#SAReflects: Planning the Future

One of the most memorable moments I've had as an #SAGrad so far is writing my personal and professional development plan for my future as an #SAPro. Here's the assignment as follows:

Students will develop and submit a personal/professional career development plan.  In this paper, discuss your professional goals including what type of positions you expect to have, how long do you hope to stay in each position, in what type of institution (size, location, type) do you hope to work?  What are your personal and professional development experiences you hope to gain to support your career development plan?  Avoid simply listing the information, discuss your rationale and motivation behind your responses.   Examine the Chronicle of Higher education or other sources for jobs in higher education that might interest you. Submit a copy of an ad for a job that is of interest to you along with a cover letter and current resume as if you were applying for that job.

I had a problem at first, because I was (and still am) torn between so many different paths such as Residential Life, Student Activities, Mental Health/Health Education and Career Counseling. I told my professor that I really wasn't sure as to what I wanted to do. All I knew was that I wanted to work at an AICAD serving institution or any other art school. I did however tell her I was interested in the Creative Arts Therapy Masters Degree because I did want to incorporate my love of art as well as my love of educating and assisting people.

Like the worrywart I am, I was worried about the assignment being too long or too much like a narrative. She gave me a smile and said that it's fine that it seems like a narrative, as long as it had to deal with my personal growth as a student affairs professional.

But what my professor made us understand through this assignment is that even though you're not sure about what you want to do outright in the future, it's still good to plan ahead. You'll never know what the future holds. Here's what my first paragraph looks like:

When asked about my personal and professional development, I get a bit overwhelmed. There are many opportunities in the realm of student affairs that I would indeed like to explore or delve deeper as both a graduate student and a new student affairs professional. Some of the areas that I would like to explore are New and Transfer Student Orientation, Admissions, Institutional Research and Public Relations and Health Counseling or Education. The areas that I would like to reexamine as well as delve deeper into are Student Activities/Student Engagement or Involvement, Career and Residence Life/Residential Programs. If I were to narrow down my choices to the top three to start in my Student Affairs Professional career, I would choose either Residential Life, Health Counseling/Education, or Student Activities/Student Engagement or Involvement. Through my experience at my undergraduate institution, SUNY College at Old Westbury, these three positions have impacted and shaped my own path to become a part of the Higher Education and Student Affairs realm. I know that eventually, I would like to become a Dean of Students.

 Although the future does seem forever away, it still doesn't hurt to plan ahead. If you don't get to do some of those plans that you had down before, it's the end goal that matters the most.

Ferguson, MO

After hearing that Darren Wilson, a Caucasian American at the age of 28 was not indicted, I was disappointed, but not surprised. Seeing that the United States of America in 2014 was still subject to racial injustice makes me feel uncomfortable. Watching St. Louis, MO being burned and looted makes my skin crawl as I sit by my computer looking up the public's reaction.

How do I feel about the whole decision? As an African American woman with an African American male significant other makes me even more skeptical of raising children in the United States. Especially with related cases like Trayvon Martin (Florida) and Eric Garner (New York). Just seeing that things like this could happen close to home makes me queasy. It is indeed sad that sooner or later African American people who are educated might be targeted next.

Seeing news reports from the former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani makes me see that America should stop seeing other issues that, yes should be addressed, but are not exactly relevant to the topic at hand. Here is the video I am talking about here. In this video, Rudy Giuliani states that “White police officers wouldn't be there, if you weren't killing each other.”

It is true that there is a lot of black on black crime, but to bring up black on black crime when the issue at hand was about white on black crime is unnecessary. Hearing that line made me sick to the stomach. It makes me sick that people who are in power are glorifying as well as justifying not only white on black crime, but authority privilege. What do I mean by authority privilege? Anything form of abuse of power.

What can we do about fighting both racial privilege and authority privilege? We should come together as people, no matter what race, socioeconomic background and other demographic classifications and report these injustices. True, social media is indeed impactful, but having another one of our American children become a hashtag is extremely disappointing and morbid. Bringing ourselves to loot and commit arson also doesn't help the situation; it however (sadly) gives others reasons why people are classified the way that they are. We should go back to our roots like the Civil Rights Movement and protest these unjust actions by using civil disobedience instead of violent riots and protests. We should have our politicians and police commissions reflect and alter their program in lieu of cases such as Martin, Garner and Brown.

