Running Head: AREAS OF GROWTH

Learning Outcome Narrative: Areas of Growth

Karina Nascimento Saunders

Student University

March 2019
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Introduction

My experience in the SDA program was a slow process of building confidence as an

educator and undoing my self-doubt. With a 10-year gap between my undergraduate experience

and entering the SDA program I fought to confront my imposter syndrome, go deep in my

reflections, and see myself as a confident student and professional. These are my areas of growth

as I develop into a story-centered educator. It is through a critical and empathic engagement

with my story that I grow capacity to walk beside a student in their story. This story-centered

approach helps me construct a vision of holistic student engagement.

Confronting Imposter Syndrome (LO 1, 7 Artifacts: C1, C2, G)

I entered the program with very little background in the student affairs field. I was filled

with uncertainty about my academic ability and feared how my learning disability and

undergraduate burn-out would affect my graduate school performance. I lacked confidence and

believed I was not good enough to participate in the lofty academic work of research and policy.

I confronted my imposter syndrome and worked my way through the program.

Understanding the foundations and emerging nature of Student Affairs profession and

higher education. I define this learning outcome as a comprehensive understanding of the

history of higher education including the history of upholding oppression. In SDAD 5300:

Foundations of the Student Affairs Profession, we learned the soiled history of oppressive

higher education through class discussion and the common text reading of: Trans in College

(Nicolazzo, 2017). Learning about the history of polices that excluded certain populations in

higher education, helped me understand the roots of my own imposter syndrome. I began to

realize how traditional classrooms and teaching styles were not created with my identities in
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mind and how that impacted my education. I believed I did not belong in the SDA program and

I was still healing from the academic rigor in my undergraduate studies, at a school that was not

created to support my learning disability or my identity as a Latina woman. The second

dimension of this learning outcome is the commitment to lifelong learning and questioning the

ever-changing policies inside and outside the academy that affect the lives and growth of the

students we serve. As I continued learning about imposter syndrome through text and

professional presentations (Pretty, 2017; Steele, 2011), I became more conscious of the students I

served through the Fostering Scholars program. I began to recognize students struggling

imposter syndrome. Additionally, the lack of family support networks made navigating college

and overcoming imposter syndrome more difficult for students in the Fostering Scholars

program. I saw how these students struggle to believe they are capable of achievement when

faced with their own academic gaps. I adapted curriculum in a monthly first-year student

program called Check & Connect (Artifact G) to fight imposter syndrome and build community

between scholars to support their sense of belonging.

The final dimension of LO 1 is the commitment to staying up-to-date and connected to

the larger trends and theories in higher education through learning communities, research, and

professional conferences. In independent study, SDAD 5960: Place-Based Community

Engagement, I attended the Place-Based Justice Institute which gave me the opportunity to

network with professionals and create a learning community with others who were bridging

programing between community growth and student development. I learned concrete examples

of colleges centering voices of community members and programs for student leaders to learn

about internalized racism before joining community partners. These examples helped me build

confidence as a professional fighting imposter syndrome as I imagined myself leading these

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initiatives. Further it allowed me to trust in my knowledge and experience as an educator

(Artifact C2). In SDAD 5750: Best Practices in Student Services, I built on my experience in

SDAD 5960, and interviewed professionals doing place-based work who were also building in

assessment practices in their work. The field experiences in these two classes taught me to ask

deeper questions. Questions such as: how do you create assessment practices that further the

community organizations and assess student learning? These interviews about the emerging

nature of place-based work helped me confront my personal imposter syndrome of belonging in

higher education by reminding me of my past experiences in social justice education and how

hearing from professionals about their current programs would help me continue to build my

practice.

Utilizing assessment, evaluation, technology, and research to improve practice. I

define this learning outcome as: a commitment to ongoing improvement of student services

through up-to-date assessment, evaluation, technology and research; an openness to giving and

receiving feedback from students and other professionals that strengthens professional practice

through continual evaluation; and using data to demonstrate and inform programmatic changes

that support educational barriers for marginalized student populations. My lack of confidence

in my academic ability is directly tied to my imposter syndrome from my undergraduate

experience. LO 7 demonstrates my confrontation of these imposter beliefs as I experienced

growth incorporating LO7 dimensions throughout my SDA experience.

In classes such as SDAD 5740: College Access and Equity and SDAD 5590: The

American Community College, I improved my research skills through personal assignments

and group projects that gave me practice applying current data to create recommendations to

improve student services (Artifacts C1, C3), deconstruct the process of AP exams for college
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credit (C1), and increase diversity at Edmonds Community College (C3). In ADET 5630:

Instructional Methods for Adult Learning, I incorporated assessment practices that utilized

the Universal Design for Learning concepts of multiple means of engagement, representation,

and expression (Gordon, Myer, & Rose, 2014), into my monthly Check & Connect lesson plans

for Fostering Scholars students. This allowed me to improve my teaching and practice to better

address the needs of the scholars and feel more confident applying research to practice (Artifact

G). I hope to continue to build confidence as a professional by continuing to share data to

improve support for marginalized populations, such as students who have experienced foster

care, with the larger community. By joining the First-Gen Partners committee at Seattle

University, I have a platform to bring data about Fostering Scholar students to other campus

stakeholders to collaboratively build better student support resources.

