Terry Burleson, Jr.
I often say to people, I’m here to break generational curses, generational curses that exist in this institution and outside in the community where I was born. And the idea that we are all with this energy and this enthusiasm and the things that I have heard shared today, I have full faith that we are on our way to doing that and making real positive impacts in student affairs. Let’s go. I often write in my papers that I am Student Affairs like I’m like a severe internalization, I say we are student affairs, and it just excites me.

Heather Shea
Welcome to Student Affairs NOW the online learning community for Student Affairs educators. I’m your host, Heather Shea. Today on the podcast we’re finishing our series of episodes for careers in student affairs month. Today, I am thrilled to be joined by a large panel of current masters students in student affairs, higher education, or related graduate programs from across the country. They’re here to share a bit about their decision making processes. With those of you watching today who may be considering grad school as you consider applying to graduate program in higher education. This is the episode to watch. Before I bring in our guest today, let me tell you a little bit about our channel. Student Affairs NOW is the premier podcast and learning community for 1000s of us who work in alongside or adjacent to the field of higher education and student affairs. We hope you’ll find these conversations make a contribution to the field and are restorative to the profession. We release new episodes every week on Wednesdays and you can find us at studentaffairsnow.com on YouTube, or anywhere you listen to podcast. Today’s episode is sponsored by Symplicity. A true partner simplicity supports all aspects of student life with technology platforms that empower institutions to make data driven decisions. Stay tuned to the end of the podcast for more information about this episode sponsor. As I mentioned, I am the host for today’s episode Heather Shea, my pronouns are she her and hers and I am broadcasting from the ancestral traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinabeg three fires confederacy of Ojibwe, Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples otherwise known as East Lansing, Michigan, home of Michigan State University where I work. All right, so in previous episodes of this series for careers in student affairs month, I briefly shared my story. I went directly from undergrad to grad school at the same institution, where I had completed undergrad Colorado State University. And while I had an incredible experience in the CSU psyche program, I often have reflected upon that experience and wondered if maybe I should have thought about it differently. I could have maybe I should have been more intentional in the process considered other programs. I am so excited to talk with this panel of current grad students today. Let me bring all of them in on our gallery view. Welcome, everybody. This panel was curated from an open call I did to the faculty listserv. So thank you to all of the faculty members who referred this amazing panel to me today. And for those of you who weren’t able to join us, I have a list and now a mile long of folks who are ready to be on a podcast episode for Student Affairs NOW. So thank you all. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to have first just go around and have everybody introduce themselves, share your name pronouns, your institution, your current year and your program and maybe what your role is on your campus if you’re working in an assistantship or if you’re in a full time position on that campus or on another campus, etc, just so folks can kind of get to know you. And so we’re gonna start with my colleague at Michigan State. Justin, do you want to you want to kick us off? Hello?

Justin Weller
Yes. Hello. My name is Justin Weller. I use the series of pronouns and like Dr. Shea, I mentioned I am a first year student and the Student Affairs Administration program at Michigan State University. In this program, I also serve as an as a graduate assistantship, or graduate assistant rather, as an assistant community director within residential education, housing services, where I help support and supervise a staff of Resident Assistants on campus to empower them to be the best stories they can be. So that’s a little bit about me and what I do at Michigan State University.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Thanks, Justin. Maura, welcome.

Maura Mangum
Thank you so much. Hi, there. My name is Maura Mangum, I use a she series pronouns. I’m currently a second year student in the Student Affairs and higher education program, all at SAHE at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. I actually just made the transition in June from a graduate assistantship in orientation to now being a student, a program coordinator in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. So it’s been definitely a transition and enjoying all the things that come with it and currently I’m wrapping up some research and transfer student initiatives as well in the first year Journal of experiences and transition.

Heather Shea
So well welcome I’m so glad you’re joining us and also from Texas State we have Andrew welcome Andrew.

Andrew Martinez
You Thank you. Hi everybody. My name is Andrew Martinez. My pronouns are he him in. I am currently a first year SAHE student at Texas State University alongside Maura. So Go Bobcats. I have a graduate assistantship here at Texas State University with the Department of Housing Residential Life. I am a graduate residence director for 18 Amazing RAs and afford different buildings. So, Go Bobcats and Texas State.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Thanks so much for being here. Huda, welcome.

Huda Ashraf
Thank you. Hi, there. I am joining you guys from Olympia, Washington. Some of our tribal groups are there in the Squale that to Amish, the Squamish and the Pol of tribes. I am in my second year of my graduate program at St. Martin’s University, it is a small private college on the southern part of Washington. And I’m in my Sorry, I’m in my second year the program as I just said, and I am doing student affairs with a focus in higher education. It’s interesting because our program is called HESA. And you guys seem to flip that acronym. So it sounds cool to hear. Yeah, but what I’m doing in my graduate work is I’m a senator of graduate students for our students on it. And then I’m also a graduate assistant to the director of the Career Center and the Associate Dean of Students.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Yeah, CSP. HESA, SAHE, SAA there are so many acronyms for sure. And yeah, every every school calls it something different. Well, welcome. I’m Jose, let’s go to you next.

Jose Embil Jr
Hello, my name is Jose Embil Jr. I use both he and they pronouns. And I’m currently a first year. HESA student so the same as Huda at Western Michigan University, and then I have a graduate assistantship there. With our Student Center, we just opened a brand new 100 million dollar building. So my summer was spent closing an old building and opening a new one. And I do a lot of work with training our student employees, as well as organizing diversity and inclusion training for the whole building.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Well, thank you for being here. Jose, I appreciate appreciate you. Um, we are going to go to Georgia next Briana. Welcome. Hello.

Briana Cross
Hello, everyone. My name is Briana Krause I used to shoot her her series. I am a second year at the University of Georgia. Our program is known as CSAA or College Student Affairs Administration. I’m a graduate assistant for counseling and counseling and Human Development Services department which is where my major is housed under. I get to work in particular with the Student Affairs PhD and EBD students.

Heather Shea
Fun fun one. Now we’re going to Vermont grace. Hello.

Grace Peterson
Hi. Oh, Grace Peterson she her pronouns. I’m a current part time student in my third and final year in the HESA program at the University of Vermont, where I also work full time as the campus programs coordinator for the Department of student life planning university wide programming efforts and also working with our UVM Programming Board students.

Heather Shea
Awesome, fantastic. Terry, welcome, also from Western Michigan.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
Absolutely. Go Broncos. Let me throw one of those up in there for the podcast. Hello, everyone. My name is Terry Burleson, Jr.. I use the he him his pronouns. I am currently a second year student at the Western Michigan University. HESA program Higher Education and Student Affairs leadership. I do not hold a graduate assistantship as I work full time in my hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan. I am the manager of recruitment and Student Outreach at the Kellogg community college admissions department where I manage our selective admissions programs. So nursing and other allied health programs. I also admit and advise our international students of which we have a growing population in that regard. And I also supervise train and staff, our student workers in the hub Enrollment Center. It’s a pleasure to be here with him today.

Heather Shea
Thank you, Terry. I got to meet Terry in person actually on Monday at ACPA. Michigan, so that was fantastic. I love it. Hoorab welcome.

Hoorab Romail Roy
Thank you. Oh, well, my name is Hoorab Romail Roy. I’m originally from Pakistan and my pronouns are she her hers. I’m in my second year of Student Affairs in Higher Education and be, and I’m sitting at Missouri State University. I’m a graduate graduate assistant at the Career Center, and currently completing my third practicum at enrollment management and Services Office, and happy to be here in the podcast and sharing my insights with you all.

Heather Shea
Great. Thank you, Peter. Let’s get Pennsylvania in there.

Peter Su
All right. Hi, everyone. My name is Peter Su, I use any pronouns. I am at the University of Pittsburgh, finishing up my second and last year of my master’s higher ed program. Currently, right now, I am the graduate student assistant for the Career Center, where I am a career consultant for the vast population of computer science tech, and data analysts, students. And we are now in their outreach and also doing international work with those students as well. So great work and happy to be here with you.

Heather Shea
thank you so much, Peter. And last but not least, Adrienne, welcome.

Adrienne Reyes
Hi, thank you for having me. So my name is Adrienne Reyes, I am a second year Master’s student at the University of Kansas in the HIGO program, higher education restriction, so many acronyms. For my assistantship, I am in student housing assistant complex director for one of our apartment style living communities as well as our expanded housing. And this is the first year that we’ve done that, because we had over 500 Extra students that we needed to provide housing for. So this is the first time that I am overseeing extended housing. And that’s been a journey.

Heather Shea
I love it. Well, it is really exciting kind of hearing everybody’s current role and work. And you know, the different programs that we have represented, of course, there are many, many, many more, lots of different pathways. Hopefully, for folks who are listening or watching today, this will give you a little bit of an insight as to you know, what it is to work as a graduate student in student affairs, why Student Affairs is the field. And so we’re gonna go in the opposite order now. And ask everybody to answer the next kind of series of questions. But the, you know, without kind of repeating everybody else, so we’ll, we’ll kind of keep it concise. First, what experiences led you to pursue a master’s degree in student affairs, a little bit about why you chose the program you did. And any kind of particular good experiences or things you would have wished had gone differently during the process? So in reverse order, Adrienne, we’re going to start with you this time.

Adrienne Reyes
Awesome. So I wasn’t really looking at higher ed as like a career, nobody really tells you that like, oh, higher ed is a career you can work. Any university, you could go to school for that. So I think I learned that maybe my last year of undergrad, I was originally a biology major with a teacher certification, and I could not pass organic chemistry. And that was my weed out class. So I had to change my major. And my advisor was like, how many times we need to say, Oh, can we fail it? I was just like, I just, I’m just trying to get out of here. But she was just like, Well, what do you want to do? If like, you don’t want to be a teacher? And I was just like, You know what, I want to do what you do, I think I want to be an advisor. I, I love what you do. I love helping students through offer, like their journey throughout undergrad and to be there with them every step of the way. You just have just felt like she was there for me. So she was just like, well, you know, you can go to school for that, right? And I was like, already in school for over six years. It took me a while to get my bachelor’s. But I was just like, You know what, I’ve just put me on something to get me out of here. So I majored in sociology finished within a year. And then I actually didn’t really think of hired again, by you know, worked full time. And then it was just kind of in the back of my mind, like, is this what you want to do, and maybe you should pursue that. And then one year, I got tired of just like, putting things off after COVID. And I was just like, I’m gonna try and do something different. I need a career change. And so I ended up at KU after looking at programs, and I wasn’t really into online programs, and like working full time, so I really liked the association of aspect KU and then going to school full time and applying, you know, theory to practice. So, okay,

Heather Shea
great. Thank you for kicking us off with this, this piece of the conversation. Peter, we’re gonna go to you next, why Pittsburgh? What led you to pursue a career to to fers?

Peter Su
Yeah. Similarly to Adrienne, I actually like was in the same traditional route of like, my parents really wanted me to do like a medical degree and going to like medical school and I, I was just going to follow the path that they chose for me, but I was heavily involved with a lot of student programs that would help first year generation students of color like me and I, it led me to do some leadership within that department for a little bit and shout out to the University of North Texas, because they really are just the best. And I think because of that, like, help and assistance I really want to give back. And throughout my, like junior year, I was trying to figure out like, how am I gonna go about and doing this medical degree. And I was just frustrated, because I don’t think that was a path for me and my advisor the same way it was like looking at my resume and was looking at my credentials. It was like, you have a lot of like education and a lot of like, student facing roles, like, have you ever thought about higher ed? And then I was like, sure, like, I don’t know, like, how does that? What does that look like? And that to talk about it. And I found out that a lot of my, like, the people that I’ve worked with my lots of leaders and I’ve worked with, actually had those degrees. And it kind of blossomed into that having that interest, but I didn’t actually get into the higher ed degree until I graduated and taught for a semester and then went back to kind of get a gauge as to like, what is the route I want to get into. So later down the line, I was able to figure it out, because I realized that teaching at this age is not the most appropriate because they’re not going to respect you the same way that they respect. Someone that’s a little bit older. They looked at me like I was more they’re like, older sibling. And I was just like, I need to work with people who I can relate to a little bit more. And maybe like later down the line, it could, but I guess I was able to kind of have that transition to have that reality check. And I’m really grateful to be here at Pitt, because they offer so much that my small town university even though they had a higher ed program could provide an a kind of one that city vibe that it Pittsburgh could offer. Yeah.

Heather Shea
Great. I love it. Hoorab, tell us a little bit about your path.

Hoorab Romail Roy
Yeah, so as for me, I explored my passion of working in the field of education, while I was doing my undergraduate program in chemistry, and have had a chance to take Foundations of Education course as a general ed course requirement. Ever since then, I knew what I wanted to do. So I thought, chemistry at a high school for three years right after my graduation from my undergrad. And I think that was the time, that’s where I decided that I wanted to work with and more students, and outside of class too. So it was working inside of class. But then I wanted to do outside of class, because I just realized that there’s a lot of work behind the scenes to that. Just make sure that academic side runs smoothly for students. And there are so many factors and aspects that student success is dependent upon. So I think that’s where I was convinced of pursuing the field of student affairs in higher education to make a little impact in their lives somehow. So I say, chemistry was my love at that time. And I figured out that education was my passion. So I decided to pursue my passion for my masters in my career. That’s how I ended up in Student Affairs in Higher Education.

