Student Affairs Personal Statement

There comes a great humility in seeing students who never thought they could be successful achieve so much more than they imagined possible. As a first generation college student, I never realized that my greatest struggles, achievements, and experiences as a college student would spark in me a desire to see others become accomplished despite the odds against them. From my experience in Supplemental Instruction, Athletic Academics, volunteer programs, and more, it is with great passion that I pursue a career in Student Affairs. Graduate school is my next big step in this journey.

My interest in Student Affairs began with my first job as an undergraduate, Supplemental Instruction. The main goal of my position was to aid students who were in a traditionally difficult course; however, as the semesters went by and I worked more and more with freshman students, my goal shifted. I no longer wanted to enable students to succeed in one class but to succeed in University. To achieve this goal, our time would be spent on more valuable topics, like how to adapt study skills or learn in a variety of ways to more discussing …show more content…
Half way through the semester I found myself in a group that was frustrated with our lack of success and the difficulty it was in communicating with our community partner. I decided that the best course of action would be putting our differences aside and listening to the complaints of our partner and putting their needs first. This would not only benefit us in our ideas and capability in truly benefiting our community partner, but it would also encourage our partner to work with us and listen to us. I walked away from the program not just successful as a group but more patient and understanding as a person. I learned to listen and think before making decisions and how to truly appreciate