Personal Statement: Muhammad Mehdi

My vast on-campus involvement at James Madison University (JMU) has led me to seek the student
affairs profession. Specifically, my involvement with the Madison Advising Peers, the Madison Society, and
the Marching Royal Dukes (MRDs). The Madison Advising Peers is a fairly new program on JMUs campus
comprised of student advisors that provide supplemental academic advising and assist students through the
course registration process. Joining the Madison Advising Peers solidified my intent to pursue the student
affairs profession. In contrast, the Madison Society is an organization composed of faculty members involved
in student affairs and students that create and maintain traditions at JMU. The members in this program heavily
encouraged me to pursue a career in the student affairs field as they noticed my heavy interest in the
organization. In addition, my experience with the MRDs gave me an opportunity to serve a role similar to that
of a student affairs practitioner as part of the leadership team. This gave me an opportunity to coordinate with
the staff and other members of the leadership team and influence the direction of the season and the program.
These experiences have led to the development of certain characteristics which will help me succeed as a
student affairs administrator; my desire to help people, my composure in stressful situations, and dedication.
My experiences working with the Madison Advising Peers and service learning project with the HarrisonburgRockingham Bike-Walk Advocacy group has led me to constantly engage with others and solve their problems.
This further expanded my desire to help others, a trait that I have been raised to value. I developed the skill of
maintaining composure throughout my experiences with all of the aforementioned organizations. Each
organization required me to stay calm as I worked through various situations including navigating through
unique academic situations with individual students with the Madison Advising Peers and event planning with
the Madison Society and the MRDs. In contrast, I developed my level of dedication more personally, through
my father. My father currently devotes 60 hours a week to his small business in order to send my sister and
myself to college. I have witnessed his dedication and sacrifices throughout my life and I have looked to match
this with my organizational affiliations. My level of commitment and dedication that I devote to each of these
organizations can cause me to feel overwhelmed at times which may diminish my effectiveness as a student
affairs administrator. However, I believe this to be a valuable learning experience and I am working on
balancing the time I contribute to each of my commitments in order to adequately prepare myself for my future
career in the field of student affairs.
Student affairs departments provide college students with structure and resources required for success not
only in the time on their respective campuses but throughout their lives as well. Although these departments
have provided a plethora of services for its students, the most crucial one is that of academic and career
advising. This service is fundamental to students as many of them rely on their advisors to help them map out
the courses they are required to take as well as discover career paths in their fields. This process is very unique
and one that I wish to be a part of. Thank you for reviewing my application and consideration to your graduate
program.