Pursuing A Master's In Higher Education: Personal Statement

As I entered the last year of my undergraduate education, I felt more confident in myself and my abilities. Since I reached college, a crossroads in my life, I became the author of my own life, which is the third phase of Baxter Magolda’s Self-Authorship Theory (Patton et al., 2016). I developed solid friendships, a strong belief system rooted in social justice, and a great sense of self as a result of the deep self-reflection I went through during my time in the Human Services Program at WWU. This allowed me to enter my senior year as the author of my life with the ability to develop an internal foundation in the fourth phase of this theory (Patton et al., 2016). Throughout my last year of college, I continued to solidify these newfound aspects

In my case, I decided I wanted to pursue a Master’s in Higher Education the next academic year, during fall quarter of my senior year and began to apply to graduate school. My passion for promoting equity, diversity, and inclusion at universities that I gained through my Human Services major as well as, my own experience as a first-generation college student—one of my most salient identities during my college education— guided this decision to apply to graduate school. I used the internal foundation I developed in college to guide my application process and chose universities that aligned with my beliefs and goals. It was my internal foundation that led me to Loyola University Chicago and caused me to make a huge change in my personal life and move to Chicago after graduation, a city I had never been to before. Without becoming the author of my own life and progressing in my self-authorship journey during college, I would not be where I am today. It was this process that helped me examine my identities and beliefs, and then use them to discover my passion in

Vector six is defined as developing purpose, which involves the individual identifying clear goals, activities, and commitments that relate to their purpose (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). After I made the decision to obtain a Master’s in Higher Education, I started working in the Career Services Center on campus, I completed an internship with SOS to work with fellow first-generation students, I participated on search committees for university employees and became more active in social justice efforts on campus. These activities and commitments all helped me to reach my goal of going to graduate school to pursue my passion and develop a purpose. As a result, I moved into the seventh and final vector, developing integrity, that focuses on fostering values, social responsibility, and authenticity (Chickering & Reisser, 1993). Once I determined my goals after graduation, it was easier for me to put my passions and values into action, which is difficult for individuals who have not developed in this vector. For example, my final quarter my senior year I decided to take a course titled Diversity in Higher Education. In this class, we not only discussed issues of diversity and equity in college, but we also presented to student affairs professionals on campus and wrote a letter to the President of the university with recommendations on how to better support students. By taking