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ePortfolio Narrative Description

Loyola University Chicago

Jessica Avila-Cuevas
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As I reflect on the past two years in Loyola University Chicago’s Higher Education

program, there were many moments where I received inspiration and affirmation through class

discussions, readings, and relationships I have established within and outside of the classroom.

This reflective piece will summarize how I have grown in my intellectual growth as a student

and how this is transcended in the work I do as a current professional. Moreover, I will share

how social justice was implemented in my graduate experience and how this is demonstrated in

my role as a professional.

I came into the program with allowing myself for growth and improvement even though I

had earned experience working in the field of higher education. Little did I know that this

program transcended my understanding of the organization I have been a part of for the past nine

years (if you include my undergraduate experience as an involved student). There were many

courses in the program that solidified my understanding of higher education and how my

professional role fits within this organization. From taking American Higher Education to

Organization and Governance, these courses provided a foundation of the histories and

organizational structure and how this relates to the systems that exist in higher education today.

While I have developed a well-rounded understanding of higher education as an

institution, the Multiculturalism for Social Justice class was pivotal and transformative as it

pertains to my own salient identities and how this relates to the workspace that I am in. This was

the first course I have ever taken to understand how my social identities and systems of

oppression contribute to or work against the social justice process in a higher education setting.

Learning more about myself and my salient identities has transformed my understanding of how

my presence in a space may be, but by also articulating who I am as well. This course has also
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helped me to become aware of my privileges and how I can utilize a social justice lens as

someone who would critique the systems that already exist in institutions of higher education or

in our complex society.

I have never learned more about who I am and how my intersectional gender and racial

identities are placed in this complex society than ever before. Through affirmations from

classmates to reflections in various assignments, this program has truly validated my worth and

belonging through the identities that are salient to me and how much I have come to embrace my

Latinidad as a Woman. My experiences in undergrad and the emerging years of my professional

career have not allowed me to grasp on my salient identities through certain spaces, but I have

learned to cultivate my sense of belonging in order to make meaning of my life as well as how I

can best support students and/or colleagues who may experience dissonance through identity

development and formation. This program has taught me to be my authentic self and how I can

utilize my saliency through the intersectionality as a Latina.

As someone who has worked full-time since the beginning of my graduate studies, there

have been many moments in this program that have strengthen my ability to understand higher

education from a theoretical and scholarly standpoint. I currently work in undergraduate

admissions with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and although I was susceptive to

learning more about higher education, it did not occur to me how my past experiences as a higher

education professional was based on anecdotes without articulating various experiences or

situations into theory. My experiences in college admissions has been informed by the literature

and research from various courses, such as Enrollment Management. I’ve had many “aha”

moments where I was able to connect past experiences to theory. The theories and research
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learned in this program have enlightened me where I am now able to articulate my approach

differently based on literature.

Currently, I am fulfilling an internship with Northwestern’s Medill Career Services. As

someone who has been ingrained to the world of college admissions, Loyola’s Higher Education

program has challenged me to try something new. Loyola’s promise and motto is to “Prepare

People to Lead Extraordinary Lives.” Fulfilling an internship that will allow me to enhance my

skills and professional growth in another function area truly manifests this promise. Although I

am not ready to leave the world of admissions at this time, I know I would feel comfortable in

working in a different function area within higher education through the knowledge and lessons

learned from coursework as well as my experience from this internship.

My view on social justice in education is manifested through my educational experiences

and professional practice. For me, social justice is a process where we can utilize our agency to

make changes for the betterment of society and challenge the status quo. Part of my decision to

pursue my master’s at Loyola was because it truly stands with its mission and identity as a social

justice-oriented institution. This was ultimately transcended through all of the courses that I took

as I was able to think critically about issues that may affect students and how I can use my

agency toward an equitable approach. Through my work in college admissions, I have been able

to use my agency to advocate for historically marginalized student populations, such as

undocumented students. Being a part of the Illinois Association for College Admission

Counseling’s Sharing the Dream Conference planning committee, which hosts a statewide

conference that brings together educators and allies who work with and support undocumented

students, is a testament of how social justice can be informed through my practice.

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The past two years at Loyola’s Higher Education program have been nothing short of a

roller-coaster adventure. Through a mix of emotions of joy and anguish, self-confidence and

self-doubt, and grace and despair - I have overcome this next step of my personal and

educational journey. Fulfilling this degree was not easy while working full-time and attending

school part-time. However, through perseverance I was able to meet and achieve this goal in

earning this master’s degree.