On July 8th 2014, it was a cool 64 degrees outside, and there was nothing extraordinary about the day in general up in Peabody Massachusetts; but at 21 Emily Lane there was girl who recently graduated college whom had decided to pack up her entire life and move as far south as she could in order to pursue a degree she had only found out about a couple of months prior. She knew no one, she didn't even really know where she was going, but she knew she had three days of driving to do to get there. Oh also, it was that same girl, who was about to drive down the east coast in a packed Ford Fusion, who happen to also be celebrating her 22nd birthday. Fast-forward 2 years, a lot late nights, endless laughs, countless tears and about 13 classes later, you would meet me, Jennifer Stone, an almost graduated masters students whom was just trying to wrap her around the idea that in a few short weeks, months of hard work, would culminate to a final moment of walking across a stage and receiving a degree.

You might ask, what have I learned? What a broad, open ended, endless, and somewhat complicated question. I’ve learned a lot, seen a lot, experiences a lot, good and bad. If I had to talk about the most important lessons and information I have learned, I would have to break it down by experience. From my assistantship I learned, the work will always be there the next day, and it’s okay if it is. During my first few months of being with University Housing I was in my office till 7:00 or 8:00 PM every night. I was the exact opposite of the ideal representation of work life balance. No matter how hard I worked though to empty my inbox each night, the moment I shut off my computer and walked back to my apartment, I would check my phone and see two new emails. It took me almost five months, and a couple grey hairs, to realize the work will be there in the morning. If I knew no matter what the work would be there in the morning, then shouldn't I take the time in my afternoon and take care of myself. My assistantship taught me, work life balance, although hard and sometime nearly impossible, it must be a consistent factor in ones life. Lets think about class now, a very specific type of learning, knowledge. In classes I learned how Schlosberg and Kohlberg saw development, and how people, places, and institutions define success differently. I spoke with students about their journeys in music, and discovered just how important reflection and dialogue are. Class taught me, that without the knowledge and understanding of how a student may or may not think in a situation, we couldn’t learn in good or bad ways from the actions of those we are seeking to develop. Finally, from my internship I learned, the reason I do what I do and love student affairs is for them, the student. There were times during my internship with Homecoming that I struggled with my own desires and need to create a fantastic even, with the understanding that this large scale programming event was not for me, but for the students of Florida State University, and thus needed to be created by those students in order for it to be successful. Sometimes I just wanted to pick up the phone, order a ride, and fix the problem. The solution wasn’t always getting a ride ordered, but helping a student understand their follow through and accountability for themselves has a greater affect on not only other members of an organization but an entire community. From Homecoming I learned purpose, my purpose, as an educator is to educate in my own way, not with definitions or words, but with life skills and developmental growth.

During my time as a graduate student I gained quite a few practical skills, honed in some of my abilities, maybe even embraced some of my strengths. The first skill, which has definitely come in handy, has to be supervision. I had never been a supervisor in my life, and while I had been a presidents of a club or the vice president of student government. I had never had 18 students look at me as a boss. It was a whole new ball game, creating agendas, holding accountability meetings, answering the questions I used to ask, making the decisions and having to be okay with knowing sometimes I didn't know the answer. Trusting myself as a supervisor, and as a professional. I know it’s a little cliché, but I also learned some major time management skills. Imagine having to create an entire new friend group, balancing an academic work load three times the amount you have ever managed, two jobs, personal time and running around a new city. It’s exhausting just typing it out so you can imagine how tiring it was at the time. I had to take everything moment and every experience, one day at a time. I enhanced my ability to work with colleagues, see situations from a different perspective, and learn how I communicate with others. I over my two years worked with 3 different resident assistant staff’s, an orientation staff, a homecoming executive council and various advisors and supervisors. Not every group can be worked with the same way and thus I became adaptable as a supervisor, advisor, and leader. My top five strengths in the Gallup Strengths Finder are Woo, Positivity, Communication, Activator, and Strategic. These are different then the strengths I had in undergrad and I think that speaks to the need for my strengths to reflect my current time and place in my professional practice. I must have the ability to work with lots of people and be liked by them, stay positive and upbeat when others cannot, have open lines of communication and different methods of communication, create action and put into motion plans, as well as be thoughtful, impactful and precise about the action taken in my life. Graduate School has helped me refine these strengths, hone in on how to work with other people while valuing my own ideals and beliefs.

