irene ziemba narrative description

8/20/2019 Irene Ziemba Narrative Description

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Running head: NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION

Narrative Description

Irene Ziemba



NARRATIVE DESCRIPTION !

The most important content I learned from the SDA has come primarily from

three courses: SDAD 5400 (Student Development Theory, Research, and Practice),

COUN 5100 (Fundamental Counseling Skills), and AEDT 5100 (Course Design for

Adult Learners). From SDAD 5400, Schlossberg’s (1984) transition theory and Yosso’s

(2005) theory of community cultural wealth helped me conceive of the intricacies of any

given student’s life, and how to work with students while acknowledging their diverse

identities and experiences. Baxter Magolda’s (2001) theory gave me a new goal to work

towards with students: developing their self-authorship. The basic counseling responses I

learned in COUN 5100 transformed and developed my skills as a one-on-one advisor.

The principles of creating significant learning experience outlined by Fink (2013)

informed and transformed my views on creating any learning experience for students.

I came into the program viewing myself as someone whose significant skills all

fell into the relationship-building domain, and the most important thing I learned about

myself in the SDA program is that I have a more broad and diverse set of skills than I

imagined. In particular, I have learned to embrace my skills as a strategic and critical

thinker, who is skilled in assessing and evaluating programs and systems, identifying

gaps and areas for improvement, and working to create positive change in the programs I

work with. As I embraced my ability to prioritize both relationship building and strategic

thinking, I in turn became more ambitious and excited to see how I can positively

contribute to and change the field of student affairs throughout my career.

I completed two internships during my time in the SDA program: at Cornell

University’s New Student Programs office, and at Career Services at Seattle U. At

Cornell, I learned the importance of tailoring programs to specific environments.



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Cornell’s sprawling, siloed, academically-focused campus required orientation programs

to look quite different than I had previously seen, and I gained understanding of how

novel structures can be developed to fit unique circumstances. I also gained significant

knowledge around how to effectively collaborate across offices, divisions, and colleges.

At Career Services, I learned how integrated many aspects of a student’s experience are:

academics, co-curricular activities, work, and career paths. I learned how to have more

holistic conversations with students about their futures.

I work in two graduate assistantship capacities at SU – a year in Commuter and

Transfer Student Life, and a year in the Center for Student Involvement. In CTSL, I

learned significant amounts about the needs of student populations I had not previously

worked with – commuters, adult learners, and graduate students– and the importance of

considering a variety of student experiences when developing programming. In CSI I

learned a student-driven, student-led approach to advising, and how to use critical

questions to challenge students to think strategically about the work they are doing and

how they show up in leadership positions.

My learning in the SDA program has many significant implications for my

professional practice, but the most significant is my ability to adapt to any college

environment, campus culture, and student body. I have learned about different

institutional types, theories that helped to analyze the experiences of students, the needs

of different student populations, skills to connect to and develop students, tools and skills

to assess and evaluate what a campus or program needs, and emerging practices at

different institutions. With all this knowledge combined, I feel confident that I can



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continue on to new and different institutions within my career and strategically adapt to

the needs to my new campuses and students.

My main critiques of the SDA program are a lack of focus on both assessment

and concrete theory-to-practice exercises. As assessment and evaluation become

increasingly important within the field of student affairs, it seems necessary to develop a

course to help ground students’ knowledge in effective and diverse practices. I also

believe that students in the SDA program need to be challenged to spend more time

applying theories to actual practice, utilizing case studies and other learning activities. In

order to make time for this, it seems necessary to extend the theory course in the program

to at least two quarters, if not a full school year.

The Jesuit context of SU has helped me developed an acute understanding of the

importance of holistically developing students. The practice of reflection has helped me

become a more aware and responsive professional. I will carry the importance of being a

holistic and reflective educator forward as I continue in my career.



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References

Evans, N. J., Forney, D. S., Guido, F. M., Patton, L. D., & Renn, K. A. (2010). Student

development in college: Theory, research and practice. San Fransisco: Jossey-

Bass.

Fink, L. D. (2013). Creating significant learning experiences: An integrated approach to

designing college courses. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Yosso, T. J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? A critical race theory discussion of

community cultural wealth. Race ethnicity and education, 8(1), 69-91.

irene ziemba narrative description

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