Professional Philosophy Statement

“Because true belonging only happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world, our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.”

Brene Brown

More than anything, I want my students and colleagues to view themselves as integral parts of the campus community. I want them to discover what they are passionate about, establish meaningful connections, and challenge the status quo. These are three tenets of my professional philosophy. I am obligated to challenge and support the individuals I work with and I strive to make their college experience meaningful.

Discovering Passions

Although obtaining a college degree is the end goal of higher education, I believe discovering passions is of utmost importance. This belief is founded on my values of intentional reflection, self-understanding, and authenticity. These three concepts relate to Baxter Magolda’s self-authorship theory that defines “self-authoring persons” as individuals who “generate their beliefs, values, identities, and relational roles on the basis of internal standards they have created for themselves” (King & Baxter Magolda, 2011, p. 210). I emphasize to my students the importance of understanding their likes, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, interests, passions, and skills–only then can they successfully align themselves with a major they enjoy and a fulfilling career.

Steve Jobs (2005) once stated, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.” As a student affairs practitioner, I understand that recognizing and articulating interests and strengths takes a concerted effort, but I believe it is worth it. In my work as a career advisor, one of the first steps of discovering one’s passion is taking self-assessments and analyzing the results. While this may provide a student with straightforward career options, it is only the first step in cultivating in-depth self-awareness. According to Kegan (1994), discovering one’s passionate is more beneficial and relevant than having a perfect GPA (as cited in Stoll, 2010). I could not agree more. I believe it is my responsibility as a student affairs practitioner to inspire and facilitate this process.

I have spent my collegiate years intentionally discerning my passion. I joined a variety of organizations, obtained multiple internships, and gained experience through multiple on-campus jobs. I learned about what I wanted to do and discovered careers I did not wish to pursue. My experiences led me to me to discover my passion for student affairs. I am dedicated to helping students discover their passion as well.

Establishing Meaningful Connections

Through the process of helping students discover their passions, I have the opportunity to establish and sustain meaningful connections with students, faculty, and other student affairs practitioners. According to Arcelus (2011), “To develop an integrated and transformational educational experience, faculty and staff must work together to create synergistic relationships across institutional divisions, particularly those responsible for educating students–academic affairs and student affairs” (p. 62). This holistic education is the result of collaborative efforts built on meaningful connections.

This value of meaningful connections is rooted in my undergraduate experience. As a first year student, my reality did not match my expectations and the connection I felt to campus was mediocre. Luckily this changed, as my supervisors, advisors, and professors, became my mentors. I believe long-term, meaningful relationships made campus home. Reynolds (2011) states, "Making direct personal contact can help students feel important and reassure them that they are not alone" (p. 403). This is why meaningful connections are paramount to my professional philosophy. This philosophical tenet is founded on my values of community and collaboration.

It is my goal as a student affairs practitioner to develop and sustain meaningful relationships with colleagues, students, faculty, community partners, employers, parents, and administration. I believe meaningful connections give students a sense of belonging. I also prioritize these connections because they help cultivate collaborative relationships across the institution and with external constituencies.

One of the most important aspects of meaningful relationships is active listening. While active listening is characterized by a multitude of skills, I emphasize the following in my personal practice, not interrupting with solutions before individuals have explained their personal ideas or issues; recognizing what individuals are communicating—verbally and nonverbally; and reflecting or paraphrasing on what has previously been said” (as cited in Love & Maxam, 2011). When reflecting on what has been said, I clarify the overarching concepts and ask questions to obtain necessary details. Effective communication is crucial to my role as a student affairs practitioner. Every day I work to establish and maintain meaningful relationships in my practice and active listening is an intentional component. Reynolds (2011) states, "Every day provides new opportunities for student affairs professionals to listen, give support, and offer feedback to students who are struggling to understand themselves, others, and their futures" (p. 409). I strive to take full advantage of these opportunities.

My strategies for developing and sustaining meaningful relationships include listening actively to students and colleagues; cultivating long-term, developmental relationships; and collaborating within my office and across divisions. I believe it is important to employ these strategies as a mentor, advisor, supervisor, and colleague.

Challenging the Status Quo

Regardless of whether we discover passions and cultivate meaningful connections, I believe we fail if we do not critically challenge the status quo. I value questioning the norm because I do not believe in settling for mediocrity. The second we begin to tolerate mediocrity is the exact moment we stop progressing toward something better–whether that is bettering our institution, our students, our colleagues, or ourselves. We must ask critical questions and reflect on the current state of affairs to be successful in higher education. ‘How can this division become more effective? How can I become more inclusive? Is this the best approach?’ Too often we fail to challenge the status quo–yet change is necessary.

This tenet of my philosophy is founded on my values of innovation, creativity, and improvement. I am responsible for challenging my students, my colleagues, and myself. As a collective profession, “. . . student affairs must rise to the challenge, think differently about the services that could help move society forward, and continually evolve to provide a stable and motivating force for the collegiate environment” (Dungy & Grodon, 2011, p. 76). It is my responsibility to discover areas of improvement and enact change. I continually compare espoused and enacted values to unveil gaps that need addressing.

Challenging the status quo is only the first step in enacting beneficial change in an organization, group, or individual. Napier and Gershenfeld (1987) provide a sequence of events for problem solving: problem identification, diagnosis, generating alternatives, selecting solutions, implementation, and evaluation and adjustment (as cited in Maxam & Love, 2011). The student affairs profession is continually looking to improve. This requires challenging the status quo and solving problems in a rational manner.

Conclusion

My professional philosophy is founded on discovering passions, establishing meaningful connections, and challenging the status quo. My three tenets are rooted in my values of reflection, self-understanding, authenticity, community, collaboration, effective communication, innovation, creativity, and improvement. I want my passion for student affairs and education to be evident to every single individual I work with. To accomplish this, I challenge others and myself to continually reflect, think outside the box, and establish meaningful relationships across institutions.

References

Arcelus, V. J. (2011). If student affairs–academic affairs collaboration is such a good idea, Why are there so few examples of these partnerships in American higher education? In P. M. Magolda and M. B. Baxter Magolda, Contested Issues in Student Affairs. (pp. 61-74).

Dungy, G. and Gordon, S.A. (2011). The development of student affairs. In J. Schuh, S. Jones, S. Harper, and Associates, Student services: A handbook for the profession. (pp. 61-79). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Jobs, S. (2005). Commencement address at Stanford University. Retrieved from http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/stevejobsstanfordcommencement.htm

King, P. M. and Baxter Magolda, M.B. (2011). Student Llearning. In J. Schuh, S. Jones, S. Harper, and Associates, Student services: A handbook for the profession. (pp. 207-225). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Love, P. and Maxam, S. (2011). Advising and consultation. In J. Schuh, S. Jones, S. Harper, and Associates, Student services: A handbook for the profession. (pp. 413-432). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Reynolds, A. L. (2011). Counseling and helping skills. In J. Schuh, S. Jones, S. Harper, and Associates, Student services: A handbook for the profession. (pp. 399-412). San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

Stoll, E. (2010). Engaged learning through orientation. Learning communities journal. (pp. 71-90).