Running head: INTERVIEW REFLECTION

Student Affairs Professional Interview Reflection

Khyla Breland
Northern Illinois University
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For my student affairs professional interview, I decided to interview my mentor Angell

Howard. She works in the president’s office at Illinois State University helping with professional

development and trainings for staff. Her passion is centered around diversity, equity, and

inclusion work. She also mentors students at the university, helping them through their

collegiate journey. In the interview, I asked Angell questions regarding ways she shows

empathy, ethical issues as it relates to helping, burnout, her philosophy behind teaching and

training, and what she gains from being a helper.

The first question we touched on was empathy. This was a topic we discussed in class

and had several classmates bring up how they try to empathize with students when they are

meeting with them about certain challenges thy are facing. Empathy has always been

something I believe in, as it helps me when I work with students as well. Talking to Angell about

the way in which she shows empathy aligned with mine. She does not try to make a student

feel as though their situation is about to end or make false statements for the sake of hope for

students. She simply affirms them in their feelings and see if there are ways in which we can

help. I resonated with that because in my own work, I never like to make students believe that

we are a magic wand for them and will make all their problems go away. I also never like to

become overly emotional with them to make it seem like I understand what they are going

through. Most of the time, students just need someone to listen and help them in whatever

way they can. Showing empathy is not trying to make students believe you know what they are

going through, but that you want to understand. Solely for the sake of knowing how you can

best help them. Angell also mentioned how many times student affairs professionals can over

share personal information when working with students for the sake of trying to be empathic.
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This is something I have noticed as well and find very unnecessary. I notice that when students

are coming to you for a problem, they may not be there to hear about our experiences because

then it just turns the attention on us. They simply want to know that they are being heard and

understood.

Another topic we touched on teaching versus training, and whether there is a

difference. Angell does DEI work so most of her helping comes from educating students and

professionals. This was the most interesting part of the interview because I was able to gain

insight on how an educator views their work. When I asked if she believes she teaches or trains,

she said she educates. She mentioned the difference between educating and training is that

training is for people who are not willing to learn or change their perspectives. Training is

learning words, phrases, or experiences where a person can say they know because they have

been trained on that topic or issue. Educating is different because it gives people the

opportunity to change their hearts and mindsets on an issue. Education is for people who are

willing to develop and learn a new perspective. I found this interesting because I thought about

my experiences with trainings. In every training regarding DEI that I have gone to consisted of

those basics. It consisted of the terminology the audience needed to know in surrounding that

specific issue and a few experiences. Social justice education workshops I have gone to seem to

be a bit more engaging where participants learn from on another, interact with one another,

and have conversations that goes beyond learning terminology. Talking to Angell about the

differences helped me realize what language I should use going further when discussing

education and training because now I understand what each one entails.
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Burnout was something I needed to talk about with her because this is something that is

big for women of color in fields such as student affairs. Women of color typically are the helpers

who do not receive the amount of help that they put in. They also are not recognized or valued

at the same rate as their counterparts. This could be due to implicit bias, microaggressions, and

discrimination. I asked Angell if there were ever times that she wanted to help but needed to

take a step back due to burnout or fatigue. She mentioned that typically she does not take a

step back when it has something to do with students but will do it with coworkers. The logic is

that students will need her in that moment and turning them away is not ideal in those

situations. Professionals are more so understanding of when that break is needed, so

expressing those concerns to them allows her to take time to herself when needed. Working in

housing, I have learned what it means to be burnt out. Being the only Black professional staff in

my complex my team can create some fatigue. There are many students and CAs of color who

live in my complex and have chosen me as their staff member to confide in or ask for help when

needed. This causes more stress and work on me because I know I can not turn students away

and must work through those times when it can be emotionally draining. Talking through this

with Angell was necessary.

Overall, the interview with Angell was very informative. DEI work is something I am

passionate about so interviewing someone working in that area about the way they help others

was insightful. Doing this interview also made me realize that student affairs professionals are

helpers at some capacity. I believe that this field is designed to help students in some way and

figuring out what that looks like for each of us is important. This interview made me think more

about the way that I help students as well. Typically, I do not think about what I am doing for
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students, I just think that I am doing my job. I never think about the interactions I have with

students and the impacts it may have on them. This assignment was great because with every

question I asked Angell, I was able to reflect on my own experiences as well. The conversation

went beyond the questions that were asked, making it more impactful. I believe this interview

allowed me to now be more aware of my actions and think about the professional that I am

going to be.