Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life - Jessi Dillingham - Blog Post 4/Week 7

Activities

• Met with site supervisor to discuss final assignments
• Presented research on bystander intervention training
• Met with Panhellenic Council students to plan how I will be involved in the future
•  Reflected on experience in office and wrote down applicable lessons for the future

Practice: Reflective Insights

My practicum experience has ended, for the most part, so I have already addressed most of my reflective insights in previous blog posts.  I will try my best not to be repetitive in this post, but no promises!

1.  I took this practicum because I wanted to better understand the inner workings of Fraternity and Sorority Life.  I also wanted to use this practicum experience to help me determine whether I would like to work in Fraternity and Sorority Life in the future.  I have learned many valuable lessons through Fraternity and Sorority Life.  For example, I have seen the ways in which people who work in this functional area have incredible opportunities to impact student leaders’ lives, the opportunities for leadership Fraternity and Sorority Life provide, and the fun these professionals have in their positions.  I have also begun to better understand myself as a professional.  Although this has been an incredibly positive experience, I do not feel that I as a professional will work in Fraternity and Sorority Life in the future.  I believe that certain individuals have the talent of working with fraternities and sororities, which involves late hours, programming efforts, organizational abilities, ability to adjudicate cases that might involve organizations or members the professional is close to, and other responsibilities.  While I possess many of these abilities, I do not think that my abilities will be best suited to working in Fraternity and Sorority Life.  My work in the office this summer have assisted me in better understanding where I might fit in student affairs in future positions.
2. The other realization on which I have been reflecting is how much time it takes to work with student groups.  Not only do professionals in student activities and Fraternity and Sorority Life hold 9-5 jobs; they also are expected to be involved in students’ activities after typical business hours.  This type of functional area, while rewarding, is incredibly demanding.  As I reflect on the past summer, I believe I now have a better understanding of the time commitment required of someone In this type of functional area.  Having this understanding will help me as I try to decide how I want to be involved in student affairs in the future.

Practice: Application of Course Readings

I feel like the textbook chapter that is most relevant to my reflections this year is Chapter 3.  This chapter addresses developing a professional ethic.  I do not want to repeat myself, so I will elaborate more on this in the next section, and I have also elaborated on this in the previous section.  The only extra thing I will say is that my practicum has shown me how important it is to have professional ethic and purpose. 

Theory: Reflective Insights & Application of Course Readings

For this last blog post, I’ll continue my trend of using the ACPA and NASPA professional competencies (ACPA & NASPA, 2010), specifically focusing on the personal foundations professional competencies.  I feel like I am finally beginning to understand more about my personal foundations and professional ethic.  I’m sure I’ll continue to develop my personal foundations and ethic throughout the rest of my life, but it is good to at least feel like I am starting to understand my life’s purpose.  For me, this summer has been a good time for me to reevaluate my life and my goals, so as I look over the personal foundations professional competencies, I feel like I have begun to develop these competencies especially.  My practicum helped me do this by exposing me to an area of student affairs that I had not previously experienced.  By putting myself in a totally new situation, I was able to learn many lessons about myself personally and professionally.

As I think about my experience this summer, I see how it relates to the concept of institutional and functional area fit.  I want to be intentional with my future positions regarding both the institution at which I work and the position I fill.  It is important to be passionate about the work I will do, and I feel that I am more passionate about other areas in student affairs than I am about Fraternity and Sorority Life.  Although that is not directly relevant to the concept of institutional fit, I do think that the two are similar.  I am interested in finding both an institution and an office within that institution that I feel have a mission to which I can relate.  After having heard so much about finding one’s fit in student affairs, it is nice to finally have a better understanding of what that means.

References

ACPA & NASPA (2010). Professional Competency Areas for Student Affairs Practitioners. Retrieved from: https://www.naspa.org/images/uploads/main/Professional_Competencies.pdf.

Amey, M., & Reesor, L. (2009). Beginning your journey: A guide for new professionals in student affairs (3rd Ed.). Washington, DC: National Association of Student Personnel Administrators.