Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Student University
March 2019
AREAS OF GROWTH 2
Introduction
educator and undoing my self-doubt. With a 10-year gap between my undergraduate experience
and entering the SDA program I fought to confront my imposter syndrome, go deep in my
reflections, and see myself as a confident student and professional. These are my areas of growth
with my story that I grow capacity to walk beside a student in their story. This story-centered
I entered the program with very little background in the student affairs field. I was filled
with uncertainty about my academic ability and feared how my learning disability and
undergraduate burn-out would affect my graduate school performance. I lacked confidence and
believed I was not good enough to participate in the lofty academic work of research and policy.
Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of Student Affairs profession and
history of higher education including the history of upholding oppression. In SDAD 5300:
Foundations of the Student Affairs Profession, we learned the soiled history of oppressive
higher education through class discussion and the common text reading of: Trans in College
(Nicolazzo, 2017). Learning about the history of polices that excluded certain populations in
higher education, helped me understand the roots of my own imposter syndrome. I began to
realize how traditional classrooms and teaching styles were not created with my identities in
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mind and how that impacted my education. I believed I did not belong in the SDA program and
I was still healing from the academic rigor in my undergraduate studies, at a school that was not
dimension of this learning outcome is the commitment to lifelong learning and questioning the
ever-changing policies inside and outside the academy that affect the lives and growth of the
students we serve. As I continued learning about imposter syndrome through text and
professional presentations (Pretty, 2017; Steele, 2011), I became more conscious of the students I
served through the Fostering Scholars program. I began to recognize students struggling
imposter syndrome. Additionally, the lack of family support networks made navigating college
and overcoming imposter syndrome more difficult for students in the Fostering Scholars
program. I saw how these students struggle to believe they are capable of achievement when
faced with their own academic gaps. I adapted curriculum in a monthly first-year student
program called Check & Connect (Artifact G) to fight imposter syndrome and build community
the larger trends and theories in higher education through learning communities, research, and
Engagement, I attended the Place-Based Justice Institute which gave me the opportunity to
network with professionals and create a learning community with others who were bridging
programing between community growth and student development. I learned concrete examples
of colleges centering voices of community members and programs for student leaders to learn
about internalized racism before joining community partners. These examples helped me build
(Artifact C2). In SDAD 5750: Best Practices in Student Services, I built on my experience in
SDAD 5960, and interviewed professionals doing place-based work who were also building in
assessment practices in their work. The field experiences in these two classes taught me to ask
deeper questions. Questions such as: how do you create assessment practices that further the
community organizations and assess student learning? These interviews about the emerging
higher education by reminding me of my past experiences in social justice education and how
hearing from professionals about their current programs would help me continue to build my
practice.
define this learning outcome as: a commitment to ongoing improvement of student services
through up-to-date assessment, evaluation, technology and research; an openness to giving and
receiving feedback from students and other professionals that strengthens professional practice
through continual evaluation; and using data to demonstrate and inform programmatic changes
that support educational barriers for marginalized student populations. My lack of confidence
In classes such as SDAD 5740: College Access and Equity and SDAD 5590: The
and group projects that gave me practice applying current data to create recommendations to
improve student services (Artifacts C1, C3), deconstruct the process of AP exams for college
AREAS OF GROWTH 5
credit (C1), and increase diversity at Edmonds Community College (C3). In ADET 5630:
Instructional Methods for Adult Learning, I incorporated assessment practices that utilized
the Universal Design for Learning concepts of multiple means of engagement, representation,
and expression (Gordon, Myer, & Rose, 2014), into my monthly Check & Connect lesson plans
for Fostering Scholars students. This allowed me to improve my teaching and practice to better
address the needs of the scholars and feel more confident applying research to practice (Artifact
improve support for marginalized populations, such as students who have experienced foster
care, with the larger community. By joining the First-Gen Partners committee at Seattle
University, I have a platform to bring data about Fostering Scholar students to other campus
The SDAD program made me confront of my imposter syndrome identity and then called
me into a space of deeper reflection. I searched for my answers to the question of why again and
agan. Through reflection, I was better able to articulate why I believe what I believe and what
commitment to understanding how systems of law, policy, finance, and governance affect the
institution and the function of campus programs. Doing research in SDAD 5740: College Access
and Equity, on the equity issues involved in the debate of granting college credit for AP classes
(Artifact C1), taught me the importance of questioning policies that might impact marginalized
student populations. In this paper I researched both sides of the policy debate in order to
students as they navigate campus conduct and policies. One way I chose to learn a deeper
understanding of this competency area and LO 9 was to join Seattle University’s Conduct Board.
Through conduct hearings I better familiarized myself with the campus policies, learned how to
support students as they navigate conduct issues, and can better advocate for changes on campus.
Seattle University often uses financial fines to penalize students for misbehavior. Because of my
awareness of these policies I can advocate for more equitable repercussions that consider the
inequity of charging Fostering Scholar students or other low-income students with fines.
able to use my knowledge of state and academic law and policies to advocate for better inclusion
and support for marginalized students in higher education. This LO is an area of growth for me
(Artifact E), because I hope to learn more to be better informed to support students. As the
Washington Passport grant expands to include students who have experienced homelessness as
recipients of the grant, it is important for me to stay up-to-date on the state policies. I have to
ensure that programs like Fostering Scholars at Seattle University can budget effectively to
prepare for the increase in comprehensive support for the greater number of potential students
who will qualify for scholarships. I look forward to taking SDAD 5800: Higher Education Law
to deepen my understanding of why and how this policy is expanding and become a better
student-centered educator.
student and professional, as I gain more experience applying what I have learned in the SDA
program to my professional practice. This will require confronting my imposter syndrome and
AREAS OF GROWTH 7
then delving into a deeper reflection of how I hope to practice building my confidence as a
my identity as a student and as a student affairs professional because it indicates the ability to
translate my learning into practice. Before entering the SDA program, academic writing and
professional presentations were the source of anxiety and intimidation. I previously understood
successfully carry it out. Through classes that taught me about the history of access and
restrictions of higher education and the academy, and conversations about different institutional
types to support all students, my understanding of this outcome has evolved. I now define LO 8
as: Awareness of context and audience in order to deliver information effectively, competency in
different learning styles and needs in order to equitably create learning spaces for all.
Universal Design for Learning (Gordon et al., 2014) into lesson plans for Fostering Scholars
(Artifact G, D) in which I considered the unique backgrounds and experiences of these students
to communicate life skill topics like time management, budgeting 101, and growth mindset.
Following Tara Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model (Yosso, 2005), lesson plans drew on
assets of students’ backgrounds and culture rather then deficits. As I developed communicating
recommendations through presentations (Artifact C3), I was asked to present the Check &
I hope to continue to challenge myself to seek opportunities for growth in writing and
speech, by seeking feedback in meetings and presentations that point out missing voices and
practice.
Conclusion
The SDA program brought to light areas of growth to develop as a better professional in
the field. The classes, assignments, and professional practice I pursued throughout the program
provided opportunities for me to work on the themes that consistently served as barriers to my
opportunities that will provide more experiences that utilize my strengths and improve my
weaknesses.
AREAS OF GROWTH 9
References
Gordon, D., Meyer, A., & Rose, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: Theory and practice.
from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID=4603679
Nicolazzo, Z., Renn, K. A., & Quaye, S. J. (2017). Trans in college (First edition ed.). Sterling,
Steele, C. (2011). Whistling vivaldi (1. paperback ed. ed.). New York [u.a.]: W.W. Norton.
Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race discussion of community cultural