advising appointments.
I'm now only a week into my advising appointments, but I can feel a change. A change in myself and a change in the way they communicate with me. Through a colleague's action research project, I have a rubric to work with which helps me rank my student's levels of development and then track it as the semester continues. Obviously, this benefits @nkajimoto's research, but it also helps me understand where my student's are at developmentally so I can be the best advisor possible, (with room for plenty of growth).
Besides these wonderful advising appointments where I am connecting with and learning about the students, I'm also trying to make the weekly group meetings more meaningful. This week I focused on personal branding. I feel like the discussion, (or what felt like a lecture from me), was lost on them. They do not yet see the importance in making connections and networking. I understand how difficult it must be, especially as freshmen and sophomores, to see the importance of the impressions and connections they make now and how they will affect the future, but I do hope the information with which I provided them will start to take root and grow over the next few years. I know that, personally, I would have benefited a great deal from having some guidance in how to make positive and meaningful connections as an undergraduate student to members of the faculty and staff on my campus.
I was fortunate enough, however, to make a strong connection with my mentor, Mr. Art King, from my undergraduate alma mater, Towson University. He wrote the recommendation letter that led to my acceptance at the University of San Diego, as well as spoke to my current supervisor about how I shine as an employee and student. I also interviewed him for a project last semester and might do the same again this semester. As I explained this to my students, I could see two of them shaking their heads and smirking. Others were just staring off into the distance, disinterested. Maybe I should have presented the material in a different format. Maybe I felt like they were further along developmentally then they really were. Yet, I remember wanting to plan for my future early on in my undergraduate career even though I was not really sure what my future would look like. I knew graduate school was in the picture, and if not that, at least a job where I would need positive references and a strong foundation in something. I took advantage of leadership opportunities, especially ones at which I knew 'important' people would attend. I worked/volunteered for a few clubs and departments on campus, but became fully involved. I do not feel a commitment like that from my students and am concerned about them, but also about my ability to lead.
Though this blog has strayed slightly from it's title, I do believe it is all connected. As part of my attaining a degree in Higher Education Leadership, I attend classes that help me learn who I am and, by doing that, how I can help students. I am fortunate enough to be a part of a great cohort of 5 who consistently support me and listen to me. The faculty members with whom I work are amazing, talented and challenging. They force me out of my comfort zone to find out things like how do love and leadership connect? Or how does knowing myself help me to better understand my students and my line of work? I work with students in an attempt to develop them and through that I, too, develop. And that is how, everyday, I do things that require a degree in Student Affairs.
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