What can we do as educators? What we should always do: hold discussions about these issues. Further educate yourself as well as the students you work with about these issues. They are indeed our future and in order to help reduce incidents like these are to teach your students about the privileges that some have over others.

Until we do come together to fix this problem, my own generation of African American males and females will be subject to racism based off of what the media glorifies and what politicians use to add insult to injury. We will still face demise as America goes in a nosedive backwards in history.

My first week as an #SAGrad

Just like any kid, teenager or young adult would, they are nervous about the first day of school. Whether you are in a school or institution of higher education for a while, this is your first time entering your new school, or you are transferring in, the first day jitters always settle in.

Going into my first year of grad school was (and still is) scary to me because there are things that you don't expect or you do expect them, but the outcomes aren't what you thought they would be.

I was used to living on campus in my undergrad that I was reliant on public transportation only on weekends when I went home (if I went home because of the many different leadership positions I held). But now the script flipped -- I am a commuter, living an hour (on a really good day and if I catch my trains and bus on time).

How does this relate to student affairs? Adaptation and time management. With student affairs constantly changing (from policies to how campus culture changes), we must work to those changes. In order to do that, we need to delegate time to developing the changes made. If the changes are bad, how would we work to change for the next time around?

Also with time management, we must fix our schedules to accommodate for the changes. What if something good or bad happens in the middle of a change? Will we have enough time left over to fix the changes, or will we have to sacrifice things in our extremely hectic schedules?

I had to learn on my own how to travel to get to school on time. I even had to find alternatives if I missed the shuttle bus from the station (e.g. public transportation or asking a friend for a ride).

Now that I am entering my 4th session, I am getting used to my (exhausting) route from home to school. I have apps that help me catch my trains and busses on time and I work hard to give input into class discussions.

Thank you for reading!

Around Montreal, Quebec.

For the past two weeks, I have been in a town not too far from Montreal called Verdun, where my aunt lives with my cousin and her two children. I took this trip to relieve some previous stress and anxiety before entering my first day of Graduate school this coming Tuesday.

Instead of talking more about my trip, I'll show you some pictures. Though I haven't really traveled much around Montreal,  I still had a good time! Below are some of my surroundings when I did go out on the town.

 How does my trip apply to Student Affairs? For one thing, after a long and stressful semester or full on school year, we need a rest so that we will be fully charged to handle the next task. It's hard being a super hero/heroine to the students of your institution. It is extremely important that you take a break for yourself or else you'll be burned out way before you know it.

If you are in the burn out stage, it is best that you take some time for yourself, even if it is brief. Take a walk, dedicate 30 minutes to alone time, do some breathing exercises; the possibilities to release the stress are endless.

Another way this applies to student affairs is learning about the world around you. Globalization is important, especially if you wish to learn about different nations and how they go about things. During my stay in Quebec, I (still) have limited language knowledge (the primary language of Quebec is French). Though I did know a few bits and pieces of French, I still had some anxious times where I found it hard to express myself. 

My cousin reassured to me (plenty of times) that the Quebecois speak English too. There were plenty of times where I forgot about this too and was too shy to ask.

From what I've seen around me in Quebec, it is A LOT neater, friendlier and more beautiful than where I live, New York City. Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of beautiful places in the city that never sleeps, but being in a different atmosphere didn't make me hate where I live. I'm a New Yorker and will always be one. But sometimes, we do need a change in pace.

Having "Learner" as my 5th strength in my recent Strengths Quest, I wanted to know more about Quebec -- even more about Canada itself. For example, I've learned that they have eliminated their pennies or one cent coins (interesting eh?). Also, since this is on the news a lot, free health care. Taxes are distributed better according to income. Even seeing a lot of "Grown in Canada" or "Made in Canada" made me excited. 

The question I have been asked a lot while I was here was "Would you want to live in Canada?" My answer to that is yes. Yes because I love the environment. It is pretty friendly to me and I would love to visit other parts of Canada. I would even study French harder in order to communicate better with my family as well as the people in Quebec.

Now that my time up here is done, I am refreshed to start school on September 2nd. Thank you very much for reading!