Before I had gone to graduate school I was really proud of whom I was and the accomplishments I had achieved. I had always maintained two jobs, finished three internships during college, maintained a high grade point average, graduated with honors, and had proven all the people who had doubted me along the way, wrong. Something was missing though, I loved the work I was doing with my Expressive Arts Therapy degree, I found joy everyday helping students in an after school not for profit, at the Boston Medical center, even at the preschool I had the opportunity to tutor within. I lacked drive though, sometimes it felt tedious doing to my job, I wasn’t passionate, or devoted to the work I was doing. I did it because I was good at it. Is that was a career is, settling for something you know you can do because it seems like a good option. I had just finished applying to graduate schools for a masters in mental health counseling when I had, what I like to refer as, a end of college panic attack. I couldn’t imagine being a therapist, never mind an expressive artist. What even is expressive arts therapy, what was I going to do with my degree. One thing led to another, and I found myself in my mentors office being told about this amazing career and field known as student affairs where I could combine my love for helping people with my passions and dedication to leadership, development, and growth. What could be better?

Fast forward to the end of my two years of graduate school and I think about, what was I unable to do when I began my master’s degree? Well first off, I was unable to imagine a career that I could wake up every morning and be excited about going to my job. I do that! Everyday I wake up and I look forward to the one on one’s with my RA’s, I am passionate about conduct meetings knowing I might be able to change a students perspective, I even get excited about talking to parents so I can help ease their transition when they think they are only worried about their students transition. I’m good at student affairs, I’m not being humble or cocky, I am, but more than that I am passionate about the work that I have the privilege of doing everyday. Now I know you want more concrete examples, and if you look at my evidence section you’ll see all the ways I have built upon the competencies, but my day-to-day work has informed those growth experiences. I use email everyday for technology, I advised the Homecoming executive council, I picked a retirement plan and now invest with fidelity within the human resources competency, I have crafted trainings for both resident assistants and orientation leaders for leadership. I have participated in social justice, safe zone, and ally training for social justice and inclusion. All of these competency areas that I have developed within though, all connect back to my love and passion for what I do everyday. Without waking up every morning being excited about my job, I would never be motivated to better myself in anyway. That is truly what I am able to do now after graduate school that I couldn't do before. Wake up everyday feeling as if I have a purpose and a career that drives me.  

Confidence, experience and faith. These are the changes I made to myself throughout the last two years that have contributed positively to my ability to be a student affairs professional. I am proud to say everyday I wake up and seek to the ability to better myself. This comes from hard work and hard work takes confidence in my practice, faith that I’ll make the right decisions and if not I can correct my mistakes, and lots and lots of experience gained from working hard everyday. These changes have been made from having supervisors who help you understand right from wrong, back you up when you make decisions regarding your staff, assist you in writing an email. Simple things that seem easy, but in the beginning of ones career are less intuitive than one would believe. These abilities come from mentors who check in on you with encouraging emails and corrected papers, it comes getting up in front of your class and presenting a project and then getting up in front of complete strangers and presenting at an annual conference. Every step taken from being a graduate student to being a full time professional is a learning moment, in order to be ready for the professional position I was going to obtain I needed to be experienced, confident, and full of faith that I knew what I was doing, was taught correctly, and could do it on my own.

It’s interesting reflecting on my professional student affairs journey; I have a unique circumstance because I have already begun my professional career. I jumped in to a new job, in a new place, with new people, after only being seventy five percent done with a degree. I felt incredibly prepared and unprepared at the same time. I felt confident and ready to go, while also feeling scared out of my mind and unable to process the fact that I soon would be running my own area and supervising my own staff. I felt like I had all the skills and tools necessary to start my own professional journey and run my own staff. I had experience doing one on ones, designed weekly reports, have done various types of conduct, talked to so many parents I’ve lost count and know how to work under a time crunch. The tough part was though; I had done all these different tasks with a supervising head staff member that co supervised with me. Would I, when push came to shove, be able to do all these tasks and supervisory requirements on my own. I felt prepared because I knew I had the skills, but I felt unprepared because of the unknown if I could implement those skills into my new position. I’m happy to inform you though, turns out I knew what I was doing after all. With four months under my belt at my new position in Residence Life & Housing at Curry College. I have taken all the skills and knowledge I have gained through my time within my program and in my assistantship and applied it to a successful new position. I am able to lead my own staff, handle two freshman halls, and diligently complete all the tasks required of me. Despite feeling unprepared because of the unknown I was incredibly prepared because of the dedication and commitment I had given to my studies and my job, without wavering in my ideals and love for what I do every day. I am a student affairs professional, I love my job, I do it well, and I can't wait to continue to do what I am passionate about every single day.