Heather Shea
I love it. There’s a lot of head nodding. For those of you who are listening. It sounds like chemistry is like a common thread or some interesting kind of overlaps there. Also, I’m hearing a little bit of like a self authorship theme. If you all know that theory, right, like writing your own script, your own story. That’s great. Um, Terry, tell us a little bit about your path.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
Absolutely. I love that you pointed that out, because I found myself to be nodding my head quite a bit. So my journey into Student Affairs actually starts way way back long ago, when I when I started undergrad at the University of Michigan and in 2005. And as a first generation student of color, my family could not imagine that I would go to a place like the University of Michigan and not become a doctor. However, it was a practicum. In sociology, it was the service learning program that kind of made me kind of redirect my focus on what I wanted to do with my life. And what was my purpose, I had always as a child wanted to be a teacher. And so I just started to at toward the end of my undergraduate experience, I started to seek out this love for service learning. And that actually led me to becoming a substitute teacher in Washtenaw County, what you can do with 90 credit hours or more of your bachelor’s degree. And so let’s get into that. Absolutely. And so I began that work. I love substitute teaching. I learned in that than that experience two things number one, that the students of Ann Arbor public schools have wonderful resources available to them, and that I could actually be doing that substitute teaching work at home. But I also discovered that my spirit, it does not belong in four walls for the duration of the day. And so I began to explore More careers in my hometown community, and I networked my way into exploration. So for anybody out there who thinks that you have to have a defined path, I don’t think that’s true, you can put one foot in front of the other and continue asking yourself questions. Through that I became a college advisor with the Michigan college advising program, I got 90% or more of my local students to sign up for a place based scholarship available here in our community that got the attention of the folks who administer that scholarship. So I eventually became a program manager after that gap year position. From there, I worked several years six up to six years in my community, and my exposure to Kellogg community college or community college in town. My exposure to them made me realize I love going to campus, I love working with students in that capacity, I see that it’s a vibrant, open community, it was something I really wanted to be a part of. And I literally by multiple, more than five applications have to beat down the door. But finally, with all of my eight years of experience, I was able to win a manager position here in the admissions office. And one year into this office and doing this admissions work. I knew, I knew that higher education and student affairs was for me. And so that’s when I engage with Western Michigan University. And I wouldn’t trade any part of my experience. I think that my journey is my own. I love hearing all our stories here on the podcast, and I love working with our students and learning about their individual journeys, the transferable skills now end on this, the transferable skills that I feel like I’m learning in the ESA program at WW engaging diverse populations, you know, implementing equitable practice. Also, you know, assessing the work that we do, I think all of these are transferable. So who knows what the future holds, as I described putting one foot in front of the other in this journey. But I do know that whatever the future will be, the skills that I’m learning now are going to be invaluable.

Heather Shea
I love it. That is fantastic. I did not know this on Monday when we chatted that you had this other longer and longer story. So I love hearing that. Grace, your next tell us about your your path at into Vermont.

Grace Peterson
Yeah, for sure. So as someone who went to a business school, it was not organic chemistry that turned me away. But it was accounting. I took one accounting class and said, Oh, no, maybe not for me. So I think I had to quickly pivot and find my passions elsewhere, because I really liked the school. But the business side wasn’t, wasn’t really what I thought it was going to be. And I think what drew me to Vermont, honestly, was something that we refer to as the Vermont connection. And that’s both our peer reviewed scholarly journal that’s completely student run that we produce every year, as well as our really expensive alumni network. And so two of my mentors and undergrad were part of the Vermont connection, they’d gone through the UVM HESA program, and they said, Hey, have you considered this? And I was like, oh, no, I didn’t even know this was a career, as Adrian said. So I think having those opportunities to work closely with them through my undergrad experience. And knowing that business wasn’t really my passion and needing to pivot was really helpful and directing me into UPMC subprogram. And it’s been a great decision for me, and I really enjoyed my time here.

Heather Shea
That is great. I love that connection piece. And I love also the mentors and the roles that they play. That’s great. Briana, tell us a bit about your story.

Briana Cross
Yes, so during my undergrad experience at Western Illinois University, I didn’t have the best experience as undergrad. And I was very, I was like a advocate on campus. I ended up wearing a lot of relationships with the higher up people like the president of the University, working with Board of Trustees, all of that stuff to like change policies and stuff. And that’s when a lot of my mentors on campus was like, oh, you should look into higher ed or like student affairs. However, I was an education major. And I did take a gap year to teach kindergarten for a year. It’s a big jump from kindergarten to college, but they all act the same. They’re pretty much the same. So I took a gap year and taught kindergarten, but I was still kind of like, I do like the K through 12, but also still want to get a feel for the higher ed level. So that’s when I came to UGA. I love their program. I looked at their faculty and it was one faculty member who was actually the program coordinator now who I was like looking into her work and seeing what she does, and I was like I would love to like learn from her and just like be in her capacity. So that’s how I ended up here at UGA.

Heather Shea
That’s great. Thank you so much, Briana, Jose tell us your Western Michigan story. We heard Terry’s

Jose Embil Jr
Yes. Um, so like other people have said of course there’s tons of undergrad experiences that I had. I went to Central Michigan University for undergrad and in high school. I did a lot of like AP and dual enrollment, so I was ahead, so I was able to explore a lot more, I had a lot of wiggle room in my, in my class schedules. But then it also meant that I had more time to spend exploring different programs on campus. So I really got involved in campus programming. Specifically with shout out to two programs. One of them was sexual aggression peer advocates. So we ran a 24/7. hotline for survivors of sexual aggression. We also did programming and outreach. In that program, I, I N, installed, I guess, a diversity and inclusion committee, because I felt like, Hey, we’re not doing enough to address that aspect of things in this program. And then I was also a student facilitator, and I became a student coordinator for leadership camp. And that was a program for high school juniors and seniors, to explore the social change model of leadership. And so those experiences really made me want to do programming, specifically with diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the higher ed realm. Because I feel like a lot of these conversations are easier to like, there, there’s more opportunity to have these at a higher education institution. And also, I think a lot of higher education institutions have a lot of work to do in those regards. And so when I was looking for programs, Western Michigan University’s HESA program, that’s one of the central pillars of the of their mission is diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging. And I’ve seen that in the classes so far as well, is that is something that we will always bring the conversation back to it. So like, I’m in a theory class right now. And we’re always questioning Hey, like, was this theory made for every college student? Or was it just made for a subset of college students. And so that was, that was the big reason why I settled on the western program, because I felt like I addressed diversity and inclusion, the best out of everything that I that I was able to find.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s fantastic. Thank you so much, Jose, for sharing that. That piece. And I love the like pathway through different undergraduate experiences. That’s cool. Huda, tell us a little bit about your about your pathway.

Huda Ashraf
All right, thank you. It’s been lovely to hear all of you and your stories, I definitely echo a lot of what has been heard. I want to say that I also experienced a lot of identity, foreclosure and pressure from my family and society to do certain things and be a certain profession. Initially, when I started undergrad, I was in biology and like Adrian, and I got to organic chemistry and was like, okay, but thankfully, I had advisors that I could meet with and that talk to me about other professions and other fields. And I switched over to psychology with a focus on developmental psychology. And I started to feel this feeling of like really enjoying going to class like really enjoying learning content. And that really made like, university just totally changed my perception of higher ed and post secondary. And then I knew that once I knew that feeling and what that was like, I really wanted that in the graduate program. So I really wanted a graduate program that I really felt like I connected with and really identified with I would say my student affairs journey actually started in like middle school, like I think I was doing Student Affairs work as early as like grade seven, just planning like student clubs, student organizations, and I guess I didn’t even really no, that that was student affairs. I’m like Jose, I also did a lot of student affairs in high school with my student government, and student leadership in general. I remember there was a point where I was like printing out like leader as like white letters, and we were like ironing them on on T shirts for like our student leadership. And what I just think of that and I just think of how like all of us do student affairs work in our life, and we don’t even know it until someone is like you’re literally a student affairs administrator. But yeah, so that’s a little bit about that and why I chose my program. So I’ve always been interested in education. Even when I was in psychology, I was interested in the psycho education piece like how do we educate people on their development, especially adolescence that like emerging adulthood window that’s traditional undergrad age like that’s so important and and why don’t we know anything about it? And so I, when I became a DI saw the program to the administration for higher ed, I thought like, oh, maybe I should check that out, because I wanted to administration in general for education. So it was kind of just like random. I just came to the campus with my dad, we did a little tour, we found the program. And I really just thought that that was something that aligned with what I wanted to do and what I saw myself doing. Yeah, and then my experiences in my graduate program have been so amazing, like I’ve just been able to, because I go to a small college, I’ve been able to connect with a lot of administrators and really see myself in their position. So that has been extremely valuable. And definitely not something that I had an undergrad where there was, like 60,000 students at my school’s go small colleges.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s fantastic. Thank you so much. All right. So now it’s the Texas State group. So Andrew, tell us a little bit about your pathway in and then why that school?

Andrew Martinez
Yeah, of course. So for me, I went to a small college for my undergrad, I attended Loras College in Dubuque Iowa, go do hawks shout out to them. And they went in just like others, I went in with just this notion of like, I’m gonna do this for my family. I’m a first generation college student, my parents are Latino, we have a small business back at home. And I told myself, I’m going to do business in marketing, because I’m going to do the stereotypical go to college, go back home, you know, help my family with the small business. And that’s it. Then I took principles of marketing. And I’m like, I don’t like marketing. This is not. And truthfully, I think what really led me into wanting to do student affairs was just I was very involved on campus, I was doing things like student government, I was a pure advisor, Resident Assistant, I was president of our LULAC chapter, the League of United Latin American Citizens. And so doing all of that work, working alongside other students, I obviously started off as the younger student, and I was learning from people that were above me. And then I worked my way up to those bigger leadership positions where I was doing the delegation, I was talking to students, and I was as a peer advisor, you know, assisting them through their first year of college. And for me, I think one of the big things was, my, someone I consider a mentor said to Perez, he was our college diversity officer and Loras College is a predominantly white institution. And he was one of I want to say a few Latinos that worked at Loras College. And for me, seeing a Hispanic queer first generations, adult in position of power. I was like, You know what, I can do that, I can do that. And I had, I don’t know if anybody else had this, but I had the fear of, I don’t know about higher education or education work, I it has that negative background to it. My family, one of the big things is like, no one up, I gotta mature, they’re not gonna pay a lot. And so for me, I was like, Nah, you know, I’m not gonna do it. I’m not gonna do it. And I remember sitting in his office one day and telling him like, in tears, I was like, I think I’m afraid to see I want to do higher education work, but I wanted higher education work. And he ended up sending me off to the Oshkosh placement exchange in Oshkosh Wisconsin, op, where I interviewed about at about maybe 15, or 16 Different institutions. Very stressful weekend, but it was very, very amazing to see like all these different types of institutions from very small colleges to humongous institutions. And for me, I think my deciding factor in going to Texas State, big thing for me, it was the complete opposite of Loris, I wanted to do something a little bit different than the small predominantly white Catholic institution and to be here at Texas State. It’s a Hispanic Serving Institution. It’s a lot more opportunities when it comes to things like the city, the city’s and Marcus is way different than Dubuque Iowa. But it’s also been a good learning opportunity for me as I came originally from Phoenix, Arizona, I moved to a small town in Dubuque. And now Never did I envision myself coming to Texas. But here I am. It’s been an amazing learning opportunity. The cohort model, I’m sure Maura might even mention, our cohorts are an amazing group. And the fact that we can do like cross cohort opportunities with each other has been amazing for me. And I think I always say, and I always tell people, I know that I made the right decision. And truthfully, I think what for me, one of the biggest things was I always have a piece of why I’m in student affairs with me, there’s like a little picture right here. I don’t know if you guys can see. But those of you at home, those were my last group of residents when I was an RA at Loras. College, and they’re my soccer boys. And I think they were that deciding factor for me of saying like, you know what, I’m gonna do this as a career.

Heather Shea
Oh, my gosh, that’s great story. Thank you so much, Andrew. We also had a shout out to ope on a previous episode here and we had this whole like, is it still a thing and apparently is definitely still a thing. So I love that. That’s great. Maura, tell us a little bit about how you ended up at Texas State.

