1749Phil

I am proud to be a member of the student affairs field. Many ideas and concepts came to mind as I thoughts about this assignment and how I view student affairs. First, learning is central to my work. Next, I believe it is important to provide a balance of challenges and supports for students. As an Assistant Coordinator in Residence Life as well as an intern through my practicum experiences these are the concepts on which I focus with my students. Overall as a member of the student affairs field I am focused on the students and their education. Higher education is about our students’ learning and education and it always will be. Our students come to a university or college to learn. Their learning is what is most important. There is classroom learning as well as out of the classroom learning. I try to foster out of the classroom learning as much as possible. The foundation of this for me is building relationships with my students. Whether it is a student who I advise or supervise it is extremely important for me to know them and know who they are and develop a relationship with them. Only at that point can I truly foster their learning within this environment because I am aware of their wants and needs and what will help them succeed in their learning. They will only grow through gaining knowledge. Also they will only learn with new challenges and I don’t challenge my students without providing constant support through those challenges. My student affairs philosophy centers on the idea of challenge and support. It is important in any role with my students that I challenge them to learn but that I provide the proper support in order for them to do so. Each student requires different amounts of challenge and support. Nevitt Sanford is attributed with the foundational identity development theory of challenge and support (Komives, Woodard, & Associates, 2003). While I provide students support, I also recognize the importance of challenging students in order for them to learn. It is also important that throughout their experience our students feel support through academics as well as extra curricular activities and for the decisions they make. Decisions are also learning opportunities for example, if the students could have made a better choice. Throughout that process of teaching and learning students must feel that they have support. However, I would find it impossible to effectively challenge and support my students to the best of my ability if I hadn’t built relationships with them. This applies to those students that I supervise as well as the ones that I advise. Student affairs focuses on student learning. I have chosen to foster that learning through building relationships with students so that I can effectively challenge and support them in every part of their college experience and foster that learning. I feel like I have done a good job when I can see an impact I have made on a student because they have learned from their experiences or that they have felt supported throughout their college experience. Student learning is the most important thing to me and whether I am in a judicial hearing or a one-on-one there is an educational purpose. I know that throughout my professional career finding that balance of challenge and support will always be difficult but I will only improve throughout my career and getting to know my students better. Every day of my career though I will never forget that I am here for my students and to help them learn and challenge them while supporting them.