II. Personal Goals

In 2008 I devoted an entire summer to various leadership positions at Florida State University, including Panhellenic Recruitment and First Year Experience courses. It was during this time that I developed an interest in student development and a desire to work with college students. As I began my graduate studies I had an overarching goal of learning the Higher Education profession and becoming a Fraternity/Sorority advisor. As an alumnae member of a National Panhellenic Council sorority, this community of students was most familiar to me and I was eager to leave a positive impact on these organizations and future members. While working towards my main goal, I am looking to develop, professionally and personally, in other ways as well. During these two years I plan to expand my skill set, refine my professional attitude, and gain some valuable networking skills.

Skill Expansion

While I entered graduate school with a variety of skills, they mostly included those in the visual arts due to the nature of my undergraduate degree program. As I continue my studies I would like to gain a variety of skills in different areas related to higher education and student affairs and academia as an entity. Some specific skills I hope to add to my repertoire are an effective leadership style, the ability to work with different types of students, and an understanding of current issues and research in the higher education and student affairs field.

Professional Attitude

Certain standards and expectations of any professional are universal across all career fields. Some examples include an effective presentation and speaking presence, professional writing style, and the ability to work well with different people. Although I feel that I gained a copious amount of these skills during my undergraduate development, I would like to spend my graduate career polishing those professional aspects of my personality and abilities while working on my course work and field experiences.

Networking

“Who you know” is important in any field, whether we like that idea or not. The most famous of reasons for networking is connecting with people in order to advance your career, but getting to know professionals is important for a variety of other reasons in a college or university environment. For example, the more professionals you connect with at conferences can provide insight into how different campus’ solve educational problem, which may be of use if one of those issues comes your way as a professional.  In the past I have not been particularly good at networking and putting myself out there to people who could eventually be beneficial in my future endeavors. This is probably one of the more difficult obstacles I will encounter when working towards my goals, so I hope to get started immediately and develop a firm grasp of professional networking by graduation time.

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