Bridging the Gap Campus Wide

Two weeks ago on the Student Affairs Collective's weekly #SAChat, there was discussion about training student leaders. There were many topics discussed such as bringing alumni, faculty, staff and even outside guests into student leadership training. As a former Resident Assistant and a former member of my undergraduate institution's Student Government, I remember my first RA training, we had a lot of in house sessions (in house in this case meaning with in the department) from the RDs and even second and third year RAs.

But the most important part that was discussed during this #SAChat was on bringing faculty into student leadership training. Faculty play the academic part on all college campuses. Some may even play as an advisor of a student organization. Introducing faculty into student leadership training helps bridge the gap between academics and student affairs.

I would assume that a lot of professors care about educating the students. Just by bringing them into leadership training would help bring in their concerns for their students and what they would like to see in the advancement of the institution.

Another important part of leadership training is bringing in other individuals from different departments in Student Affairs. Collaboration is a keyword in this. It is important to use what you have around you to create efficient, fun and educational environment for your target audience.

I remember asking my Health Educator in my institution for help and inspiration for my program "What Makes You Beautiful?", a program about body image in both young men and women. She pointed me in the right direction by bringing the idea to out Active Minds chapter. (For those who do not know about Active Minds, it is a national organization made to change the conversation about mental health.) Together we created a space for students to discuss their concerns as well as state their opinions about body image.

In closing, remember this quote one of my favorite RDs would say "teamwork makes the dream work." Without team work, would there be institutions of higher education? We need to utilize our nearby resources.

The Impact of #SoMe and Your Paper and Personal Presence

Today I learned an important lesson on Social Media presence and how it relates to your resume. You need to make sure that your presence online, on paper and in person are on point. Make sure that your LinkedIn is up to date, since it is your online resume. Also, make sure that your other online accounts such as Facebook and Twitter are good too. These are the things that the selection committee will be looking for.

As a person who is part of the "millennial" or "Generation Y" group, I have to especially make sure that what I say on paper and online is really what it is. Like my friend said, #SoMe is a "truth checker." Plus it shows who you really are. Yes, your resume may be one or one and a half pages long and your cover letter is really good, but once someone hits the magnifying glass on the Google Search, it better not be downhill from there.

It is important to constantly Google yourself. Usually your first and last name and what state or country you live in. I have provided an example below:

As you can see in the above picture, I typed in my first and last name and my home state, New York. Now one of the first things that you notice is a LinkedIn page. Make sure that you have one because it makes your online presence more positive and appealing to the selection committee. It will be the first one or two things to appear on your name's Google Search.

The second thing you notice is my Twitter handle, @ElennaMGeffrard. If you do have a Twitter handle and it happens to be your name, make sure that it's a presentable one. My Twitter handle has important things that I want employers to look for: the school that I came from, what I intend on studying, etc. Also it is free from inappropriate things. So this is why I said that your Twitter needs to be "presentable."

The third thing is something from the White Pages or something from your state's employment. About your wages, etc. But that's not what we're going to focus on today.

My name, luckily, is unique. But for someone, let's call her Maria Sanchez, may have at least 5 people that share her name in her location and maybe at least 50 in the country. So Maria has to work hard to make her presence known. She could add a middle name or middle initial to stand out a bit more with her achievements.

But there are other positives in your #SoMe profiles. Employers might be looking for your interests to figure out what kind of person you are and if you fit in their work space. Just once again make sure that your interests are clean. You don't want a random Vine playing or your cover photo of your Facebook Timeline to be of you and your friends drinking kegs of beer.

To close, #SoMe is an extension of you. You are representing your state, your school, or where ever you work. Be sure to fix the loose ends with a fine toothed comb.

Take care everyone! Thank you for reading!

Introductions!

Hello everyone. My name is Elenna Geffrard and I am a Masters Student studying Higher Education Leadership and Policy Studies. I have many interests including the following: student affairs and leadership, anime and manga, Do-It-Yourself projects, art, fashion, food and technology. I aspire to be many things in my life, but the one thing that matters most is making differences in people's lives.

Blogging is one way that I intend to make a difference. I wish to be inspiring an influential to many people who have the same interests as me, whether it be one or all of mine. As a recent recipient of a Bachelor of Science in Computer and Information Science, this is a great opportunity to bridge all of my interests, as well as use one way my undergraduate studies will be a part of student affairs and higher education.

I thank you for taking the time to read this blog. I'm new to using Blogger, but I'm positive that you all will enjoy it.

Take care,

Elenna.