Professional Praxis
As a student affairs practitioner, I believe I am someone who is there for students to help them become the best person they can be. As a student affairs practitioner, I look to serve and advocate for all the students, faculty, and staff with whom I may work with. In this profession we are constantly working with others as a team. I will be a practitioner who will always lends a helping hand to those in need and help support them. I believe my outlook and intentions in the student affairs profession would matter greatly as I hope to encourage students to better themselves and stay engaged throughout their college experience. In doing so I believe students would benefit tremendously and gain new knowledge and skills they may have never known they could achieve.
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Some of the values I hold as a student affairs practitioner are authenticity, adaptability, motivation, and growth and development. I value being someone who is my true self, as well as someone who can adapt and overcome any challenges. I am someone who can motivate myself and others around me and aspire to grow personally and professionally to be the best practitioner I can be. As an emerging professional, being my true self shapes my practice by showing others who I really am and developing authentic relationships with those around me. This allows for deeper connections among those I would be working with, which will also facilitate a greater working environment. I hope to create a powerful and meaningful environment where students feel welcomed and safe by holding true to these values to the best of my ability as a student affairs practitioner.
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Throughout my graduate career, internships, and assistantship I have learned who I want to be as a leader, as well as different techniques and skills to teach others and help others learn. If it was not for my experiences throughout my graduate career, I would not be the student affairs practitioner I am today. My mentors, supervisors, and professors have all guided me and allowed me to grow into the individual I am today. The knowledge and experiences I have learned inside and outside the classroom have prepared me to be a successful practitioner and I will continue to grow and develop throughout the rest of my career.
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I hope to be the best advocate for students I can be. This will come over time in my career and through continuous learning and growth. I have learned I want to be a practitioner who is versatile in multiple aspects of student affairs. I want to be a practitioner students feel comfortable coming to whether they need guidance or to have a general conversation, someone others can count on, and someone who is optimistic and open to change, suggestions, and honest criticism. I also want to be a practitioner who can plan and prioritize while also delegating the workload appropriately based on skill and knowledge. I want to be a practitioner who is viewed as a leader, not a follower. Although I will not always be perfect every day, I will however, reflect on every situation and figure out what works best or what I may need to improve. I believe my purpose is to be a student advocate. I believe working in student affairs allows individuals to be a supporter of students, academically, personally, and professionally.
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The HESAA Core Values of being Socially Just, Authentic, Reflective, and Collaborative, inform my praxis as a new professional by giving me a standard for which I should always strive. As a new professional, I will always strive to be someone who continuously educates myself on social justice concepts, such as equity, diversity, and inclusion and include these aspects in my everyday practice. I will be my authentic self, and constantly have reflection opportunities within my career. Being able to constructively reflect allows me as an individual and the department to assess what is going well and what needs to be improved. Lastly, as a new professional, I want to network and develop partnerships with all those around me that can further help the students. This will not only help me develop relationships but will also provide students with more support. It will also allow for growth and development within the department or office by learning from others to develop more knowledge on how to be successful within student affairs.
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Student affairs is about showing up for students and letting them know we are always here to help and support them to become successful leaders and individuals. Student affairs practitioners are constantly learning new things every day and I believe each day may bring new challenges, but I will overcome them, grow, develop, and be the best practitioner I can be.