Access to higher education is a privilege I am able to experience because of the outreach of a student affairs professional. My journey began with an advertisement in the local paper for a Trio based Upward Bound Math and Science program. Without that article I would not be where I am today with the access to higher education that I have. I would have never pushed myself to leave a failing public school for one with a better AP and music program. The program taught me something more valuable than ACT prep or college readiness, it taught me goal setting. For the first time I believed I was going to college. By the end of the program, I had my sights set on a degree in music and there was no stopping me. Something stopped me from teaching music though, student affairs. I would have no clue at the time, but student affairs had set its sights on me in high school. Looking back, I was always interested in what the teacher was doing and how they did it. This curiosity carried over into …show more content…
in Educational Leadership enables me to teach, mentor, and further develop the pack of experiences on my back building my career path and to ensure the success of those who are around me and those that I can reach. This degree is so I can continue to move up in my career, but also open the door in to becoming a faculty member. I believe in three major things in journey: research is important for furthering my experience, never lose sight of where you come from [a failing public school, Mentor, Learning Assistant, Community Director, and then Coordinator], and teaching and sharing your packed experiences is the most important thing you will do with your life. This degree enables me to continue to do all of these things and to “keep moving forward.” It enables me to give back to the field and further it through research in student leadership, housing, and fraternity and sorority life. Areas that have literature, yes, but have not studied or been assessed in many different