Maura Mangum
Yeah, absolutely. So um, I actually was on my way to go to law school I was a political science major at my undergrad institution, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. And I just realized that I, as much as I wanted to be like the next Olivia Pope, or Annalise Keating, it just wasn’t gonna work for me. And I had a law class that like spooked me out of going to law school. And so I kind of had like a panic about self authorship definitely, like I kicked a because I was like, this is not the pathway that I want, how am I going to fix it? I have to graduate, like, what am I going to do. And so I was super involved in undergrad within our Division of Student Affairs. President, Vice President of the Association of Black students natural hair network, was a resident assistant, also served in our students in it in different positions. And so I was super involved in just kind of notice how I was sitting at tables with leadership in undergrad and didn’t notice the impact that I had as a student. And so I valued that a lot. And then started to also notice that we had a lot of transitioning happening with advisors that I was working with. So at least every year, I had a different advisor within our Multicultural Office or even within our residence halls, you know, leadership’s and positions changing and saw the side. Why are all these people leaving, and like realizing the impact that it had on me as a student, I was like, I can’t have them leave like this is not going to help me get through undergrad. And it made me think about how important they were to me and my own as a student and how they did more than my professors could do in my classroom for me and keeping me at SMU, because I was a non traditional student, and transferred then after a semester, and so at some point, I was ready to go, because if you ever hear anything about SMU, it is a very fluent institution. Lots of you know, students come in, you know, from a very affluent backgrounds and having different experiences, and the black student population is very small. And so it was hard for me to adjust. But I ended up, you know, doing a leadership conference, and that ended up changing my whole entire perspective on you know, calling and seeing how everybody can be brought together, just off of leadership, and being involved was eye opening to me. And so from there, you know, I had another person leave, that was in my life, I was an advisor, and I was like, You can’t leave like, you know, like, how can I do what you do? And she was like, What do you mean, and I was like, I think I want to do student affairs, like you have impacted me so much. And you know, from there, somebody was like, We need to bring back enough. And so my institution had the national undergraduate fellowship program from NASA on our campus a few years ago before I did, but they hadn’t brought it back. And so at the time, our Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Casey May, Jay was the air. And so he ended up, you know, letting me apply the last minute, I wasn’t even an official enough, it was very unofficial. And I ended up doing my internship at SMU, where I was able to work with our women and LGBT center, our Student Experience Center. And I was able to actually build a woman in her work program based off of a book that you contributed to, Heather, it’s the we are leaders of tomorrow I got, I was able to use that as like the framework of my project for enough, which was really an eye opening experience to see what it’s like to be a woman in leadership. And I think that’s really what pushed me to actually say, you know, what, I will do student affairs. So I’m very thankful to my community for that. And so I ended up doing some searches for grad school, I wasn’t McNair Scholar. And so they supported me out of that. And I actually had a mentor who went to Texas State, and I had a lot of opinions about where I should go. And I think I ended up choosing Texas State because of where it’s located. I’m from Austin, San Marcos isn’t too far. And I also appreciate it our program faculty, Dr. Paige is amazing. She pours into us, as well as Dr. James Scott. And the assistantship support is also amazing. And so I think that without those factors, I wouldn’t have chosen entire day. And I also had an amazing supervisor who wanted to grow me as a professional that definitely made me settle in on that decision, because I didn’t want to come back to home. I love it and hate it every day, but I’m definitely meant for it.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Oh my gosh, Paige is one of my favorite people on the planet. We interacted and overlapped while we were at the University of Arizona, which isn’t it just world. That’s the main, the main takeaway too, is that there’s like one degree of separation. Speaking of of which, just in your head MSU. Tell us a little bit about how you ended up here.

Justin Weller
Yeah, so try to be brief. There’s a lot of things that were said that I can definitely relate to an injury I think that I have a friend that also to Laura, so we have to connect down offline, but like Maura said, I was also in the law school track. I quickly realized that litigating was something that was very rare. I really liked it, but it was something I was passionate about. I really liked policy and I also serve As an international Ra, at my institution at Saginaw Valley State University, and I also was in a global leadership program called the Roberts fellowship. And so I really quickly realized that international education was something I was always passionate about. And then combining that with my passion and policy really helps me so I decided to take two years off. I also was an advisor like Terry and Michigan College Access Network with advice Michigan as a college advisor for a low income first gen school. Like that, I shared that identity and I wanted to give back and after those two experiences, plus spending some time abroad, in those two years, I decided I’m gonna apply to some grad schools and Michigan State specifically stood out to me because of the theory to practice pipeline, essentially, as long as those practicum opportunities that were available, and these type of assistantship I wanted, Michigan State had and it was also close to home. And for me, those factors all led me to apply to Michigan State and to be accepted, and now currently in the program, and I’m very happy to be ultimately on this podcast. That led me to here. So that’s just a little bit about how grad school was the decision for me.

Heather Shea
So fun. So I love all the overlapping common themes, the shared experiences, maybe even people who we both we’ve all interacted with. So we’ll definitely have to continue some like back channel conversation afterwards. So my next couple of questions have to do with this, like going directly from grads or going directly from undergrad to grad school, and then those who took some time off and advice. In the, in the spirit of time, I may have just one or two people answer each of these questions. And then we’ll get to the next series, which is all about kind of current topics and, and how grad school is preparing us to address them. So by a show of hands, who went directly from undergrad to grad school like me, okay, we got a couple of folks. Whoever would like to speak and give their like, why what advice you might have for current undergrads who are like, right now going, Oh, my gosh, grad school applications are due, like in a couple of months, what would you what would you suggest? You’d like to take this one? Huda? Yes.

Huda Ashraf
Yeah, I can go. Thank you. So when I completed my undergrad, I thought about what skill sets and competencies I have. And I think that that is extremely important. Because you know, we all go to higher ed for some reason. And then we all do very unique degrees that give us all these skills that will relate to what we want to do in the future. I would also think, what do you really like? Like, what do you really like doing? You know, that’s not a question that we really are encouraged to ask ourselves, we’re encouraged to go to school, get a job, get a better job, but we’re not really ever like, put in that position of reflection, like what did what did we want to do and when we see ourselves doing, one of the main reasons I did Student Affairs was because they’re, at the end of my degree, I thought about all the people who had helped me get there, I thought about all the people who inspired me and helped me get that piece of paper that I was so longing for. And so that is what really helped me to see myself in careers that I may not even have imagined. And additionally, I would look internationally, I came from Canada, I did my undergrad at the University of British Columbia. So I think there’s a lot of pressure for like Western education to be the pinnacle. But we can learn so much from other countries, we can learn so much from other cultures. And so if you want to do student affairs somewhere else, like I encourage you to go do that. And I’m also interested in maybe thinking of doing that after I’ve done my graduate degree. But do you know to look at the programs, there’s hundreds and 1000s of schools, but look at that program, look at the syllabus, look at the breakdown, really look at the classes, you’re going to be taking, like, do those classes align with your values? Are you interested in learning those things like all of those things are going to really set you up for success and will really helped you to succeed in your program.

Heather Shea
Great advice. I love it. Maybe one other person to speak to the direct pipeline. Grace, do you want to go next?

Grace Peterson
Yeah, I think everything you said was great. The only thing I’ll add is for me, I think imposter syndrome played a little bit of a role for me right out of undergrad. And I would just remind you, and advise you to know that your experiences in undergrad or in work are so valuable and contribute greatly to class discussions to your program to your peers. And so I would say to really lean into that, be proud of what you’ve done in the past and just be willing to bring that and contribute that to your program because it really will be super valuable, even if you’re like, Oh, I was just an undergrad like I did these things. But as you heard on this call, people have been involved in a wide variety of things that have really contributed to their success in the field. So that would be my other piece of advice if you’re thinking about entering right out of undergrad.

Heather Shea
I love it. Yes, those co curricular experiences that you had as an undergrad are super valuable and relate really well right to current students having just been there. For those folks who did some other things for a little while and then made a career change, what advice or suggestions do you have for folks who are maybe in that in that pipeline? Potentially? Who wants to answer this, Justin?

Justin Weller
Yeah, so for me, like I mentioned, I served two years as a college advisor. And the kind of advice I would give is, like, if you are in kind of like a state of ambiguity to like said, lean into it. And to understand like, what is your passion, your purpose for being, you know, is it to help people and so for me doing two years, a low income person, high school high school that I was a part of, really helped me and to give back and was like, this is something I’m very passionate about, this is the purpose for my being. And that was what ultimately led me to student affairs and at Michigan State. So like I said, lean into it, it is okay to take some time off. And there really is no timeline for success. I think even being in my cohort, we have a wide diversity of experiences. And taking time off is an important experience that contributes great to the classroom. So I think manage that it is okay to take some time. And I really wish I had someone to say that to me. But if you’re in that situation, and you need someone to say that it is okay to take some time off and to figure out what is your purpose?

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s great. Yeah, just deciding to go to grad school. So you don’t know what’s next may not be the best reason. Yes. Who right? What do you what would you like to add to that?

Hoorab Romail Roy
Um, yeah, so. Great. I would let me just make sure okay. Yeah. So, yeah, I think those insights were great. But I would also say that just changing career paths is sometimes can be a little bit challenging. And it could also include a lot of thought process. But as I mentioned earlier, that I was a high school teacher for three years, and it was a little change for me being on the administrative side this time, instead of instructional side. But I would say that you have to have a vision of doing something for someone, and having a positive impact on someone’s life. Because having that vision, and passion would make it really easy for you to remind yourself every single day, why are you in the field of student affairs. And this field is great as you get to make a lot of good connections and friends, and you meet so many inspirational people almost every single day along your way. And I think most importantly, you feel connected at the end of the day. So wherever you feel, wherever you go, you just you just have to feel like you are you’re you’re really there where you are. And there’s there should also be a sense of belonging, belonging. So I think if you’re passionate about it, if you have a great vision, why are you in this field? This is perfect for you.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s great. Adrian, you have your hand? Yes.

Adrienne Reyes
I was just gonna add first, I took a break, I took a five year break from my bachelor’s and my master’s. And so it was very intimidating to try and come back to school. So my advice would be just to just take that leap. Like I know it can be scary. Like said, though imposter syndrome is real, and it hits so hard. And to just like the worst that contains no, right you apply to school, and that’s your big fear right there. I’ve been I’ve been out of school so long, I really don’t know how to write anymore. And just like right, when you write when you get back into it, it slowly grows, right? So just to like, don’t be afraid and do your research, seek all your advice. As a first gen student, nobody in my family has had a bachelor’s. And definitely nobody had a master’s. So coming into that it was kind of intimidating, like I don’t know what to do. But just Just do your research, call the schools, ask around, find the program that works best for you, and then just do your best. That’s really all you can do is just do your best and find your support systems when you get into school.

Heather Shea
That’s really powerful. I think that’s so that is so true. And I hear this from many and that first class, you know that first writing assignment is often a that’s a struggle, right? But there are lots of resources on almost every campus to help you get through. And if you can just push that little impostor syndrome voice to the side, a little really, really key. Terry, what would you add, and then we’ll go to Maura.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
Yeah, I just want to quickly add I love I’m resonating with everything that’s being shared. I just want to add as someone who took 12 years between undergrad and graduate school, that although I had a fierce insecurity watching my peers go on directly to school, having experienced work in K through 12, after undergrad in the nonprofit space after undergrad and then in the higher education In Space prior to then ultimately choosing a program, I now find myself in WM use Hisa program making direct applications literally every day multiple times a lecture. So whereas I used to be insecure, I now view my previous experiences in taking that break between undergrad and graduate school as as beneficial, like extraordinarily so to where now I feel like my learning is much more substantive than perhaps if I had initially agreed to go straight to graduate school and then kind of have to do extra work to make those applications I’m able to do so in real time.

Heather Shea
Love that. Maura, you have a, you have kind of the opposite, right. So you were did directly to, and then now you’re working full time and also still in grad school. So tell us a little bit about that.

Maura Mangum
Yeah, I took the traditional route of going straight from undergrad to grad school doing my assistantship for a full year. And then in May, I took a leap of faith and apply for a job at considering there were some just organizational changes happening at Texas State. And it wasn’t, it was a transition. One that I definitely could not research, nobody could really tell me what it was gonna look like. And I had some peers that had did a transition from being a GA to a full time staff member in the midst of their first year. But I think that it’s very different to be in a program and also be working full time, especially like theory, like you’re at two different institutions. It’s a hard balance. But I think that I’ve learned that it’s something that I wish I would have known I could have done prior to starting my program had I had known that you don’t have to be in a master’s program working full time and student affairs, I think I would have taken advantage of it earlier. And I’m thankful for my assistantship, but I think that there’s so much that I’m learning as a full time staff member that I wish I had started off with my experience as, and I think a lot of us are conditioned to the idea that you have to get your Master’s of student affairs before you get your first full time job, which is not the case, which is comes into the importance of reading a job description, understanding, like, what boxes do you check off, and if you’re eligible for that fit in that role, because most of us probably are, and we just don’t think about it. And so it’s definitely been hard balancing it. But I have a job that understands flexibility, and work life integration with me, you know, going to class and leaving early and a supervisor that supports me getting my degree. So I’m very thankful for that experience.

Heather Shea
That’s great. That’s great. Yes, there is not just one path there is, you know, sounds like also this third option of starting and then going to full time. So great. I love hearing all of these experiences. So if you’re watching today, and you’re like how does this all fit? You know, now you have just seen multiple different versions. So I want to move into the next segment, which is really about like the current topics like facing our field, what are some of the things that are coming up in your classes, discussions? And then what are some experiences that are helping you prepare to tackle these? So I’m kind of combined for those we’re following along on our on our question document, like, I’m going to kind of combine five and six in the interest of time. And let’s just have an open conversation just like you would in class, like, what are the topics that are facing the field? And then what are some of the things that you are learning about whether it’s research or whether it’s scholarly journals or conversations that are preparing you to tackle So Brianna, kick us off?

Briana Cross
Okay, so since my institution is located in the southeast, we are heavily talking about like lawmakers and like laws that are being passed that go against B EI. And we’re kind of learning how to still foster that system sense of belonging with our students, because like with Florida, Florida is like four hours away from us from Georgia. So we have students that are that live in Florida and coming up and stuff like that. So we’re definitely learning like, how that might look for us. And then next year, or even the next six months for all we know. And then how to still foster that sense of belonging and some of the experiences that I am getting while being in this program. Like right now we’re working on a year long project with mentors that are currently working in the field. So I get to work with actually on the academic side, I get to work with two faculty members. On the extraction side, and we’re focusing on our focus group or environment is sense of belonging in the facts department. So in the other ones, there’s like, first year students, black men, and then rural students, because that’s a heavy population on campus. So we’re getting those hands on experiences with current people who are in the field and we get to kind of like, look at it and observe it. So that’s that’s like our big topic right now is the AI and how that’s going to impact us in student affairs.

