Hello all! If you’re taking some time to read this blog, you may be interested in hearing more about my life after undergrad. This May, I finished up my first year of graduate studies. I am currently at Slippery Rock University in their Master of Arts program in Student Affairs in Higher Education. I didn’t truly know what the field was until the October before I applied yet I feel that I better understand myself and my interests through the coursework and via dialogue with my cohort mates and faculty.

Here a few of the great things I’ve gotten to do while in my program:

• I got involved! In things like:
  • The NASPA Graduate Associate Program, coordinating programs for my cohort and interning at the #NASPA17 Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX.
  • The Student Affairs Graduate Association (SAGA), first as a member and then elected as President!
  • I joined the SRU Student Government Association Social Justice Committee.
• I presented at two regional conferences teaching about how to get into graduate school and how to connect with student affairs professionals via Twitter.
• I set up this website and I’ve started writing blogs such as In Defense of Career Services and Student Affairs Twitter Resource Guide.
• I’ve maintained a 4.0 GPA these two semesters and have discovered an interest in qualitative research, which I’ll hopefully be more involved with this upcoming year.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

It hasn’t all been easy though. I’ve found this year to be one where I’ve had a harder time balancing my school, work, and home life. My 40 minute to-and-from commute has been at times exhausting but I hope to push through this one more year and finally get into listening to audio books and podcasts. If you have suggestions, let me know!

This summer, I am interning in Washington, D.C. at one of the student affairs generalist associations, NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. There I will gain an in-depth experience in association, project, and conference management and be able to continue growing my higher education network. In addition to my internship, I’m using this summer to work on a couple of goals that are harder to attend to during the school year.

Here are three goals that I hope to achieve this summer:

1. To create a more specific list of professional development goals for my time at NASPA Headquarters, such as coordinating an assessment and connecting with the Student Career Development Knowledge Community.
2. I want to commit myself to writing a blog a month and include insights regarding my NASPA internship experience. I’ve signed up to write soon for Student Affairs First Years so look out for that!
3. I will focus energy into enjoying my time in DC and making the most of my summer away from the Pittsburgh area by exploring the city and touring the numerous universities in our capitol.

Thank you all for checking up on me and if you’re interested in hearing more, feel free to visit my contact page!

Header photo by Jing Xi Lau on Unsplash 📸