AreasforGrowth

IntegrativeTheme:InfluenceofmyIdentitiesinmyProfessionalLife
SubAreas:MulticulturalCompetence,Spirituality/Religion,Leadership
LOs:3,4,7,8,9
Artifacts:A,B,C1,F
Introduction:
DuringmytimeintheSDAprogramIfeellikeIgrewalotinunderstandingmysalient
identities.PriortomytimeatSeattleUniversityIdidnotexploremanyofmyownprivilegesand
oppressions.Iwenttoapredominatelywhiteuniversitywhereconversationsaroundrace,
privilege,andoppressionwerenotveryprevalent.ThereforeincomingtoSeattleUniversityI
experiencedalittlebitofcultureshockbecausetheseissueswereattheforefrontofeverythingI
didinclassandprofessionally.DivingintothesetopicsthroughclassessuchasMulticultural
PerspectivesandStudentDevelopmentTheorywasverydemandingandsometimesintimidating.
Beingsurroundedbypeerswhohadagreatamountofknowledgeofthesetopicscreateda
uniquelearningenvironment.IlearnedalotfromthembutatthesametimeIoftendidntspeak
upandvoicedmybeliefsoutofafearofjudgment.Inordertomakethemostofmyexperience,
ItooktheapproachthatIhavetofirstunderstandandbecomeawareofmyownidentitiesbefore
Icanfullyunderstandandappreciateothers(Popeetal.2004).IfeelasthoughIgrewinmy
understandingoftheseissuesbutIknowthereismorethatIcandotoenhancemyknowledge.
Specifically,Iwanttogrowinunderstandinghowmyidentitiesinfluencemyprofessional
practiceandleadership.
MulticulturalCompetence(LOs:4&7,Artifacts:C1)
WhileIfeelasthoughmulticulturalcompetenceisanareawhereIhavegrownthemost,
itisalsoanareawhereIfeellikeIhavethemostroomtogrow.Inowhaveamuchbetter
understandingofissuessuchasrace,gender,andsexualorientationetc.inhighereducation.The

nextstepinmyprofessionaldevelopmentistodevelopsillssoIcanfacilitatedialoguearound
thesecriticalissues,meanwhileunderstandingtherolethatmyidentitiesplaywithinthatspace
(Popeetal,2004).TheSDALearningOutcomesthatspeaktothisareaareoutcomesnumber
fourandseven.Forme,thesetwolearningoutcomeshelpinformmeofwhatsafespaceona
collegecampusshouldlooklike.Utilizingassessmenttools,evaluation,andcurrentresearchto
helpmetobetterunderstandtheissuesthatstudentsarefacingiscriticalinhelpingshapea
multiculturallycompetentcampus.ThehopethatIhaveformyselfisthatIstarttopursuefurther
knowledgeandunderstandingoftheseissuesonmyown.Bybuildingabaselineofknowledge,I
hopetothenbemoreconfidentinfacilitatingdialogueamongststudents.Agoodexampleofthis
frommySDAcourseworkisartifactC1.ThroughoutourgroupprojectinStudentDevelopment
Theory,ourgroupwaschallengedtolookatlearningcommunitythroughalensinclusionand
equityandwereliedonresearchandtheorytoinformourproject.Whileeachcampusclimateis
different,itisimportantforstudentaffairsprofessionalstounderstandhowthecampusculture
influencesstudentdevelopmentandlearning(Kuh,2009).ThefinalprojectinStudent
DevelopmentTheorytaughtmehowtogoaboutcriticallyanalyzingaprogramtoensurethatit
isasinclusiveaspossible.
OneprofessionalexperiencethatIdrawuponwhenthinkingofmyroomforgrowthin
thisareaismyworkwiththeRedhawkExperienceBucketList.WorkingontheBucketList
mademeevaluatestudentexperiencesfromvariousbackgroundssoIcanbetterunderstandthe
systemsthatstudentsnavigateatSeattleUniversity.ByunderstandingthoseIwasabletohelp
providesuggestionsfortheBucketListtobetterincludevariousstudentexperiences.Formethis
experiencewasgoodtorecognizethediversityofthestudentpopulationandhowstudent