Heather Shea
Yeah, yeah. i This has been conversation wherever you are right in the US by thing gets even more specific and particularly relevant where you are. And that is for sure something that I think the field the larger field is talking about, right? Because we still have professionals who are working in those states and we need to support them to in doing this work. Yes, Andrew, what would you say? What would you add to this?

Andrew Martinez
Going off of Briana, what you guys have? Fear, I think we already are going through

Heather Shea
here. In Texas, we

Andrew Martinez
share our Senate Bill 17. In August, Texas State University did, I guess, I don’t know how to say the word properly. But we no longer have a inclusive excellence division here. So I think for me, one of the biggest things has been kind of finding ways to make an inclusive and diverse campus without technically using those terms a little bit difficult. I think for me when I came to Texas State University, prior to coming here, and still now my passion is dei work and doing multicultural student work. And coming to this school once I realized, hey, there’s not going to be any more of these offices, these are legally not allowed anymore. It was challenging for me, but I in my eyes, I love a challenge. And I love to be able to see, what are we going to do you know what’s next from here? I think in our class, we have these discussions. A lot of you know, we want this career, we want to be within dei work, but what are we going to do? Like how are we going to do it? And I think one of the biggest things we learned is a lot of us, you know, no matter what area or what functional area of Student Affairs we’re in, we’re doing diversity work. We’re doing equity and inclusion work. It’s just done in a different capacity.

Justin Weller
So it’s seeing,

Andrew Martinez
I guess, for me, especially as a first year cohort student, what am I going to do going forward? You know, am I going to stay here in Texas is am I going to move on somewhere else? It’s very interesting. I think I know more, I might have a little bit to touch on, especially from a full time employee role.

Heather Shea
Yeah, Maura, what would you say? We would? Yeah, I’ll

Maura Mangum
be I’ll be super quick. But just to definitely highlight that effective in June. That’s when the bill was passed. And so come January 1, all of these offices across Texas are having to either close or you know, reshift. And fortunately, for us, my current position we, we have a diversity and inclusion position, but we’re just not restructuring to access belonging and civic engagement. And so seeing that, UT, for example, is able to kind of shift things, whereas other institutions are straight up closing things. It’s a very interesting experience coming from that, and really working directly with that inclusive, excellence office. But also on the other side of that I work with admissions and recruiting in my role at UT. And so the affirmative action has definitely touched base with us and to enter a lot of meetings with, you know, our legal team at UT. And so, and classic diamond talking about, like, what does it look like to actually work in these roles in the future? Because we’re focused on the job transition. So all sort of like, do we want to work in these fields, were not able to work that we officially wanted to do, but kind of have to reframe our mindset and say that we can still do the work. It’s just not in the way that we’ve been able to do it in the past. And so definitely reimagining those practices that we once knew. And reframing is definitely something that possible, but it’s interesting to see how other institutions are taking actions that are just eliminating it such as like UT, or, you know, Texas State, and those people still have jobs, some of them do, but it’s still hard to watch and something to really think about.

Heather Shea
Yeah, yeah, it’s gonna continue to I think, and I worry about it trickling across, right, if it worked in Texas, we can do this elsewhere. And then pretty soon we have a completely different focus. And yeah, that’s a huge concern for me. Jose, what about what about you? What would you add to this?

Jose Embil Jr
Um, so I went to the ACPA ash presidential symposium? Yes. Oh, my gosh. So, um, one of the big topics, and I’ve been having these conversations with Western they reformed. So diversity inclusion used to be under Student Affairs, and now it’s a whole division itself and having conversations about it’s not just for students, it’s like we’re making institutional wide. Yeah, decisions, and I’m making it so that when we’re doing diversity and inclusion work, yes, reframing it and like renaming it and having it, you know, fly under the radar because a lot of these laws and litigation are more surface level. They’re not really addressing the deeper pieces of it, but then also figuring out how do we Make sure that this work is integrated everywhere. And so it’s rooted in all of the practices across the University and an institution. Because at that point, good luck trying to litigate everything out of the institution, if it’s already in the practices, and then it, it’ll show how important it is to the institution. And kind of thinking about how do we also reframe the conversation? If people are only going to listen to money and dollar signs, we have to talk their language and say, well, economically, diversity and inclusion is very important. Like, those things are important to people, people aren’t going to want to go to your institutions, if they don’t feel a sense of belonging, why am I going to pay all this money, if I’m not feeling included, I’m not getting the most out of this experience. And so at Western, we have what’s called diversity cognates. So it’s six credit hours of either classes, or internships or anything that fits within doing work in that regard. So I think that’s one way of preparing us for that.

Heather Shea
It sounds like you all have been having incredible conversations in your classes, and really some practical, maybe some maybe some aspirational solutions. This is the kind of conversation I love, and I hate to cut off. We’re getting close on time, we always run out of time, and I knew with a large panel, we would we would be there today. So I hope in our final thoughts everybody has a chance to, to say one more thing that they want to kind of leave us with. So we always run out of time. Our final question is always this is student affairs. Now, what are some of the things that you’re pondering, questioning, excited about traveling, etc. Now, and we’re gonna we’re gonna go with the same order that we did in the intro, the first question. So, Justin, I’m gonna have you kick us off with final thoughts.

Justin Weller
I think final thoughts. I think what we’ve discussed in this last couple of things, the very real realities of legislation happening, it is troublesome, it’s very concerning. But I think we have a really great group of student affairs professionals here in our future that are working to like rectify this, and change it. So something that I think I’m very excited to see through a lot of our programs and see all of our future professionals here do in the future. So I’m excited for all of us to tackle these issues head on.

Heather Shea
could not agree more. Maura.

Maura Mangum
Yeah, definitely agree with everything that Justin just said, I think one thing I’m excited about is creating a environment of choice affirmation for our students that decide to come into the programs that we are the institutions that we work at, because I think that’s the biggest tackle that we’re all going to be facing as we enter, you know, post January 1 2024. And so making sure that students have that sense of belonging and feel valued on their campuses is something that I’m excited about, and having, you know, a staff and a dean that I work with that supports that is definitely something that makes me excited to go to work every day, despite all of the changes in the climate that we’re living in. So yeah,

Heather Shea
perfect. Great. Thank you, Andrew,

Andrew Martinez
you, for me just also echoing what Justin was saying, just hearing everybody’s stories and everyone speak throughout this, I’m excited to see the future of Student Affairs, because that’s why I’m excited to stay connected with a lot of you seeing us get our hoods and 123 years, and sharing those pictures, because I think, like we were saying, like these are all very, very engaging conversations, and the future looks bright, and I’m very excited for that. Yeah, I think that’s my big piece.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s great. Huda, what about you?

Huda Ashraf
Yeah, I am very excited to graduate. I’m graduating in the spring. But all these conversations are really giving me the energy to really like go do go out and do this work. I would say if you’re an undergrad or graduate student or whoever you are listening to this, like you can do student affairs work, anyone can do this work. If you have passion, if you have purpose, you will do an amazing job. And there is no doubt in that. One of the things I’m excited for is one of my passions is basic needs and helping students meet their basic needs. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask students to be getting 4.0 GPA is if they can’t even fill their stomachs with food. So one of the initiatives I’ve been part of is developing a food pantry so I’m, I’m looking forward to creating a better institutional response to basic needs and helping students meet them where they’re at.

Heather Shea
That’s great. Oh my gosh, that’s great. Jose

Jose Embil Jr
Just to echo Huda, I think, if you are thinking about student affairs, please, please, please explore it. There are so many options, you are not going to pigeonhole yourself in any particular area, because we literally do everything. And I’m just really excited about all of you here, everyone else that might be listening for the future, because we definitely are forging a path forward for more inclusive campuses. And I’m just very excited about what the future holds.

Heather Shea
That’s great. Jose, thank you, Brianna.

Briana Cross
I’m very excited to see the new wave of professionals entering student affairs, I also graduate in the spring, so I will be one of the people entering the field. But um, I just feel like our generation in general, has a lot of different perspectives. And we kind of seen that today, having our conversation here is everyone’s story, like how they got to Student Affairs, we have a lot of different perspectives to bring into the field and Student Affairs is changing, it doesn’t look the same that it looked like 10 years ago. So I’m very excited to see like, how it changed and how we contribute to that change.

Heather Shea
I love that. Grace.

Grace Peterson
Yeah, Brianna, I’ll echo that because I was thinking about our info session that we had last night for prospective students joining our program and the energy and the passion and excitement that they brought to join the field and to join a program that’s committed to social justice, I think was really great to see. So I echo what everyone says, I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Heather Shea
Fantastic. I’m gonna go down my list. Okay, Terry here next.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
I’m so inspired by everyone. My final thought, you know, in my work here at Kellogg Community College, I often say to people, I’m here to break generational curses, generational curses that exist in this institution and outside in the community where I was born. And the idea that we are all with this energy and this enthusiasm and the things that I have heard shared today, I have full faith that we are on our way to doing that and making real positive impacts in student affairs. Let’s go. I often write in my papers that I am Student Affairs like I’m like a severe internalization, I say we are student affairs, and it just excites me. So that’s what I have to say.

Heather Shea
That’s how I’m gonna call this episode. I love that. That’s

Terry Burleson, Jr.
our Student Affairs. Let’s

Heather Shea
love it. Hoorab tell us what your final thoughts are.

Hoorab Romail Roy
Um, I am actually very happy to hear from all my fellow practitioners and student affairs and gives me hope that there’s you know, there’s change that is about to happen in coming years. And definitely, I’m graduating next year to inch range. So yeah, and I’m very, very excited to step into the field and as a full time professional, and are very even more excited to make a big impact on students lives.

Heather Shea
I love it. Perfect. Peter.

Peter Su
I just want to emphasize, I love everyone’s responses. That was great. I would say to advice for those who are interested or like thinking about it, and applying private, you might as well just apply for it. I think that there’s just gives such a wide range of competencies and skills that you definitely couldn’t see in just like one field. Especially for me, like I was able to go for my internship to the American University of Kuwait. And that doesn’t show range. It doesn’t show like variety within Student Affairs in Higher Education. I don’t know what will. So definitely go into it. Go into an open mind. There’s so many possibilities. And you definitely won’t be satisfied because there’s just going to be so many possibilities that you can definitely get into, for sure.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s absolutely true. And Adrienne,

Adrienne Reyes
last but not least, echoing off of what everybody said. If you’re interested in higher ed student affairs, I would check out to you shout out to their faculty. Shameless plug, shout out to Dr. Zack Boston and Dr. Amanda Molot. There such an amazing group of faculty. And I’m super excited about graduating in the spring as well as maybe possibly presenting at ACPA. So if I get that, come check out my session. Latinx students overcoming impostor syndrome.

Heather Shea
Oh, exciting. I love that final, final thought and I will definitely hopefully see you all. In Chicago. As you all know, I will definitely be there. Um, so before we wrap up today’s episode, I just want to express my gratitude. I mean, this episode far exceeded my expectations. I’m so glad you all said yes. to joining the conversation today and could not agree more. The future is extremely bright and somebody has been in the field for a while. Well, I love to see it. And I’m here for it. And this is why I stay in the field is having the continual enthusiasm for the work that we do and that and the impact that we make on our campuses. So thank you so much. So I want to take just a quick moment to thank Nat Ambrosey our incredible producer, Nat your efforts do not go unnoticed, and we are so grateful for everything that you do to make us look and sound amazing. And of course, none of this would be impossible without the support of today’s sponsor Symplicity is the global leader in student services technology platforms with state of the art technology that empowers institutions to make data driven decisions specific to their goals. A true partner to the institution, Symplicity supports all aspects of student life, including but not limited to Career Services and Development, Student Conduct and well being students access and accessibility services. And you can learn more by visiting symplicity.com or connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, I guess it’s not called Twitter anymore, whatever it’s called. To each of our listeners, we encourage you to visit our website at studentaffairsnow.com. And if you click the sponsors link, you can learn more about sponsorship opportunities as well as the folks who sponsor our channel. While you’re there, our archives we have just past the three year mark and we have over 170 episodes featuring topics across the range of of areas. So if you are interested in the field of student affairs, hopefully this free professional development resource is useful to you. And if you are tuning in today and haven’t already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please take a moment enter your email on our website and you’ll receive an email every week with the latest episode. Once again, I’m Heather Shea thanks for everybody’s watching and listening. Let’s make this careers in student affairs month. Truly a great one.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
I often say to people, I’m here to break generational curses, generational curses that exist in this institution and outside in the community where I was born. And the idea that we are all with this energy and this enthusiasm and the things that I have heard shared today, I have full faith that we are on our way to doing that and making real positive impacts in student affairs. Let’s go. I often write in my papers that I am Student Affairs like I’m like a severe internalization, I say we are student affairs, and it just excites me.