Deepening Reflection (LO 9 Artifacts: C1, E)

The SDAD program made me confront of my imposter syndrome identity and then called

me into a space of deeper reflection. I searched for my answers to the question of why again and

agan. Through reflection, I was better able to articulate why I believe what I believe and what

artifacts, experiences, and research I could use to support my beliefs.

Understanding issues surrounding law, policy, finance and governance. I define LO 9 as a

commitment to understanding how systems of law, policy, finance, and governance affect the

institution and the function of campus programs. Doing research in SDAD 5740: College Access

and Equity, on the equity issues involved in the debate of granting college credit for AP classes

(Artifact C1), taught me the importance of questioning policies that might impact marginalized

student populations. In this paper I researched both sides of the policy debate in order to

understand the deeper consequence of policy decisions. Another aspect of LO 9 is supporting

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students as they navigate campus conduct and policies. One way I chose to learn a deeper

understanding of this competency area and LO 9 was to join Seattle University’s Conduct Board.

Through conduct hearings I better familiarized myself with the campus policies, learned how to

support students as they navigate conduct issues, and can better advocate for changes on campus.

Seattle University often uses financial fines to penalize students for misbehavior. Because of my

awareness of these policies I can advocate for more equitable repercussions that consider the

inequity of charging Fostering Scholar students or other low-income students with fines.

The third dimension of LO 9 suggests that, as a student affairs practitioner I should be

able to use my knowledge of state and academic law and policies to advocate for better inclusion

and support for marginalized students in higher education. This LO is an area of growth for me

(Artifact E), because I hope to learn more to be better informed to support students. As the

Washington Passport grant expands to include students who have experienced homelessness as

recipients of the grant, it is important for me to stay up-to-date on the state policies. I have to

ensure that programs like Fostering Scholars at Seattle University can budget effectively to

prepare for the increase in comprehensive support for the greater number of potential students

who will qualify for scholarships. I look forward to taking SDAD 5800: Higher Education Law

to deepen my understanding of why and how this policy is expanding and become a better

student-centered educator.

Confidence as a student and professional ( LO 8, Artifacts: B, C3, D, G)

In order to effectively be a student-centered educator, I hope to show confidence as a

student and professional, as I gain more experience applying what I have learned in the SDA

program to my professional practice. This will require confronting my imposter syndrome and
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then delving into a deeper reflection of how I hope to practice building my confidence as a

student and professional.

Communicating effectively in speech and in writing. LO 8 demonstrates a confidence in both

my identity as a student and as a student affairs professional because it indicates the ability to

translate my learning into practice. Before entering the SDA program, academic writing and

professional presentations were the source of anxiety and intimidation. I previously understood

LO 8 to mean a specific form of communication and was nervous about my ability to

successfully carry it out. Through classes that taught me about the history of access and

restrictions of higher education and the academy, and conversations about different institutional

types to support all students, my understanding of this outcome has evolved. I now define LO 8

as: Awareness of context and audience in order to deliver information effectively, competency in

public presentations that further a community of learning and collaboration, knowledge of

different learning styles and needs in order to equitably create learning spaces for all.

Creativity is an important value to me (Artifact B) as an educator. Through ADET 5630:

Instructional Methods of Adult Learning, I learned to use my creativity to incorporate

Universal Design for Learning (Gordon et al., 2014) into lesson plans for Fostering Scholars

(Artifact G, D) in which I considered the unique backgrounds and experiences of these students

to communicate life skill topics like time management, budgeting 101, and growth mindset.

Following Tara Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model (Yosso, 2005), lesson plans drew on

assets of students’ backgrounds and culture rather then deficits. As I developed communicating

recommendations through presentations (Artifact C3), I was asked to present the Check &

Connect model at the Washington State Passport conference.

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I hope to continue to challenge myself to seek opportunities for growth in writing and

speech, by seeking feedback in meetings and presentations that point out missing voices and

short-comings in communication. I hope for ongoing collaboration of learning and presenting

practices founded in theory that demonstrate my confidence as a lifelong student in professional

practice.

Conclusion

The SDA program brought to light areas of growth to develop as a better professional in

the field. The classes, assignments, and professional practice I pursued throughout the program

provided opportunities for me to work on the themes that consistently served as barriers to my

growth. As I develop as a story-centered educator I hope to pursue projects and learning

opportunities that will provide more experiences that utilize my strengths and improve my

weaknesses.
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References

Gordon, D., Meyer, A., & Rose, D. (2014). Universal design for learning: Theory and practice.

Peabody: CAST Professional Publishing. Retrieved

from https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID=4603679

Nicolazzo, Z., Renn, K. A., & Quaye, S. J. (2017). Trans in college (First edition ed.). Sterling,

Virginia: Stylus Publishing, LLC.

Steele, C. (2011). Whistling vivaldi (1. paperback ed. ed.). New York [u.a.]: W.W. Norton.

Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race discussion of community cultural

wealth. Race Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), 69-82