As mentioned, Yosayra is my mentor and we met a few weeks ago to further discuss all the components of the handbook and our expectations of each other so here is a brief overview:
Shared Components
-On-Campus Mentorship-
This mainly focuses on the relationship between the Fellow and the Mentor that there is an ongoing exchange so I can continuously learn about Higher Education. The good thing about this is that Yosayra supervises me under the both positions I hold in the office, so she's constantly an immediate resource for me. In addition, this gives me the opportunity to continuously observe my Mentor in her profession.
-Reading Assignments-
This is something ongoing that I'm going to be doing with my Mentor and it's going to be an exchange. So, if me or Yosayra find something that could serve as an interest, then we can discuss the topics and such.
-Mid-Year NUFP Evaluation-
We're currently working on this and we're going to meet in a few weeks to discuss everything so more information about this will be written about in a later post.
Individual Components
For this component, there are different things I can do to fulfill the Learning Outcomes of the program.
-Develop writing, research, and presentation skills-
Will keep a blog of my NUFP experience (as you can see here)
-Develop Ethical Decision Making Skills-
For this component, I am either going to present or co-present a presentation with the Executive Director of my department to the 2012 Peer Leaders during training. I've learned about ethics a little bit for the past two years through previous PL presentations and I found them intriguing, so I actually decided to take a class in Ethics next semester. I hope that I can use what I learn towards contributing towards the presentation in teaching the PLs about ethical decision making.
-Develop Cultural Competency Skills-
I am going to attend an ally training workshop on my campus, specifically for the LGBT community for SafeSpace training.
-Develop Professional Networking Skills-
I attended the NASPA Careers in Student Affairs Conference at PACE University in October and am looking towards attending the Annual Conference in March.
As of now, I'm only a part of NASPA in regards to professional associations. As an Undergraduate student, I'm an English major and am also a part of NJCTE which is the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English and I attended and volunteered in their conference last Spring. In addition, I will be joining ALAN which is the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents in the coming weeks as I will be taking a Young Adult Literature class in the Spring.
-Develop Ability to Identify and Develop Personal, Academic, and Career Goals-
For this, I am going to develop personal goals and create a plan of action for the semester. I will discuss this further will my Mentor the next time we meet.
-Develop an Awareness and Understanding of Engaged Citizenship and Service-
One of the things Yosayra and I are going to try to work to do in include a service component to the Peer Leadership Program through Relay for Life. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I think it's a good thing to include in the program.
The other example given was to enroll in a class that focuses on the meaning of citizenship. In the past semester, I have taken Historical Foundation in American Education, which can be see as learning about citizenship and the growth of it throughout history. This semester, I also completed my second service-learning course. The first service-learning course I took was Teaching Writing and I volunteered as a Writing Coach at a middle school where I worked with students in helping them to develop their writing. This semester, I completed my second service-learning course for Psychology of Leadership where I volunteered at an elementary school every week in assisting with the YMCA after school program. I actually really enjoyed the experience that I am going to try to continue going to the school next semester to help out a few hours as well.
-Develop an Understanding about Multiple Relationships to Power and Privilege-
For this component, I am going to define diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, and pluralism. Throughout some of my education classes, I had defined some of these terms but I'm sure that as a continue to have different experience, my definition of these terms will evolve.
-Develop an Understanding of the History, Mission, and Purpose of Student Affairs and the Various Institutional Types and Structures within Higher Education-
I will review my institution's student affairs mission statement with my mentor
-Develop an Understanding of NASPA's Organization and Structure-
Find the organizational chart of the NASPA Board and learn what each position does
-Other Components-
One of the things that my Mentor is strongly encouraging my to do is the Summer Internship. The postings will be fully up in a few days, so I'm looking forward to reviewing them with my mentor and see which institutions I will look into.
Things such as the Summer Internships and Annual Conference are two things Yosayra is really encouraging me to do. I think it's really cool how supportive and how much she's encouraging me to look into these opportunities. One of the things I wrote about during my leadership class was the effect of providing support. Throughout my experiences, I have been resistant to pursue opportunities sometimes because I don't see myself being successful in them all the time. Luckily, I've had people in my life who have always believed in me and have encouraged me to challenge myself. Even if I don't fully succeed in everything, I try to take everything as a learning experience. I can't say it enough, but I'm really grateful for all the encouragement and support everyone I work with provide me with, especially my mentor so I'm really looking forward to learning a lot through this program not only about Higher Education and Student Affairs, but about myself as well.
"It doesn't matter if I don't succeed in something, what matters is that I learn from my mistakes." -Linda Evans
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