Heather Shea
Welcome to Student Affairs NOW the online learning community for Student Affairs educators. I’m your host, Heather Shea. Today on the podcast we’re finishing our series of episodes for careers in student affairs month. Today, I am thrilled to be joined by a large panel of current masters students in student affairs, higher education, or related graduate programs from across the country. They’re here to share a bit about their decision making processes. With those of you watching today who may be considering grad school as you consider applying to graduate program in higher education. This is the episode to watch. Before I bring in our guest today, let me tell you a little bit about our channel. Student Affairs NOW is the premier podcast and learning community for 1000s of us who work in alongside or adjacent to the field of higher education and student affairs. We hope you’ll find these conversations make a contribution to the field and are restorative to the profession. We release new episodes every week on Wednesdays and you can find us at studentaffairsnow.com on YouTube, or anywhere you listen to podcast. Today’s episode is sponsored by Symplicity. A true partner simplicity supports all aspects of student life with technology platforms that empower institutions to make data driven decisions. Stay tuned to the end of the podcast for more information about this episode sponsor. As I mentioned, I am the host for today’s episode Heather Shea, my pronouns are she her and hers and I am broadcasting from the ancestral traditional and contemporary lands of the Anishinabeg three fires confederacy of Ojibwe, Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples otherwise known as East Lansing, Michigan, home of Michigan State University where I work. All right, so in previous episodes of this series for careers in student affairs month, I briefly shared my story. I went directly from undergrad to grad school at the same institution, where I had completed undergrad Colorado State University. And while I had an incredible experience in the CSU psyche program, I often have reflected upon that experience and wondered if maybe I should have thought about it differently. I could have maybe I should have been more intentional in the process considered other programs. I am so excited to talk with this panel of current grad students today. Let me bring all of them in on our gallery view. Welcome, everybody. This panel was curated from an open call I did to the faculty listserv. So thank you to all of the faculty members who referred this amazing panel to me today. And for those of you who weren’t able to join us, I have a list and now a mile long of folks who are ready to be on a podcast episode for Student Affairs NOW. So thank you all. And what we’re going to do is we’re going to have first just go around and have everybody introduce themselves, share your name pronouns, your institution, your current year and your program and maybe what your role is on your campus if you’re working in an assistantship or if you’re in a full time position on that campus or on another campus, etc, just so folks can kind of get to know you. And so we’re gonna start with my colleague at Michigan State. Justin, do you want to you want to kick us off? Hello?

Justin Weller
Yes. Hello. My name is Justin Weller. I use the series of pronouns and like Dr. Shea, I mentioned I am a first year student and the Student Affairs Administration program at Michigan State University. In this program, I also serve as an as a graduate assistantship, or graduate assistant rather, as an assistant community director within residential education, housing services, where I help support and supervise a staff of Resident Assistants on campus to empower them to be the best stories they can be. So that’s a little bit about me and what I do at Michigan State University.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Thanks, Justin. Maura, welcome.

Maura Mangum
Thank you so much. Hi, there. My name is Maura Mangum, I use a she series pronouns. I’m currently a second year student in the Student Affairs and higher education program, all at SAHE at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. I actually just made the transition in June from a graduate assistantship in orientation to now being a student, a program coordinator in the LBJ School of Public Affairs at UT Austin. So it’s been definitely a transition and enjoying all the things that come with it and currently I’m wrapping up some research and transfer student initiatives as well in the first year Journal of experiences and transition.

Heather Shea
So well welcome I’m so glad you’re joining us and also from Texas State we have Andrew welcome Andrew.

Andrew Martinez
You Thank you. Hi everybody. My name is Andrew Martinez. My pronouns are he him in. I am currently a first year SAHE student at Texas State University alongside Maura. So Go Bobcats. I have a graduate assistantship here at Texas State University with the Department of Housing Residential Life. I am a graduate residence director for 18 Amazing RAs and afford different buildings. So, Go Bobcats and Texas State.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Thanks so much for being here. Huda, welcome.

Huda Ashraf
Thank you. Hi, there. I am joining you guys from Olympia, Washington. Some of our tribal groups are there in the Squale that to Amish, the Squamish and the Pol of tribes. I am in my second year of my graduate program at St. Martin’s University, it is a small private college on the southern part of Washington. And I’m in my Sorry, I’m in my second year the program as I just said, and I am doing student affairs with a focus in higher education. It’s interesting because our program is called HESA. And you guys seem to flip that acronym. So it sounds cool to hear. Yeah, but what I’m doing in my graduate work is I’m a senator of graduate students for our students on it. And then I’m also a graduate assistant to the director of the Career Center and the Associate Dean of Students.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Yeah, CSP. HESA, SAHE, SAA there are so many acronyms for sure. And yeah, every every school calls it something different. Well, welcome. I’m Jose, let’s go to you next.

Jose Embil Jr
Hello, my name is Jose Embil Jr. I use both he and they pronouns. And I’m currently a first year. HESA student so the same as Huda at Western Michigan University, and then I have a graduate assistantship there. With our Student Center, we just opened a brand new 100 million dollar building. So my summer was spent closing an old building and opening a new one. And I do a lot of work with training our student employees, as well as organizing diversity and inclusion training for the whole building.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Well, thank you for being here. Jose, I appreciate appreciate you. Um, we are going to go to Georgia next Briana. Welcome. Hello.

Briana Cross
Hello, everyone. My name is Briana Krause I used to shoot her her series. I am a second year at the University of Georgia. Our program is known as CSAA or College Student Affairs Administration. I’m a graduate assistant for counseling and counseling and Human Development Services department which is where my major is housed under. I get to work in particular with the Student Affairs PhD and EBD students.

Heather Shea
Fun fun one. Now we’re going to Vermont grace. Hello.

Grace Peterson
Hi. Oh, Grace Peterson she her pronouns. I’m a current part time student in my third and final year in the HESA program at the University of Vermont, where I also work full time as the campus programs coordinator for the Department of student life planning university wide programming efforts and also working with our UVM Programming Board students.

Heather Shea
Awesome, fantastic. Terry, welcome, also from Western Michigan.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
Absolutely. Go Broncos. Let me throw one of those up in there for the podcast. Hello, everyone. My name is Terry Burleson, Jr.. I use the he him his pronouns. I am currently a second year student at the Western Michigan University. HESA program Higher Education and Student Affairs leadership. I do not hold a graduate assistantship as I work full time in my hometown of Battle Creek, Michigan. I am the manager of recruitment and Student Outreach at the Kellogg community college admissions department where I manage our selective admissions programs. So nursing and other allied health programs. I also admit and advise our international students of which we have a growing population in that regard. And I also supervise train and staff, our student workers in the hub Enrollment Center. It’s a pleasure to be here with him today.

Heather Shea
Thank you, Terry. I got to meet Terry in person actually on Monday at ACPA. Michigan, so that was fantastic. I love it. Hoorab welcome.

Hoorab Romail Roy
Thank you. Oh, well, my name is Hoorab Romail Roy. I’m originally from Pakistan and my pronouns are she her hers. I’m in my second year of Student Affairs in Higher Education and be, and I’m sitting at Missouri State University. I’m a graduate graduate assistant at the Career Center, and currently completing my third practicum at enrollment management and Services Office, and happy to be here in the podcast and sharing my insights with you all.

Heather Shea
Great. Thank you, Peter. Let’s get Pennsylvania in there.

Peter Su
All right. Hi, everyone. My name is Peter Su, I use any pronouns. I am at the University of Pittsburgh, finishing up my second and last year of my master’s higher ed program. Currently, right now, I am the graduate student assistant for the Career Center, where I am a career consultant for the vast population of computer science tech, and data analysts, students. And we are now in their outreach and also doing international work with those students as well. So great work and happy to be here with you.

Heather Shea
thank you so much, Peter. And last but not least, Adrienne, welcome.

Adrienne Reyes
Hi, thank you for having me. So my name is Adrienne Reyes, I am a second year Master’s student at the University of Kansas in the HIGO program, higher education restriction, so many acronyms. For my assistantship, I am in student housing assistant complex director for one of our apartment style living communities as well as our expanded housing. And this is the first year that we’ve done that, because we had over 500 Extra students that we needed to provide housing for. So this is the first time that I am overseeing extended housing. And that’s been a journey.

Heather Shea
I love it. Well, it is really exciting kind of hearing everybody’s current role and work. And you know, the different programs that we have represented, of course, there are many, many, many more, lots of different pathways. Hopefully, for folks who are listening or watching today, this will give you a little bit of an insight as to you know, what it is to work as a graduate student in student affairs, why Student Affairs is the field. And so we’re gonna go in the opposite order now. And ask everybody to answer the next kind of series of questions. But the, you know, without kind of repeating everybody else, so we’ll, we’ll kind of keep it concise. First, what experiences led you to pursue a master’s degree in student affairs, a little bit about why you chose the program you did. And any kind of particular good experiences or things you would have wished had gone differently during the process? So in reverse order, Adrienne, we’re going to start with you this time.

Adrienne Reyes
Awesome. So I wasn’t really looking at higher ed as like a career, nobody really tells you that like, oh, higher ed is a career you can work. Any university, you could go to school for that. So I think I learned that maybe my last year of undergrad, I was originally a biology major with a teacher certification, and I could not pass organic chemistry. And that was my weed out class. So I had to change my major. And my advisor was like, how many times we need to say, Oh, can we fail it? I was just like, I just, I’m just trying to get out of here. But she was just like, Well, what do you want to do? If like, you don’t want to be a teacher? And I was just like, You know what, I want to do what you do, I think I want to be an advisor. I, I love what you do. I love helping students through offer, like their journey throughout undergrad and to be there with them every step of the way. You just have just felt like she was there for me. So she was just like, well, you know, you can go to school for that, right? And I was like, already in school for over six years. It took me a while to get my bachelor’s. But I was just like, You know what, I’ve just put me on something to get me out of here. So I majored in sociology finished within a year. And then I actually didn’t really think of hired again, by you know, worked full time. And then it was just kind of in the back of my mind, like, is this what you want to do, and maybe you should pursue that. And then one year, I got tired of just like, putting things off after COVID. And I was just like, I’m gonna try and do something different. I need a career change. And so I ended up at KU after looking at programs, and I wasn’t really into online programs, and like working full time, so I really liked the association of aspect KU and then going to school full time and applying, you know, theory to practice. So, okay,

Heather Shea
great. Thank you for kicking us off with this, this piece of the conversation. Peter, we’re gonna go to you next, why Pittsburgh? What led you to pursue a career to to fers?

Peter Su
Yeah. Similarly to Adrienne, I actually like was in the same traditional route of like, my parents really wanted me to do like a medical degree and going to like medical school and I, I was just going to follow the path that they chose for me, but I was heavily involved with a lot of student programs that would help first year generation students of color like me and I, it led me to do some leadership within that department for a little bit and shout out to the University of North Texas, because they really are just the best. And I think because of that, like, help and assistance I really want to give back. And throughout my, like junior year, I was trying to figure out like, how am I gonna go about and doing this medical degree. And I was just frustrated, because I don’t think that was a path for me and my advisor the same way it was like looking at my resume and was looking at my credentials. It was like, you have a lot of like education and a lot of like, student facing roles, like, have you ever thought about higher ed? And then I was like, sure, like, I don’t know, like, how does that? What does that look like? And that to talk about it. And I found out that a lot of my, like, the people that I’ve worked with my lots of leaders and I’ve worked with, actually had those degrees. And it kind of blossomed into that having that interest, but I didn’t actually get into the higher ed degree until I graduated and taught for a semester and then went back to kind of get a gauge as to like, what is the route I want to get into. So later down the line, I was able to figure it out, because I realized that teaching at this age is not the most appropriate because they’re not going to respect you the same way that they respect. Someone that’s a little bit older. They looked at me like I was more they’re like, older sibling. And I was just like, I need to work with people who I can relate to a little bit more. And maybe like later down the line, it could, but I guess I was able to kind of have that transition to have that reality check. And I’m really grateful to be here at Pitt, because they offer so much that my small town university even though they had a higher ed program could provide an a kind of one that city vibe that it Pittsburgh could offer. Yeah.

Heather Shea
Great. I love it. Hoorab, tell us a little bit about your path.

Hoorab Romail Roy
Yeah, so as for me, I explored my passion of working in the field of education, while I was doing my undergraduate program in chemistry, and have had a chance to take Foundations of Education course as a general ed course requirement. Ever since then, I knew what I wanted to do. So I thought, chemistry at a high school for three years right after my graduation from my undergrad. And I think that was the time, that’s where I decided that I wanted to work with and more students, and outside of class too. So it was working inside of class. But then I wanted to do outside of class, because I just realized that there’s a lot of work behind the scenes to that. Just make sure that academic side runs smoothly for students. And there are so many factors and aspects that student success is dependent upon. So I think that’s where I was convinced of pursuing the field of student affairs in higher education to make a little impact in their lives somehow. So I say, chemistry was my love at that time. And I figured out that education was my passion. So I decided to pursue my passion for my masters in my career. That’s how I ended up in Student Affairs in Higher Education.

