"That intense tendency to tend to what we wasn't meant to."

-Atmosphere, Lyrics from Don't Forget 

Personal Development Plan

          This program inspired me to continue my education. I am enrolled as a doctoral candidate starting Fall 2021 at the University of Illinois in the Education Policy, Organization and Leadership department. My degree will be focused on online learning environments, and I am looking forward to deepening my knowledge and experience through my coursework at the in this program.  

          I was also encouraged to continue my education in the future because of the support Loyola faculty and my partner. It was always a dream of mine to pursue a doctoral degree and our classroom conversations regarding how our learning could be extended in a doctoral program made it seem more attainable. I witnessed through a few faculty members how I would like to support students in pursuit of their professional dreams and hope to be able to do similar for students in the future through personal conversations, email, and recommendations. I appreciated the discussions of identifying “fit” for us terms of program offerings, faculty and staff support, class sizes, social justice perspective, etc. I also appreciated our discussions cautioning us on the use of the word ‘fit’ when describing potential candidates for scholarships or jobs and advising us to use specific descriptions of skills and knowledge we are looking for instead.

          The application process to Ed.D. programs was very informative.  While I was working on my Ed.D. application for one university I became uncomfortable with the attitudes of students and professors in the program after several discussions with an advisor and participating in a Q&A session. I thought it would be my dream school, but it turned out the program was more focused on a very capitalistic view of education, and I wanted to pursue my degree in a school with more of a social justice focus. I felt strong in my decision to withdraw from applying because of our conversations in class about recognizing when we feel uncomfortable and trying to identify why and if it will change our decision about pursing a professional opportunity with that institution. This program helped me establish a clearer idea of what my next steps in my career will be and how I can identify the work environments that will be most suitable for my work experience, skills, and dreams. In the past, I have felt the need to take the first job that was offered-sometimes this worked out great and others it was not so great. I feel that this experience helped me understand that many students will feel the need to accept the first offer, and that means for me, how do we help them identify the right places to apply for work in the hopes that this will increase the odds that they will feel satisfied in that workplace. By telling my personal stories about my experiences with finding jobs, I hope to display authentic leadership to my students that supports them in pursuit of their educational, professional, and personal dreams. 

          I believe we should look at students holistically because their educational journeys are affected by everything around them. Learning about Reconceptualizing the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity by Abes, Jones, & McEwen (2007) allowed me to better understand how students’ identities cannot be understood in isolated contexts-rather they are intersected and must be considered holistically. Thinking about students and their experiences in terms of their complete identities-not just one factor will allow me to provide better support and develop better programming.

          My education at Loyola University Chicago will allow me to continue my pursuit of knowledge and skills that will enable me to better serve the students and communities I will be working with. I’m looking forward to applying these skills to reimagine online learning environments, the use of digital media in the classroom and learner diversity. I believe that my abilities to communicate, collaborate, think critically and creatively along with my empathy, compassion, organizational, analytical, reflective, and community skills will benefit me in my continued education journey. I am continuing in an online format so I have considered some goals that I would like to incorporate into professional development outside of my course and program learning objectives. I made a short list of activities I would like to complete or participate in over the next three years while I pursue my Ed.D. below:

· Present to live group of 10+ at least twice

· Get more involved on campus-I recently signed up to be on the Graduate Student Conference Planning Committee

· Join international education organization

· Assist with research

· Publish work with someone or alone

· Volunteer in community outreach-possibly find something that could be related to increasing international study-abroad access to marginalized populations

· Volunteer to be part of welcoming of international families studying at university

· Develop plan to grow educational consulting services of Willow Grove, Inc. 

· Continue reading books that unpack colonialism, neocolonialism, and the ways that those impact education policies internationally and locally

· Continue reading books that discuss improving my ability to listen to and facilitate challenging conversations

· Develop personal protocol and procedures for dealing with inappropriate behaviors.

          I created this list because I would like to accomplish things outside the classroom that will allow me to support my community, students, and personal development in ways that I feel I did not either pursue or receive during my tenure at Loyola University Chicago. I believe that if you want to make something happen you must plan for it to happen. It begins with picturing yourself doing that activity, researching the activities available to you, taking the action to sign up, and planning time to prepare for the activity, and committing to doing it. All those things take more courage than I realized, and they do not just happen without you acting. Planning for professional development is something I hope to discuss with students as well as be able to demonstrate to them though my practice.