I am immensely grateful for Loyola University Chicago’s Higher Education

program, my fellow M.Ed. cohorts, and the professors for having a tremendous

impact on my personal growth and professional development. Even though I have

been exposed to a variety of course content, I believe student development theory

and leadership in higher education courses have had the most profound impact on

me.

Reflections on Important Course Content

Taking student development theory introduced me to various theories that

impacted my holistic development. Prior to taking this course, I had limited

knowledge about the role context, environment, and culture plays in shaping

students’ cognitive, psychosocial, and social identity developmental process.

However, after being introduced to these theories, I was able to consciously attend

to different aspects when interacting with students to provide a balance of

challenge and support.

The leadership course introduced me to many unique ways of leading. Prior

to taking this course, I did not believe I was a leader. After engaging in class

discussions with my classmates weekly regarding the varying leadership theories, I

was able to believe in my leadership capacity by the end of the course. I learned

that I could still effect change on any level and impact my “spheres of influence”.

Despite drawing upon ideas from the many types of leadership theories, the most

important in my application to practice are situational and authentic. I believe it is

important to apply a combination of supportive and directive behaviors to a certain

degree depending on the situation to assist others in working through a task.

Similarly, it is crucial to be transparent and authentic with oneself and others when

leading or collaborating with students, staff, and administrators to reach a

consensus.

Reflections of Practical Knowledge: Learning through Internships

I was able to use my insights and experiences, as well as course content to

apply to my internship role. A vital lesson I gained from my internship, as a

coordinator for an academic mentoring program was improved interpersonal skills.

The internship challenged me to improve upon my area of weakness-interpersonal

communication skills. Facilitating weekly mentor training sessions and presenting

ideas to the students pushed me to communicate with them on a regular basis.

Overall, I have changed greatly in my ability to effectively articulate my ideas and

engage with others. As a newly launched program, there was no structure in place,

which provided me ample opportunity to be creative in developing workshops.

Since the program was new, it pushed me to conduct research on peer mentoring

programs from other colleges and universities to garner ideas to implement in our

academic mentoring program.

Lastly, the internship provided me with opportunities to reach out to campus

partners to come present to students in our Project Success department. Building

meaningful relationships with students, staff, and administrators improved the

attendance. Although I am introverted, this experience challenged me to confront

my discomfort by taking initiative to contact people and make time to visit them in

person and attend their sessions.

Reflections on Personal Growth

My experience in attending this particular M.Ed. program has highly shaped

my personal growth in many aspects of my life. The most important areas of my

growth are increased self-efficacy in my writing and speaking ability. Even though I

was optimistic with my decision to join the higher education program, I had little

confidence in myself to succeed. I hesitated from participating in class discussions

for fear of being perceived as unintelligent. It was not until taking student

development theory that sparked an internal examination of my developmental

process. After completing my first assignment in student development theory, I

received affirming remarks about my concise, and comprehensive writing style,

which immediately lit a smile on my face. Receiving positive comments on my

writing changed my perception of writing and myself because someone believed in

me. It took one person to offer encouraging remarks on my paper to increase my

self-efficacy in my communication skills and ability to succeed. After that moment,

I was empowered to believe in the value of sharing my experiences and ideas with

classmates, professors, colleagues, friends, and family.

Practice Informed By Social Justice

The integration of social justice in courses gave me insights about ways I was

oppressed and reflect upon my privileged identities. I believe it is important to

have an understanding of social injustices by listening to peoples’ own lived

experiences in order to take corrective action measures in creating positive social

change. The Multiculturalism to Social Justice course introduced me to challenging

but necessary topics to dialogue about with others. Having an awareness of social

justice informs my work in appreciating diverse perspectives of students and

helping them making meaning of their own collegiate experiences. Being open-

minded and having a better understanding of social justice can influences how one

is able to effectively understand and support students on their academic, career,

and personal journeys.

Conclusion

Overall, I am truly grateful for the higher education program for contributing

to my personal growth. This program has equipped me with important academic

and social skills as well as knowledge and experiences that I can apply to my future

work in the field and further my personal growth.