Heather Shea
I love it. There’s a lot of head nodding. For those of you who are listening. It sounds like chemistry is like a common thread or some interesting kind of overlaps there. Also, I’m hearing a little bit of like a self authorship theme. If you all know that theory, right, like writing your own script, your own story. That’s great. Um, Terry, tell us a little bit about your path.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
Absolutely. I love that you pointed that out, because I found myself to be nodding my head quite a bit. So my journey into Student Affairs actually starts way way back long ago, when I when I started undergrad at the University of Michigan and in 2005. And as a first generation student of color, my family could not imagine that I would go to a place like the University of Michigan and not become a doctor. However, it was a practicum. In sociology, it was the service learning program that kind of made me kind of redirect my focus on what I wanted to do with my life. And what was my purpose, I had always as a child wanted to be a teacher. And so I just started to at toward the end of my undergraduate experience, I started to seek out this love for service learning. And that actually led me to becoming a substitute teacher in Washtenaw County, what you can do with 90 credit hours or more of your bachelor’s degree. And so let’s get into that. Absolutely. And so I began that work. I love substitute teaching. I learned in that than that experience two things number one, that the students of Ann Arbor public schools have wonderful resources available to them, and that I could actually be doing that substitute teaching work at home. But I also discovered that my spirit, it does not belong in four walls for the duration of the day. And so I began to explore More careers in my hometown community, and I networked my way into exploration. So for anybody out there who thinks that you have to have a defined path, I don’t think that’s true, you can put one foot in front of the other and continue asking yourself questions. Through that I became a college advisor with the Michigan college advising program, I got 90% or more of my local students to sign up for a place based scholarship available here in our community that got the attention of the folks who administer that scholarship. So I eventually became a program manager after that gap year position. From there, I worked several years six up to six years in my community, and my exposure to Kellogg community college or community college in town. My exposure to them made me realize I love going to campus, I love working with students in that capacity, I see that it’s a vibrant, open community, it was something I really wanted to be a part of. And I literally by multiple, more than five applications have to beat down the door. But finally, with all of my eight years of experience, I was able to win a manager position here in the admissions office. And one year into this office and doing this admissions work. I knew, I knew that higher education and student affairs was for me. And so that’s when I engage with Western Michigan University. And I wouldn’t trade any part of my experience. I think that my journey is my own. I love hearing all our stories here on the podcast, and I love working with our students and learning about their individual journeys, the transferable skills now end on this, the transferable skills that I feel like I’m learning in the ESA program at WW engaging diverse populations, you know, implementing equitable practice. Also, you know, assessing the work that we do, I think all of these are transferable. So who knows what the future holds, as I described putting one foot in front of the other in this journey. But I do know that whatever the future will be, the skills that I’m learning now are going to be invaluable.

Heather Shea
I love it. That is fantastic. I did not know this on Monday when we chatted that you had this other longer and longer story. So I love hearing that. Grace, your next tell us about your your path at into Vermont.

Grace Peterson
Yeah, for sure. So as someone who went to a business school, it was not organic chemistry that turned me away. But it was accounting. I took one accounting class and said, Oh, no, maybe not for me. So I think I had to quickly pivot and find my passions elsewhere, because I really liked the school. But the business side wasn’t, wasn’t really what I thought it was going to be. And I think what drew me to Vermont, honestly, was something that we refer to as the Vermont connection. And that’s both our peer reviewed scholarly journal that’s completely student run that we produce every year, as well as our really expensive alumni network. And so two of my mentors and undergrad were part of the Vermont connection, they’d gone through the UVM HESA program, and they said, Hey, have you considered this? And I was like, oh, no, I didn’t even know this was a career, as Adrian said. So I think having those opportunities to work closely with them through my undergrad experience. And knowing that business wasn’t really my passion and needing to pivot was really helpful and directing me into UPMC subprogram. And it’s been a great decision for me, and I really enjoyed my time here.

Heather Shea
That is great. I love that connection piece. And I love also the mentors and the roles that they play. That’s great. Briana, tell us a bit about your story.

Briana Cross
Yes, so during my undergrad experience at Western Illinois University, I didn’t have the best experience as undergrad. And I was very, I was like a advocate on campus. I ended up wearing a lot of relationships with the higher up people like the president of the University, working with Board of Trustees, all of that stuff to like change policies and stuff. And that’s when a lot of my mentors on campus was like, oh, you should look into higher ed or like student affairs. However, I was an education major. And I did take a gap year to teach kindergarten for a year. It’s a big jump from kindergarten to college, but they all act the same. They’re pretty much the same. So I took a gap year and taught kindergarten, but I was still kind of like, I do like the K through 12, but also still want to get a feel for the higher ed level. So that’s when I came to UGA. I love their program. I looked at their faculty and it was one faculty member who was actually the program coordinator now who I was like looking into her work and seeing what she does, and I was like I would love to like learn from her and just like be in her capacity. So that’s how I ended up here at UGA.

Heather Shea
That’s great. Thank you so much, Briana, Jose tell us your Western Michigan story. We heard Terry’s

Jose Embil Jr
Yes. Um, so like other people have said of course there’s tons of undergrad experiences that I had. I went to Central Michigan University for undergrad and in high school. I did a lot of like AP and dual enrollment, so I was ahead, so I was able to explore a lot more, I had a lot of wiggle room in my, in my class schedules. But then it also meant that I had more time to spend exploring different programs on campus. So I really got involved in campus programming. Specifically with shout out to two programs. One of them was sexual aggression peer advocates. So we ran a 24/7. hotline for survivors of sexual aggression. We also did programming and outreach. In that program, I, I N, installed, I guess, a diversity and inclusion committee, because I felt like, Hey, we’re not doing enough to address that aspect of things in this program. And then I was also a student facilitator, and I became a student coordinator for leadership camp. And that was a program for high school juniors and seniors, to explore the social change model of leadership. And so those experiences really made me want to do programming, specifically with diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the higher ed realm. Because I feel like a lot of these conversations are easier to like, there, there’s more opportunity to have these at a higher education institution. And also, I think a lot of higher education institutions have a lot of work to do in those regards. And so when I was looking for programs, Western Michigan University’s HESA program, that’s one of the central pillars of the of their mission is diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging. And I’ve seen that in the classes so far as well, is that is something that we will always bring the conversation back to it. So like, I’m in a theory class right now. And we’re always questioning Hey, like, was this theory made for every college student? Or was it just made for a subset of college students. And so that was, that was the big reason why I settled on the western program, because I felt like I addressed diversity and inclusion, the best out of everything that I that I was able to find.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s fantastic. Thank you so much, Jose, for sharing that. That piece. And I love the like pathway through different undergraduate experiences. That’s cool. Huda, tell us a little bit about your about your pathway.

Huda Ashraf
All right, thank you. It’s been lovely to hear all of you and your stories, I definitely echo a lot of what has been heard. I want to say that I also experienced a lot of identity, foreclosure and pressure from my family and society to do certain things and be a certain profession. Initially, when I started undergrad, I was in biology and like Adrian, and I got to organic chemistry and was like, okay, but thankfully, I had advisors that I could meet with and that talk to me about other professions and other fields. And I switched over to psychology with a focus on developmental psychology. And I started to feel this feeling of like really enjoying going to class like really enjoying learning content. And that really made like, university just totally changed my perception of higher ed and post secondary. And then I knew that once I knew that feeling and what that was like, I really wanted that in the graduate program. So I really wanted a graduate program that I really felt like I connected with and really identified with I would say my student affairs journey actually started in like middle school, like I think I was doing Student Affairs work as early as like grade seven, just planning like student clubs, student organizations, and I guess I didn’t even really no, that that was student affairs. I’m like Jose, I also did a lot of student affairs in high school with my student government, and student leadership in general. I remember there was a point where I was like printing out like leader as like white letters, and we were like ironing them on on T shirts for like our student leadership. And what I just think of that and I just think of how like all of us do student affairs work in our life, and we don’t even know it until someone is like you’re literally a student affairs administrator. But yeah, so that’s a little bit about that and why I chose my program. So I’ve always been interested in education. Even when I was in psychology, I was interested in the psycho education piece like how do we educate people on their development, especially adolescence that like emerging adulthood window that’s traditional undergrad age like that’s so important and and why don’t we know anything about it? And so I, when I became a DI saw the program to the administration for higher ed, I thought like, oh, maybe I should check that out, because I wanted to administration in general for education. So it was kind of just like random. I just came to the campus with my dad, we did a little tour, we found the program. And I really just thought that that was something that aligned with what I wanted to do and what I saw myself doing. Yeah, and then my experiences in my graduate program have been so amazing, like I’ve just been able to, because I go to a small college, I’ve been able to connect with a lot of administrators and really see myself in their position. So that has been extremely valuable. And definitely not something that I had an undergrad where there was, like 60,000 students at my school’s go small colleges.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s fantastic. Thank you so much. All right. So now it’s the Texas State group. So Andrew, tell us a little bit about your pathway in and then why that school?

Andrew Martinez
Yeah, of course. So for me, I went to a small college for my undergrad, I attended Loras College in Dubuque Iowa, go do hawks shout out to them. And they went in just like others, I went in with just this notion of like, I’m gonna do this for my family. I’m a first generation college student, my parents are Latino, we have a small business back at home. And I told myself, I’m going to do business in marketing, because I’m going to do the stereotypical go to college, go back home, you know, help my family with the small business. And that’s it. Then I took principles of marketing. And I’m like, I don’t like marketing. This is not. And truthfully, I think what really led me into wanting to do student affairs was just I was very involved on campus, I was doing things like student government, I was a pure advisor, Resident Assistant, I was president of our LULAC chapter, the League of United Latin American Citizens. And so doing all of that work, working alongside other students, I obviously started off as the younger student, and I was learning from people that were above me. And then I worked my way up to those bigger leadership positions where I was doing the delegation, I was talking to students, and I was as a peer advisor, you know, assisting them through their first year of college. And for me, I think one of the big things was, my, someone I consider a mentor said to Perez, he was our college diversity officer and Loras College is a predominantly white institution. And he was one of I want to say a few Latinos that worked at Loras College. And for me, seeing a Hispanic queer first generations, adult in position of power. I was like, You know what, I can do that, I can do that. And I had, I don’t know if anybody else had this, but I had the fear of, I don’t know about higher education or education work, I it has that negative background to it. My family, one of the big things is like, no one up, I gotta mature, they’re not gonna pay a lot. And so for me, I was like, Nah, you know, I’m not gonna do it. I’m not gonna do it. And I remember sitting in his office one day and telling him like, in tears, I was like, I think I’m afraid to see I want to do higher education work, but I wanted higher education work. And he ended up sending me off to the Oshkosh placement exchange in Oshkosh Wisconsin, op, where I interviewed about at about maybe 15, or 16 Different institutions. Very stressful weekend, but it was very, very amazing to see like all these different types of institutions from very small colleges to humongous institutions. And for me, I think my deciding factor in going to Texas State, big thing for me, it was the complete opposite of Loris, I wanted to do something a little bit different than the small predominantly white Catholic institution and to be here at Texas State. It’s a Hispanic Serving Institution. It’s a lot more opportunities when it comes to things like the city, the city’s and Marcus is way different than Dubuque Iowa. But it’s also been a good learning opportunity for me as I came originally from Phoenix, Arizona, I moved to a small town in Dubuque. And now Never did I envision myself coming to Texas. But here I am. It’s been an amazing learning opportunity. The cohort model, I’m sure Maura might even mention, our cohorts are an amazing group. And the fact that we can do like cross cohort opportunities with each other has been amazing for me. And I think I always say, and I always tell people, I know that I made the right decision. And truthfully, I think what for me, one of the biggest things was I always have a piece of why I’m in student affairs with me, there’s like a little picture right here. I don’t know if you guys can see. But those of you at home, those were my last group of residents when I was an RA at Loras. College, and they’re my soccer boys. And I think they were that deciding factor for me of saying like, you know what, I’m gonna do this as a career.

Heather Shea
Oh, my gosh, that’s great story. Thank you so much, Andrew. We also had a shout out to ope on a previous episode here and we had this whole like, is it still a thing and apparently is definitely still a thing. So I love that. That’s great. Maura, tell us a little bit about how you ended up at Texas State.

