Reflective Summary

As I am approaching the end of my Child Life Master's program, I have realized

the growth and development I have done over the past 2 years. There is a tremendous
sense of accomplishment and pride as I near graduation. I have gained a great depth of
knowledge in my content area, as well as child life practices, emergent issues in the field,
assessment strategies, and research methodology. I had the privilege of working with and
studying from the best educators. These instructors set high standards, challenged me,
were encouraging, supportive, and exceptional role models.

This program has fostered and promoted growth in my child life practices. Many
of my classes furthered my understanding of making decisions that center around what is
best for children and their families. Many of my classes provided me with a better
understanding of authentic assessment strategies, child life interventions and how to
provide family centered care. But most importantly, my graduate course load has given
me the opportunity to self-reflect. Self-reflection is critical because I believe that child
life specialists should be lifelong learners!

The experiences that created the most important learning opportunities for me,
were those that allowed me to apply my learning directly to practice. This is evident
when I volunteer, when I was working in a classroom setting and when I completed my
child life practicum. The variety of hands-on experiences such as building rapport,
therapeutic activities (self-expression doll, medical play, etc), teaching, providing surgery
preparation and witnessing the power of play were the highlights of my experiences.
Even though I will be graduating from this program, I consider myself an avid learner
and a lifelong learner. I am confident in the skills and information that I was taught which
has prepared me for the next step within my Child Life career and I cannot wait to
continue my journey.