pathwaysarealldifferent.Iamnowmuchmoreconscienceofthevariousidentitiesthatstudents
holdunderstandhowthoseidentitiesshapetheirjourneythroughhighereducation.
Mygoalmovingforwardistocontinuetoresearch,evaluate,assessandunderstandthe
backgroundsofthestudentsIamserving.Iwanttobetterunderstandhowmyidentitiesandhow
theyintersectinmyworkasastudentaffairsprofessional.
Spirituality/Religion(LOs3,8Artifacts:B,F)
SomethingthatIreallystruggledwithintheSDAprogramismyspiritualandreligious
identity.IamaCatholicbutforsomereasonbeingaCatholicinSeattleandintheSDAprogram
wasdifficultforme.ComingintoSeattleUniversity,Iassumedthatitwouldbesimilartomy
CreightonexperiencebutIhavecometolearnthateachJesuitinstitutionhasitsownunique
cultureandnotwouniversitiesarethesame.AtCreightonIwasabletofindcommunitythrough
faith,butthatissomethingthatIstruggledwithfindinghere.Myreligionplayedalargerolein
mydevelopmentasanundergradatCreightonanditissomethingthatIamhopingtoreclaimin
thecomingyears(ArtifactF).SomethingthatwasnewtomeinduringmytimeintheSDA
programwasworkingatapublicinstitution.Tryingtoweavemyreligiousandspiritualidentity
intomyworkatUWBothellwasdifficult.
Ifeellikethetwolearningoutcomesthatthisaddressesislearningoutcomesthreeand
eight.Myspiritualityandreligiousbackgroundplaysamajorfactorintomyprofessionalethics
andintegrityanditisimportanttobeabletoarticulatethattostudents(Daltonetal,2010).AsI
learnedinLeadI(EDAD5700),thedecisionsthatleadersmakeareheavilyinfluencedbythe
identitiesthattheyhold.Unfortunately,multipletimesinthepasttwoyearsIfeltasthoughIwas
notabletobemyauthenticselfoutoffearofjudgmentofmyreligiousbeliefs.Inmypersonal

andprofessionalmissionstatement(ArtifactB)IstatehowimportanttheCatholicandJesuit
valuesaretowhoIamasaprofessional.Partoftheholisticstudentdevelopmentisallowing
studentstoexploretheirspiritualandreligiousidentityandIneverhadthosekindsof
conversationsatUWB.Ifeellikeoneareaofstudentdevelopmentthatisoftenoverlookedinmy
workwasfaithandspiritualdevelopment(Fowler,2000&Parks,2000).Withmyreligious
backgroundhavingbeenraisedCatholic,itwasreallydifficultformetonotbeabletotapinto
thatpartofmyidentitywhileatUWBandSeattleUniversity.
WhatIlearnedfromthisexperienceisthatformetobethebestprofessionalthatIcan
be,itisgoingtobeimportanttofindpositionswheretheidentitiesthataremostsalienttomeare
abletobereflectedinmywork(BaxterMagolda,2001).Inmyfiveyearplan(ArtifactF),I
alludetothefactthatIwanttobeinJesuithighereducation.NotonlyamImostcomfortablein
Jesuithighereducation,butIalsothinkthataJesuituniversityisaplacewhereIcancontinueto
growspirituallyandreligiously.
Leadership(LO10,ArtifactA)
OneareawhereIfeellikeIcangrowisdevelopinggreaterselfconfidencetoidentify
myselfasaleaderwithinthefieldofstudentaffairs.InapaperthatIwroteforLead1,Ireflected
onthefactthatIhadnoproblemidentifyingmyselfasastudentleaderduringmytimeat
Creighton.ButinthesetwoyearsintheSDAprogram,IhavehadhardtimeclaimingthatIama
leaderinthestudentaffairsfield.WhileIhavegrowninmyselfconfidenceinunderstandingof
theprofessionthepasttwoyears,Istillthinkthatthereisalotofroomtogrow(Brown,2006).
TheSDAlearningoutcomethatthiscoversislearningoutcomenumberten.WhatIhave
learnedduringmytimeintheprogramisjusthowimportantleadershipisinunderstandingmy

professionalidentity.IhavehadtheprivilegeoflearningsomeofgreatprofessionalsatUWB,
SeattleUniversity,andRegisUniversitythathaveallhelpedmeshapemeprofessional.Ihave
suchgreatadmirationfortheseprofessionalsthatwhenIcomparemyselftothem,Idontfeel
likeweareonthesameplayingfield.Idontyethavetheexperiencesofmanyseasoned
professionalssoitsdifficultformetosaythatIamaleaderinthefield.
WhenIlookbackonallofmyexperiencesfromthepasttwoyears(ArtifactA),Inotice
thatIhavecontributedalottotheuniversitiesthatIhavedoneworkfor.Ithinkthatformeto
continuetoworkinthefieldofstudentaffairs,itisgoingtobeimportantformetohavethe
confidencethatbeingaleaderisapartofmyidentity.Ithinkthatthechallengeformegoing
forwardisbeingabletogivemyselfcreditforalloftheworkthatIdo.WhatIhavelearned
aboutmyselfduringthepasttwoyearsisthatIhaveadifficulttimerecognizingmy
accomplishments.IalwaystendmyharshestcriticandifIamtocontinuedoingthisworkIneed
torecognizemyownsuccesses.Forme,simplyrecognizingthefactthatIamaleaderandthatI
dogoodworkwillgoalongwayinenhancingmyprofessionalidentity.Iamhopefulthatwith
moreworkexperiencetheleaderaspectofmyidentitywillshinethrough.
Conclusion
Ingeneral,IthinkthattheSDAprogramhasgivenmethetoolstobeabletoreachmy
aspirationsofbecomingadeanofstudents.Recognizingtheseareasforgrowthisacriticalstep
inmydevelopmentasaprofessional.KnowingtheareaswhereIneedtogrowallowsmetoseek
professionaldevelopmentopportunitiesandmentorshipfromthenetworkthatIhavebuiltover
theyears.IamlookingforwardtomynextprofessionalrolewhereIhopetocontinuetogrow
andlearnaboutmyselfandmyprofessionalidentity.