Maura Mangum
Yeah, absolutely. So um, I actually was on my way to go to law school I was a political science major at my undergrad institution, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. And I just realized that I, as much as I wanted to be like the next Olivia Pope, or Annalise Keating, it just wasn’t gonna work for me. And I had a law class that like spooked me out of going to law school. And so I kind of had like a panic about self authorship definitely, like I kicked a because I was like, this is not the pathway that I want, how am I going to fix it? I have to graduate, like, what am I going to do. And so I was super involved in undergrad within our Division of Student Affairs. President, Vice President of the Association of Black students natural hair network, was a resident assistant, also served in our students in it in different positions. And so I was super involved in just kind of notice how I was sitting at tables with leadership in undergrad and didn’t notice the impact that I had as a student. And so I valued that a lot. And then started to also notice that we had a lot of transitioning happening with advisors that I was working with. So at least every year, I had a different advisor within our Multicultural Office or even within our residence halls, you know, leadership’s and positions changing and saw the side. Why are all these people leaving, and like realizing the impact that it had on me as a student, I was like, I can’t have them leave like this is not going to help me get through undergrad. And it made me think about how important they were to me and my own as a student and how they did more than my professors could do in my classroom for me and keeping me at SMU, because I was a non traditional student, and transferred then after a semester, and so at some point, I was ready to go, because if you ever hear anything about SMU, it is a very fluent institution. Lots of you know, students come in, you know, from a very affluent backgrounds and having different experiences, and the black student population is very small. And so it was hard for me to adjust. But I ended up, you know, doing a leadership conference, and that ended up changing my whole entire perspective on you know, calling and seeing how everybody can be brought together, just off of leadership, and being involved was eye opening to me. And so from there, you know, I had another person leave, that was in my life, I was an advisor, and I was like, You can’t leave like, you know, like, how can I do what you do? And she was like, What do you mean, and I was like, I think I want to do student affairs, like you have impacted me so much. And you know, from there, somebody was like, We need to bring back enough. And so my institution had the national undergraduate fellowship program from NASA on our campus a few years ago before I did, but they hadn’t brought it back. And so at the time, our Vice President of Student Affairs, Dr. Casey May, Jay was the air. And so he ended up, you know, letting me apply the last minute, I wasn’t even an official enough, it was very unofficial. And I ended up doing my internship at SMU, where I was able to work with our women and LGBT center, our Student Experience Center. And I was able to actually build a woman in her work program based off of a book that you contributed to, Heather, it’s the we are leaders of tomorrow I got, I was able to use that as like the framework of my project for enough, which was really an eye opening experience to see what it’s like to be a woman in leadership. And I think that’s really what pushed me to actually say, you know, what, I will do student affairs. So I’m very thankful to my community for that. And so I ended up doing some searches for grad school, I wasn’t McNair Scholar. And so they supported me out of that. And I actually had a mentor who went to Texas State, and I had a lot of opinions about where I should go. And I think I ended up choosing Texas State because of where it’s located. I’m from Austin, San Marcos isn’t too far. And I also appreciate it our program faculty, Dr. Paige is amazing. She pours into us, as well as Dr. James Scott. And the assistantship support is also amazing. And so I think that without those factors, I wouldn’t have chosen entire day. And I also had an amazing supervisor who wanted to grow me as a professional that definitely made me settle in on that decision, because I didn’t want to come back to home. I love it and hate it every day, but I’m definitely meant for it.

Heather Shea
Awesome. Oh my gosh, Paige is one of my favorite people on the planet. We interacted and overlapped while we were at the University of Arizona, which isn’t it just world. That’s the main, the main takeaway too, is that there’s like one degree of separation. Speaking of of which, just in your head MSU. Tell us a little bit about how you ended up here.

Justin Weller
Yeah, so try to be brief. There’s a lot of things that were said that I can definitely relate to an injury I think that I have a friend that also to Laura, so we have to connect down offline, but like Maura said, I was also in the law school track. I quickly realized that litigating was something that was very rare. I really liked it, but it was something I was passionate about. I really liked policy and I also serve As an international Ra, at my institution at Saginaw Valley State University, and I also was in a global leadership program called the Roberts fellowship. And so I really quickly realized that international education was something I was always passionate about. And then combining that with my passion and policy really helps me so I decided to take two years off. I also was an advisor like Terry and Michigan College Access Network with advice Michigan as a college advisor for a low income first gen school. Like that, I shared that identity and I wanted to give back and after those two experiences, plus spending some time abroad, in those two years, I decided I’m gonna apply to some grad schools and Michigan State specifically stood out to me because of the theory to practice pipeline, essentially, as long as those practicum opportunities that were available, and these type of assistantship I wanted, Michigan State had and it was also close to home. And for me, those factors all led me to apply to Michigan State and to be accepted, and now currently in the program, and I’m very happy to be ultimately on this podcast. That led me to here. So that’s just a little bit about how grad school was the decision for me.

Heather Shea
So fun. So I love all the overlapping common themes, the shared experiences, maybe even people who we both we’ve all interacted with. So we’ll definitely have to continue some like back channel conversation afterwards. So my next couple of questions have to do with this, like going directly from grads or going directly from undergrad to grad school, and then those who took some time off and advice. In the, in the spirit of time, I may have just one or two people answer each of these questions. And then we’ll get to the next series, which is all about kind of current topics and, and how grad school is preparing us to address them. So by a show of hands, who went directly from undergrad to grad school like me, okay, we got a couple of folks. Whoever would like to speak and give their like, why what advice you might have for current undergrads who are like, right now going, Oh, my gosh, grad school applications are due, like in a couple of months, what would you what would you suggest? You’d like to take this one? Huda? Yes.

Huda Ashraf
Yeah, I can go. Thank you. So when I completed my undergrad, I thought about what skill sets and competencies I have. And I think that that is extremely important. Because you know, we all go to higher ed for some reason. And then we all do very unique degrees that give us all these skills that will relate to what we want to do in the future. I would also think, what do you really like? Like, what do you really like doing? You know, that’s not a question that we really are encouraged to ask ourselves, we’re encouraged to go to school, get a job, get a better job, but we’re not really ever like, put in that position of reflection, like what did what did we want to do and when we see ourselves doing, one of the main reasons I did Student Affairs was because they’re, at the end of my degree, I thought about all the people who had helped me get there, I thought about all the people who inspired me and helped me get that piece of paper that I was so longing for. And so that is what really helped me to see myself in careers that I may not even have imagined. And additionally, I would look internationally, I came from Canada, I did my undergrad at the University of British Columbia. So I think there’s a lot of pressure for like Western education to be the pinnacle. But we can learn so much from other countries, we can learn so much from other cultures. And so if you want to do student affairs somewhere else, like I encourage you to go do that. And I’m also interested in maybe thinking of doing that after I’ve done my graduate degree. But do you know to look at the programs, there’s hundreds and 1000s of schools, but look at that program, look at the syllabus, look at the breakdown, really look at the classes, you’re going to be taking, like, do those classes align with your values? Are you interested in learning those things like all of those things are going to really set you up for success and will really helped you to succeed in your program.

Heather Shea
Great advice. I love it. Maybe one other person to speak to the direct pipeline. Grace, do you want to go next?

Grace Peterson
Yeah, I think everything you said was great. The only thing I’ll add is for me, I think imposter syndrome played a little bit of a role for me right out of undergrad. And I would just remind you, and advise you to know that your experiences in undergrad or in work are so valuable and contribute greatly to class discussions to your program to your peers. And so I would say to really lean into that, be proud of what you’ve done in the past and just be willing to bring that and contribute that to your program because it really will be super valuable, even if you’re like, Oh, I was just an undergrad like I did these things. But as you heard on this call, people have been involved in a wide variety of things that have really contributed to their success in the field. So that would be my other piece of advice if you’re thinking about entering right out of undergrad.

Heather Shea
I love it. Yes, those co curricular experiences that you had as an undergrad are super valuable and relate really well right to current students having just been there. For those folks who did some other things for a little while and then made a career change, what advice or suggestions do you have for folks who are maybe in that in that pipeline? Potentially? Who wants to answer this, Justin?

Justin Weller
Yeah, so for me, like I mentioned, I served two years as a college advisor. And the kind of advice I would give is, like, if you are in kind of like a state of ambiguity to like said, lean into it. And to understand like, what is your passion, your purpose for being, you know, is it to help people and so for me doing two years, a low income person, high school high school that I was a part of, really helped me and to give back and was like, this is something I’m very passionate about, this is the purpose for my being. And that was what ultimately led me to student affairs and at Michigan State. So like I said, lean into it, it is okay to take some time off. And there really is no timeline for success. I think even being in my cohort, we have a wide diversity of experiences. And taking time off is an important experience that contributes great to the classroom. So I think manage that it is okay to take some time. And I really wish I had someone to say that to me. But if you’re in that situation, and you need someone to say that it is okay to take some time off and to figure out what is your purpose?

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s great. Yeah, just deciding to go to grad school. So you don’t know what’s next may not be the best reason. Yes. Who right? What do you what would you like to add to that?

Hoorab Romail Roy
Um, yeah, so. Great. I would let me just make sure okay. Yeah. So, yeah, I think those insights were great. But I would also say that just changing career paths is sometimes can be a little bit challenging. And it could also include a lot of thought process. But as I mentioned earlier, that I was a high school teacher for three years, and it was a little change for me being on the administrative side this time, instead of instructional side. But I would say that you have to have a vision of doing something for someone, and having a positive impact on someone’s life. Because having that vision, and passion would make it really easy for you to remind yourself every single day, why are you in the field of student affairs. And this field is great as you get to make a lot of good connections and friends, and you meet so many inspirational people almost every single day along your way. And I think most importantly, you feel connected at the end of the day. So wherever you feel, wherever you go, you just you just have to feel like you are you’re you’re really there where you are. And there’s there should also be a sense of belonging, belonging. So I think if you’re passionate about it, if you have a great vision, why are you in this field? This is perfect for you.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s great. Adrian, you have your hand? Yes.

Adrienne Reyes
I was just gonna add first, I took a break, I took a five year break from my bachelor’s and my master’s. And so it was very intimidating to try and come back to school. So my advice would be just to just take that leap. Like I know it can be scary. Like said, though imposter syndrome is real, and it hits so hard. And to just like the worst that contains no, right you apply to school, and that’s your big fear right there. I’ve been I’ve been out of school so long, I really don’t know how to write anymore. And just like right, when you write when you get back into it, it slowly grows, right? So just to like, don’t be afraid and do your research, seek all your advice. As a first gen student, nobody in my family has had a bachelor’s. And definitely nobody had a master’s. So coming into that it was kind of intimidating, like I don’t know what to do. But just Just do your research, call the schools, ask around, find the program that works best for you, and then just do your best. That’s really all you can do is just do your best and find your support systems when you get into school.

Heather Shea
That’s really powerful. I think that’s so that is so true. And I hear this from many and that first class, you know that first writing assignment is often a that’s a struggle, right? But there are lots of resources on almost every campus to help you get through. And if you can just push that little impostor syndrome voice to the side, a little really, really key. Terry, what would you add, and then we’ll go to Maura.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
Yeah, I just want to quickly add I love I’m resonating with everything that’s being shared. I just want to add as someone who took 12 years between undergrad and graduate school, that although I had a fierce insecurity watching my peers go on directly to school, having experienced work in K through 12, after undergrad in the nonprofit space after undergrad and then in the higher education In Space prior to then ultimately choosing a program, I now find myself in WM use Hisa program making direct applications literally every day multiple times a lecture. So whereas I used to be insecure, I now view my previous experiences in taking that break between undergrad and graduate school as as beneficial, like extraordinarily so to where now I feel like my learning is much more substantive than perhaps if I had initially agreed to go straight to graduate school and then kind of have to do extra work to make those applications I’m able to do so in real time.

Heather Shea
Love that. Maura, you have a, you have kind of the opposite, right. So you were did directly to, and then now you’re working full time and also still in grad school. So tell us a little bit about that.

Maura Mangum
Yeah, I took the traditional route of going straight from undergrad to grad school doing my assistantship for a full year. And then in May, I took a leap of faith and apply for a job at considering there were some just organizational changes happening at Texas State. And it wasn’t, it was a transition. One that I definitely could not research, nobody could really tell me what it was gonna look like. And I had some peers that had did a transition from being a GA to a full time staff member in the midst of their first year. But I think that it’s very different to be in a program and also be working full time, especially like theory, like you’re at two different institutions. It’s a hard balance. But I think that I’ve learned that it’s something that I wish I would have known I could have done prior to starting my program had I had known that you don’t have to be in a master’s program working full time and student affairs, I think I would have taken advantage of it earlier. And I’m thankful for my assistantship, but I think that there’s so much that I’m learning as a full time staff member that I wish I had started off with my experience as, and I think a lot of us are conditioned to the idea that you have to get your Master’s of student affairs before you get your first full time job, which is not the case, which is comes into the importance of reading a job description, understanding, like, what boxes do you check off, and if you’re eligible for that fit in that role, because most of us probably are, and we just don’t think about it. And so it’s definitely been hard balancing it. But I have a job that understands flexibility, and work life integration with me, you know, going to class and leaving early and a supervisor that supports me getting my degree. So I’m very thankful for that experience.

Heather Shea
That’s great. That’s great. Yes, there is not just one path there is, you know, sounds like also this third option of starting and then going to full time. So great. I love hearing all of these experiences. So if you’re watching today, and you’re like how does this all fit? You know, now you have just seen multiple different versions. So I want to move into the next segment, which is really about like the current topics like facing our field, what are some of the things that are coming up in your classes, discussions? And then what are some experiences that are helping you prepare to tackle these? So I’m kind of combined for those we’re following along on our on our question document, like, I’m going to kind of combine five and six in the interest of time. And let’s just have an open conversation just like you would in class, like, what are the topics that are facing the field? And then what are some of the things that you are learning about whether it’s research or whether it’s scholarly journals or conversations that are preparing you to tackle So Brianna, kick us off?

Briana Cross
Okay, so since my institution is located in the southeast, we are heavily talking about like lawmakers and like laws that are being passed that go against B EI. And we’re kind of learning how to still foster that system sense of belonging with our students, because like with Florida, Florida is like four hours away from us from Georgia. So we have students that are that live in Florida and coming up and stuff like that. So we’re definitely learning like, how that might look for us. And then next year, or even the next six months for all we know. And then how to still foster that sense of belonging and some of the experiences that I am getting while being in this program. Like right now we’re working on a year long project with mentors that are currently working in the field. So I get to work with actually on the academic side, I get to work with two faculty members. On the extraction side, and we’re focusing on our focus group or environment is sense of belonging in the facts department. So in the other ones, there’s like, first year students, black men, and then rural students, because that’s a heavy population on campus. So we’re getting those hands on experiences with current people who are in the field and we get to kind of like, look at it and observe it. So that’s that’s like our big topic right now is the AI and how that’s going to impact us in student affairs.

