PERSONAL FOUNDATIONS
EXEMPLARY LEVEL
My skills in the Personal Foundations competency area have enhanced as a result of my time in the College Student Personnel program and as an intern at Ohio Northern University. My first year at Bowling Green State University was extremely challenging, particularly being far away from family and missing important milestones was tolling on my success both academically and personally. Active reflection has empowered me to understand and appreciate my internal happiness, define my values, and incorporate my strengths into my personal and professional life. Throughout my graduate student experience, a series of events and circumstances challenged and forced me to define my personal and professional values.
Using active consideration and engaging in meaningful relationships has given me the necessary reflection I needed to define my values and goals. From the start of my internship, my supervisor and I have had a standing weekly one-on-one meeting. Through these meetings, I have been able to participate in “naturally occurring reflection processes within my everyday work” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 25). This environment helped me define what I seek in a supervisor, but also the office environment where I professionally thrive. My supervisor treated me as a worthy team member and continuously worked to help me develop as a professional. She encouraged me to actively participate in professional development opportunities. For example, she motivated me to apply to be an intern at a professional conference. Through this supervisory style, I learned to be my authentic self and think outside the box. As I move into a professional role where I will have the opportunity to serve as a supervisor to students, paraprofessionals, and professionals, I will incorporate my supervisor’s positivity into my own supervising style.
The Division of Student Affairs at Ohio Northern operated on a very decentralized structure. Decisions were made through collaboration and open discussions (Strange & Banning, 2001). We were encouraged to build relationships and to use our strengths to enhance the division and ourselves. This structure and encouragement created an office environment that made it known that every voice is important. This open environment and supervisory style is something I seek as I search for my first professional role. Having these one-on-one meetings and an open office environment was the main reason I continued to pursue my degree at Bowling Green State University.
Each month in the CSP 6890: Supervised Field Experience in College Student Personnel course, we wrote reflections about our challenges and achievements of that month. Writing these reflections offered me a great amount of clarity and confidence as I journeyed into the profession. One of the Personal Foundations competency features is “attend not only to the immediate areas of growth, but also those areas relating to one’s anticipated career trajectory” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 25). I was able to achieve exemplary level in this competency through these monthly reflections. After each reflection, I could clearly define areas of growth and think of concrete situations that define me as a practitioner.
The reflections challenged me to connect course objectives to my internship activities. For example, when I was struggling with advising the Interfraternity Council I was able to reflect on this challenge within my journal and incorporate several theories and in-class discussions that assisted me in navigating the situation. The CSP 6890 monthly class provided an opportunity to take the conversation further. It was an open space where I was able to freely share and have classmates from varying internships offer unique and helpful advice. CSP 6890 truly made me feel that I was a valued individual within the program, because I felt supported and encouraged by my peers. As I progressed through the program, I saw positive changes in my reflections. There was a noticeable improvement in my confidence level and overall satisfaction.
In my final semester, I was able to take the StrengthsFinder survey. My Signature Themes are Strategic, Communication, Woo, Includer, and Activator. These Signature Themes helped me define my leadership talents and provided a greater understanding of my natural abilities. I went to a boot camp pre-session at The Placement Exchange that demonstrated how to use your strengths in the interview process. The session emphasized how to use your strengths to be an effective professional and provided me a deeper understanding of my strengths. For example, my Strategic strength shows that I have the ability to see a situation in a complex way and that I actively look for the best solution. As I experience the job search process, I have used my strengths to navigate what I am able to bring to a new position, office culture, and institution. I used my Signature Themes to increase my self-awareness; this has provided me clarity and the ability to define who I am and who I am not. As a strengths-based leader, I applied this self-awareness to stay true to myself and build my team using their natural talents. As an artifact for my Personal Foundations, I have included my Signature Themes the printout defines my strengths and how I am able to efficiently use them.
My last semester of the College Student Personnel program, I completed my Personal Mission Statement. This exercise was therapeutic and I was able to “mediate incongruencies between my professional life and personal life” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 25). Having to define “what makes me, me” was a difficult process. Writing the personal mission statement encouraged me to use my quirky, good hearted, strong-minded nature in every role. From this exercise I saw a positive change in myself personally and professional. I had a deeper understanding of my values and incorporated them when working with students and other individuals. From this change, I was able to have a deeper connection with my students and serve as a value-driven role model. This mission statement refreshed my memory and made me think of the reasons why I decided to pursue a career in the field of student affairs.
Understanding and defining my personal mission allowed me to better align my values in all that I do. In my last semester as I embarked on the job search, I used my personal mission statement as a guide. Being cognizant of the struggles I had within the College Student Personnel program and being far away from family, my personal mission statement guides me to value my personal happiness. I find an aspect of my personal happiness in genuine relationships, and as I search for a job I look for a place that allows me to be my authentic self and engage in these crucial relationships.
As a student affairs professional, it is essential that I have a high level of self-awareness and proactively participate in active reflection. This knowledge has given me the skills to be exemplary in the Personal Foundations competency. Through these skills, I have built a solid foundation of self-reflection and awareness. As I continue into my future career, I hope to maintain and grow even more within the Personal Foundations competency.
