Cheyenne Spencer

Melissa Camba-Kelsay

HDF 492

Reflective Paragraph

In the past four years throughout leadership studies I have developed a sense of self and a

strong understanding of how my leadership applies to the type of career that I wish to have in the

future. My skills and abilities have Been crucial in my decision making skills along with the

characterization of my overall personality.

Through exploration and discussion of classes I feel that I have been more connected

with my personality over the years and my ability to recognize core leadership content. After

considering my entire experience with leadership, I feel that my most significant morning came

directly from building my website and portfolio overtime, as well as my experience with HDF

412. HDF 412 was a course where I felt that I was connected to the information and the

conversations that I had with other classmates. An example of my learning from that course

would be my deeper understanding for inclusion and equity, as well as learning about my culture

though a different perspective. The identity development model I have most connected with is

the American Indian Identity Development Model by Horse. Being Native is only a portion of

my identity and learning more about the concepts behind this development mode has helped me

understand my position in life and how it can affect my future career.

In regards to my major being Gender & Women’s Studies, I plan on placing focus on the

care of women and infants. In the future I would like to work within the medical field as a

midwife or a neonatal nurse practitioner. I specifically would like to work within a tribal setting,
caring for native communities whether it be in Rhode Island or elsewhere. My current

philosophy for leadership is based on the Cycle of Socialization (Harro, 1997). Through the

beginning of my leadership journey, I was socialized into thinking that I could never be a

“leader” because of my lack of confidence and my introverted nature. The next step,

Reinforcement, happened during my second year into leadership, where I learned that the

qualities of a leader vary amongst every individual. I was also able to recognize my lack of

privilege in being noticed as a leader. This resulted in my frustration to become a better

representation of what a leader “should” be.

 Works Cited

Wijeyesinghe, C., & Jackson, B. (Eds.). (2012). ​New Perspectives on Racial Identity

Development: Integrating Emerging Frameworks, Second Edition​. NYU Press. Retrieved

April 19, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qg2qt

Harro, B. (2000). The Cycle of Socialization. In M. Adams, W. Blumenfeld, R. Castaneda, H.

Hackman, M. Peters, & X. Zuniga (Eds.), Readings for diversity and social justice, pp.

16-21. New York: Routledge