Heather Shea
Yeah, yeah. i This has been conversation wherever you are right in the US by thing gets even more specific and particularly relevant where you are. And that is for sure something that I think the field the larger field is talking about, right? Because we still have professionals who are working in those states and we need to support them to in doing this work. Yes, Andrew, what would you say? What would you add to this?

Andrew Martinez
Going off of Briana, what you guys have? Fear, I think we already are going through

Heather Shea
here. In Texas, we

Andrew Martinez
share our Senate Bill 17. In August, Texas State University did, I guess, I don’t know how to say the word properly. But we no longer have a inclusive excellence division here. So I think for me, one of the biggest things has been kind of finding ways to make an inclusive and diverse campus without technically using those terms a little bit difficult. I think for me when I came to Texas State University, prior to coming here, and still now my passion is dei work and doing multicultural student work. And coming to this school once I realized, hey, there’s not going to be any more of these offices, these are legally not allowed anymore. It was challenging for me, but I in my eyes, I love a challenge. And I love to be able to see, what are we going to do you know what’s next from here? I think in our class, we have these discussions. A lot of you know, we want this career, we want to be within dei work, but what are we going to do? Like how are we going to do it? And I think one of the biggest things we learned is a lot of us, you know, no matter what area or what functional area of Student Affairs we’re in, we’re doing diversity work. We’re doing equity and inclusion work. It’s just done in a different capacity.

Justin Weller
So it’s seeing,

Andrew Martinez
I guess, for me, especially as a first year cohort student, what am I going to do going forward? You know, am I going to stay here in Texas is am I going to move on somewhere else? It’s very interesting. I think I know more, I might have a little bit to touch on, especially from a full time employee role.

Heather Shea
Yeah, Maura, what would you say? We would? Yeah, I’ll

Maura Mangum
be I’ll be super quick. But just to definitely highlight that effective in June. That’s when the bill was passed. And so come January 1, all of these offices across Texas are having to either close or you know, reshift. And fortunately, for us, my current position we, we have a diversity and inclusion position, but we’re just not restructuring to access belonging and civic engagement. And so seeing that, UT, for example, is able to kind of shift things, whereas other institutions are straight up closing things. It’s a very interesting experience coming from that, and really working directly with that inclusive, excellence office. But also on the other side of that I work with admissions and recruiting in my role at UT. And so the affirmative action has definitely touched base with us and to enter a lot of meetings with, you know, our legal team at UT. And so, and classic diamond talking about, like, what does it look like to actually work in these roles in the future? Because we’re focused on the job transition. So all sort of like, do we want to work in these fields, were not able to work that we officially wanted to do, but kind of have to reframe our mindset and say that we can still do the work. It’s just not in the way that we’ve been able to do it in the past. And so definitely reimagining those practices that we once knew. And reframing is definitely something that possible, but it’s interesting to see how other institutions are taking actions that are just eliminating it such as like UT, or, you know, Texas State, and those people still have jobs, some of them do, but it’s still hard to watch and something to really think about.

Heather Shea
Yeah, yeah, it’s gonna continue to I think, and I worry about it trickling across, right, if it worked in Texas, we can do this elsewhere. And then pretty soon we have a completely different focus. And yeah, that’s a huge concern for me. Jose, what about what about you? What would you add to this?

Jose Embil Jr
Um, so I went to the ACPA ash presidential symposium? Yes. Oh, my gosh. So, um, one of the big topics, and I’ve been having these conversations with Western they reformed. So diversity inclusion used to be under Student Affairs, and now it’s a whole division itself and having conversations about it’s not just for students, it’s like we’re making institutional wide. Yeah, decisions, and I’m making it so that when we’re doing diversity and inclusion work, yes, reframing it and like renaming it and having it, you know, fly under the radar because a lot of these laws and litigation are more surface level. They’re not really addressing the deeper pieces of it, but then also figuring out how do we Make sure that this work is integrated everywhere. And so it’s rooted in all of the practices across the University and an institution. Because at that point, good luck trying to litigate everything out of the institution, if it’s already in the practices, and then it, it’ll show how important it is to the institution. And kind of thinking about how do we also reframe the conversation? If people are only going to listen to money and dollar signs, we have to talk their language and say, well, economically, diversity and inclusion is very important. Like, those things are important to people, people aren’t going to want to go to your institutions, if they don’t feel a sense of belonging, why am I going to pay all this money, if I’m not feeling included, I’m not getting the most out of this experience. And so at Western, we have what’s called diversity cognates. So it’s six credit hours of either classes, or internships or anything that fits within doing work in that regard. So I think that’s one way of preparing us for that.

Heather Shea
It sounds like you all have been having incredible conversations in your classes, and really some practical, maybe some maybe some aspirational solutions. This is the kind of conversation I love, and I hate to cut off. We’re getting close on time, we always run out of time, and I knew with a large panel, we would we would be there today. So I hope in our final thoughts everybody has a chance to, to say one more thing that they want to kind of leave us with. So we always run out of time. Our final question is always this is student affairs. Now, what are some of the things that you’re pondering, questioning, excited about traveling, etc. Now, and we’re gonna we’re gonna go with the same order that we did in the intro, the first question. So, Justin, I’m gonna have you kick us off with final thoughts.

Justin Weller
I think final thoughts. I think what we’ve discussed in this last couple of things, the very real realities of legislation happening, it is troublesome, it’s very concerning. But I think we have a really great group of student affairs professionals here in our future that are working to like rectify this, and change it. So something that I think I’m very excited to see through a lot of our programs and see all of our future professionals here do in the future. So I’m excited for all of us to tackle these issues head on.

Heather Shea
could not agree more. Maura.

Maura Mangum
Yeah, definitely agree with everything that Justin just said, I think one thing I’m excited about is creating a environment of choice affirmation for our students that decide to come into the programs that we are the institutions that we work at, because I think that’s the biggest tackle that we’re all going to be facing as we enter, you know, post January 1 2024. And so making sure that students have that sense of belonging and feel valued on their campuses is something that I’m excited about, and having, you know, a staff and a dean that I work with that supports that is definitely something that makes me excited to go to work every day, despite all of the changes in the climate that we’re living in. So yeah,

Heather Shea
perfect. Great. Thank you, Andrew,

Andrew Martinez
you, for me just also echoing what Justin was saying, just hearing everybody’s stories and everyone speak throughout this, I’m excited to see the future of Student Affairs, because that’s why I’m excited to stay connected with a lot of you seeing us get our hoods and 123 years, and sharing those pictures, because I think, like we were saying, like these are all very, very engaging conversations, and the future looks bright, and I’m very excited for that. Yeah, I think that’s my big piece.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s great. Huda, what about you?

Huda Ashraf
Yeah, I am very excited to graduate. I’m graduating in the spring. But all these conversations are really giving me the energy to really like go do go out and do this work. I would say if you’re an undergrad or graduate student or whoever you are listening to this, like you can do student affairs work, anyone can do this work. If you have passion, if you have purpose, you will do an amazing job. And there is no doubt in that. One of the things I’m excited for is one of my passions is basic needs and helping students meet their basic needs. I don’t think it’s a lot to ask students to be getting 4.0 GPA is if they can’t even fill their stomachs with food. So one of the initiatives I’ve been part of is developing a food pantry so I’m, I’m looking forward to creating a better institutional response to basic needs and helping students meet them where they’re at.

Heather Shea
That’s great. Oh my gosh, that’s great. Jose

Jose Embil Jr
Just to echo Huda, I think, if you are thinking about student affairs, please, please, please explore it. There are so many options, you are not going to pigeonhole yourself in any particular area, because we literally do everything. And I’m just really excited about all of you here, everyone else that might be listening for the future, because we definitely are forging a path forward for more inclusive campuses. And I’m just very excited about what the future holds.

Heather Shea
That’s great. Jose, thank you, Brianna.

Briana Cross
I’m very excited to see the new wave of professionals entering student affairs, I also graduate in the spring, so I will be one of the people entering the field. But um, I just feel like our generation in general, has a lot of different perspectives. And we kind of seen that today, having our conversation here is everyone’s story, like how they got to Student Affairs, we have a lot of different perspectives to bring into the field and Student Affairs is changing, it doesn’t look the same that it looked like 10 years ago. So I’m very excited to see like, how it changed and how we contribute to that change.

Heather Shea
I love that. Grace.

Grace Peterson
Yeah, Brianna, I’ll echo that because I was thinking about our info session that we had last night for prospective students joining our program and the energy and the passion and excitement that they brought to join the field and to join a program that’s committed to social justice, I think was really great to see. So I echo what everyone says, I’m excited to see what the future holds.

Heather Shea
Fantastic. I’m gonna go down my list. Okay, Terry here next.

Terry Burleson, Jr.
I’m so inspired by everyone. My final thought, you know, in my work here at Kellogg Community College, I often say to people, I’m here to break generational curses, generational curses that exist in this institution and outside in the community where I was born. And the idea that we are all with this energy and this enthusiasm and the things that I have heard shared today, I have full faith that we are on our way to doing that and making real positive impacts in student affairs. Let’s go. I often write in my papers that I am Student Affairs like I’m like a severe internalization, I say we are student affairs, and it just excites me. So that’s what I have to say.

Heather Shea
That’s how I’m gonna call this episode. I love that. That’s

Terry Burleson, Jr.
our Student Affairs. Let’s

Heather Shea
love it. Hoorab tell us what your final thoughts are.

Hoorab Romail Roy
Um, I am actually very happy to hear from all my fellow practitioners and student affairs and gives me hope that there’s you know, there’s change that is about to happen in coming years. And definitely, I’m graduating next year to inch range. So yeah, and I’m very, very excited to step into the field and as a full time professional, and are very even more excited to make a big impact on students lives.

Heather Shea
I love it. Perfect. Peter.

Peter Su
I just want to emphasize, I love everyone’s responses. That was great. I would say to advice for those who are interested or like thinking about it, and applying private, you might as well just apply for it. I think that there’s just gives such a wide range of competencies and skills that you definitely couldn’t see in just like one field. Especially for me, like I was able to go for my internship to the American University of Kuwait. And that doesn’t show range. It doesn’t show like variety within Student Affairs in Higher Education. I don’t know what will. So definitely go into it. Go into an open mind. There’s so many possibilities. And you definitely won’t be satisfied because there’s just going to be so many possibilities that you can definitely get into, for sure.

Heather Shea
I love it. That’s absolutely true. And Adrienne,

Adrienne Reyes
last but not least, echoing off of what everybody said. If you’re interested in higher ed student affairs, I would check out to you shout out to their faculty. Shameless plug, shout out to Dr. Zack Boston and Dr. Amanda Molot. There such an amazing group of faculty. And I’m super excited about graduating in the spring as well as maybe possibly presenting at ACPA. So if I get that, come check out my session. Latinx students overcoming impostor syndrome.

Heather Shea
Oh, exciting. I love that final, final thought and I will definitely hopefully see you all. In Chicago. As you all know, I will definitely be there. Um, so before we wrap up today’s episode, I just want to express my gratitude. I mean, this episode far exceeded my expectations. I’m so glad you all said yes. to joining the conversation today and could not agree more. The future is extremely bright and somebody has been in the field for a while. Well, I love to see it. And I’m here for it. And this is why I stay in the field is having the continual enthusiasm for the work that we do and that and the impact that we make on our campuses. So thank you so much. So I want to take just a quick moment to thank Nat Ambrosey our incredible producer, Nat your efforts do not go unnoticed, and we are so grateful for everything that you do to make us look and sound amazing. And of course, none of this would be impossible without the support of today’s sponsor Symplicity is the global leader in student services technology platforms with state of the art technology that empowers institutions to make data driven decisions specific to their goals. A true partner to the institution, Symplicity supports all aspects of student life, including but not limited to Career Services and Development, Student Conduct and well being students access and accessibility services. And you can learn more by visiting symplicity.com or connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, I guess it’s not called Twitter anymore, whatever it’s called. To each of our listeners, we encourage you to visit our website at studentaffairsnow.com. And if you click the sponsors link, you can learn more about sponsorship opportunities as well as the folks who sponsor our channel. While you’re there, our archives we have just past the three year mark and we have over 170 episodes featuring topics across the range of of areas. So if you are interested in the field of student affairs, hopefully this free professional development resource is useful to you. And if you are tuning in today and haven’t already subscribed to our weekly newsletter, please take a moment enter your email on our website and you’ll receive an email every week with the latest episode. Once again, I’m Heather Shea thanks for everybody’s watching and listening. Let’s make this careers in student affairs month. Truly a great one.

Graduate School Websites

https://education.msu.edu/ead/hale/masters-student-affairs/

https://www.gradcollege.txst.edu/programs/sahe.html

https://wmich.edu/leadership/academics/ed-leadership/master/hesa

Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration Program (M.Ed.) | Department of Education | The University of Vermont (uvm.edu) 

https://coe.uga.edu/academics/degrees/med-college-student-affairs-administration

MEd in Higher Education

https://education.missouristate.edu/SELPS/StudentAffairs/default.htm

Additional Resources for graduate school that you consulted?

Websites:

https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools/higher-education-administration-rankings

https://www.naspa.org/careers/graduate-program-directory

https://www.facebook.com/groups/133448703381683/