Using active consideration and engaging in meaningful relationships has given me the necessary reflection I needed to define my values and goals. From the start of my internship, my supervisor and I have had a standing weekly one-on-one meeting. Through these meetings, I have been able to participate in “naturally occurring reflection processes within my everyday work” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 25). This environment helped me define what I seek in a supervisor, but also the office environment where I professionally thrive. My supervisor treated me as a worthy team member and continuously worked to help me develop as a professional. She encouraged me to actively participate in professional development opportunities. For example, she motivated me to apply to be an intern at a professional conference. Through this supervisory style, I learned to be my authentic self and think outside the box. As I move into a professional role where I will have the opportunity to serve as a supervisor to students, paraprofessionals, and professionals, I will incorporate my supervisor’s positivity into my own supervising style.
The Division of Student Affairs at Ohio Northern operated on a very decentralized structure. Decisions were made through collaboration and open discussions (Strange & Banning, 2001). We were encouraged to build relationships and to use our strengths to enhance the division and ourselves. This structure and encouragement created an office environment that made it known that every voice is important. This open environment and supervisory style is something I seek as I search for my first professional role. Having these one-on-one meetings and an open office environment was the main reason I continued to pursue my degree at Bowling Green State University.
Each month in the CSP 6890: Supervised Field Experience in College Student Personnel course, we wrote reflections about our challenges and achievements of that month. Writing these reflections offered me a great amount of clarity and confidence as I journeyed into the profession. One of the Personal Foundations competency features is “attend not only to the immediate areas of growth, but also those areas relating to one’s anticipated career trajectory” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 25). I was able to achieve exemplary level in this competency through these monthly reflections. After each reflection, I could clearly define areas of growth and think of concrete situations that define me as a practitioner.
The reflections challenged me to connect course objectives to my internship activities. For example, when I was struggling with advising the Interfraternity Council I was able to reflect on this challenge within my journal and incorporate several theories and in-class discussions that assisted me in navigating the situation. The CSP 6890 monthly class provided an opportunity to take the conversation further. It was an open space where I was able to freely share and have classmates from varying internships offer unique and helpful advice. CSP 6890 truly made me feel that I was a valued individual within the program, because I felt supported and encouraged by my peers. As I progressed through the program, I saw positive changes in my reflections. There was a noticeable improvement in my confidence level and overall satisfaction.
In my final semester, I was able to take the StrengthsFinder survey. My Signature Themes are Strategic, Communication, Woo, Includer, and Activator. These Signature Themes helped me define my leadership talents and provided a greater understanding of my natural abilities. I went to a boot camp pre-session at The Placement Exchange that demonstrated how to use your strengths in the interview process. The session emphasized how to use your strengths to be an effective professional and provided me a deeper understanding of my strengths. For example, my Strategic strength shows that I have the ability to see a situation in a complex way and that I actively look for the best solution. As I experience the job search process, I have used my strengths to navigate what I am able to bring to a new position, office culture, and institution. I used my Signature Themes to increase my self-awareness; this has provided me clarity and the ability to define who I am and who I am not. As a strengths-based leader, I applied this self-awareness to stay true to myself and build my team using their natural talents. As an artifact for my Personal Foundations, I have included my Signature Themes the printout defines my strengths and how I am able to efficiently use them.
My last semester of the College Student Personnel program, I completed my Personal Mission Statement. This exercise was therapeutic and I was able to “mediate incongruencies between my professional life and personal life” (ACPA & NASPA, 2010, p. 25). Having to define “what makes me, me” was a difficult process. Writing the personal mission statement encouraged me to use my quirky, good hearted, strong-minded nature in every role. From this exercise I saw a positive change in myself personally and professional. I had a deeper understanding of my values and incorporated them when working with students and other individuals. From this change, I was able to have a deeper connection with my students and serve as a value-driven role model. This mission statement refreshed my memory and made me think of the reasons why I decided to pursue a career in the field of student affairs.
Understanding and defining my personal mission allowed me to better align my values in all that I do. In my last semester as I embarked on the job search, I used my personal mission statement as a guide. Being cognizant of the struggles I had within the College Student Personnel program and being far away from family, my personal mission statement guides me to value my personal happiness. I find an aspect of my personal happiness in genuine relationships, and as I search for a job I look for a place that allows me to be my authentic self and engage in these crucial relationships.
As a student affairs professional, it is essential that I have a high level of self-awareness and proactively participate in active reflection. This knowledge has given me the skills to be exemplary in the Personal Foundations competency. Through these skills, I have built a solid foundation of self-reflection and awareness. As I continue into my future career, I hope to maintain and grow even more within the Personal Foundations competency.
ARTIFACTS
Click the title to view the artifacts!
CSP 6890 Reflection
StrengthsFinder Signature Themes
Personal Mission Statement
References
ACPA & NASPA (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: Authors.
Strange, C. C., & Banning, J. H. (2001). Educating by design: Creating campus learning environments that work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
ACPA & NASPA (2010). Professional competency areas for student affairs practitioners. Washington, DC: Authors.
Strange, C. C., & Banning, J. H. (2001). Educating by design: Creating campus learning environments that work. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.