Autobiography of a Student Development Professional – namely, you! Let me know about you and how your background affected your undergraduate collegiate experience. Going for my undergraduate degree was a tough and long road. I knew at some point if I wanted to advance in my Job, I would have to go back to school to get my undergraduate degree. In the beginning I knew I wanted to become a CPA. After going to the Community College and receiving my associates in Accounting, I decided that becoming a CPA was not for me.
I took some time off and went about life. It wasn’t until years later I returned to school. At the time I didn’t know what I wanted to do, I Just knew that I didn’t want a degree in Accounting. Instead I went for a degree in General Studies with a Social Science Concentration. While attending the program I took a counseling class and loved it. This should have been apparent to me, since I always enjoyed helping people and I was told that I was a good listener. Once again, I took some time off after receiving my bachelor’s degree.
I am currently irking as an Admissions Counselor and love my Job. This is what brings me here, back to school; this time to get my graduate degree in Counseling with a College Student Personnel Concentration. Which of the types of student development theories are most relevant to your experience and your development? There are many theories that are relevant to my experience and development. I feel like I can incorporate a little of all the theories. Of course every situation and student is different and different theories may work better on each individual.
Taking a quick lance at the theories I will have to say that the Cognitive Structural and Schoolhouses Transition theory I can conceptualized with more. I believe that a person’s perception is important to understand how it influence’s their life. Knowing how a student thinks, can help the counselor help the student. Do these correspond to those for which you had a proclivity on the Theory Sorter Exercise? The Student Development Theory Sorter really corresponded to my thoughts. I had scored very low on subjects that I had no knowledge in and the areas I can relate to I scored high.
