Reflection

Being a part of SLJC and creating my portfolio has taught me more about myself than I

could have anticipated. I always found that I have difficulty writing about myself when it comes

to resumes or personal statements because I am never sure about what to focus on, but the

portfolio project gave me a chance to dissect certain aspects of my life and thoughtfully consider

them. This has allowed me to form an even more in-depth perspective on my strengths and

accomplishments which has now made writing about them much simpler. I also gained insight

into the professional digital media environment, and how I should portray myself. Most

importantly, everything we post online is there forever, regardless of if we delete it afterward,

and social media research is a big part of the job application process. Companies have people to

specifically search for potential candidates online, and everything we have ever posted can come

up. This has often become a reason for the elimination of a prospective candidate; therefore, it is

important to watch our digital footprint and make sure that everything we post online is

something we would be content with if a recruiter found it.

While creating my portfolio, I learned effective methods to create my resume and

LinkedIn that I will continue to use as my professional experience grows. Additionally, having

completed items like my resume and LinkedIn prior to graduating provides me with more

opportunities to find internships or jobs that I would have otherwise not been able to get without

these resources. One issue that I had was that I found myself struggling with structuring my

accomplishments into effective statements, particularly for my resume. I have a tendency to

overthink, so coming up with small statements to encompass a certain experience was quite

difficult. In the future, for those that struggle with the same problem, I feel that it would be

beneficial to have a small seminar that focused on this part of the portfolio project, where we
create personal statements in relation to what we have accomplished using the proper jargon. I

also feel that it would be useful to talk about creating the website itself in the future, as that was

an entirely new process for me. Although it is not the priority, the design elements of a website

can add or retract a lot from the information provided, thus I believe it would be helpful to

discuss in a brief seminar what elements work in a professional website, and what elements

should not be used.

Through SLJC, I have learned a lot about my leadership style, my strengths, and how I

want to operate in the professional world. The lesson on our personal strengths was invaluable to

me, as I was finally able to understand how my characteristics manifested in a learning

environment. For example, I was always told through various personality tests that empathy was

one of my greatest traits, but I found it difficult to apply this as a concrete strength by itself. The

seminar on strengths and weaknesses allowed me to understand what it was specifically about

empathy that I used to create a nurturing, productive environment. And after being taught for a

long time that leadership solely stemmed from the “type A,” extroverted personality, SLJC

provided a new angle with which I viewed leadership. I understood that leadership was not

contingent on being the loudest, or most outgoing, but it relied on being a dependable person

who can communicate effectively and foster relationships, connections, and personal growth that

allow for progress and change as an entire team. To me, a leader isn’t a title for a single person,

but a title that everyone has, and it is owned through utilizing your own strengths as well as the

strengths of those around you for the greater good. As a leader, I hope to employ compassion in

order to voice the thoughts of the underrepresented, as well as be a figure one can depend on. I

want to inspire others to speak out for what they believe in, and as a result, strengthen our

community. I strongly believe that as a team, people are more likely to enact change than as
individuals. I would like to act as a liaison between people of different backgrounds so that we

can work towards a common goal.