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When searching for a student affairs graduate program, I used three search criteria to narrow down my decision. First, I was looking for a graduate program that valued practical experience. As a student who was coming straight from my undergraduate experience, I knew that I needed to gain as much experience on the job as possible in order to make me attractive to future employers. I also knew that I would be able to fully comprehend what I was learning within the classroom if I could simultaneously apply those concepts within my assistantship or practicum experience. In addition to being able to incorporate practical experience with my coursework, I wanted a program where faculty members understood the importance of applying theory to practice and would challenge us to connect our practical experiences to the concepts we were learning during in class discussions.

Lastly, I was looking for a program where diversity of thought and differences in experiences would be apparent within the classroom. I wanted to not only be able to learn from the experiences of my professors, but I was also hoping to learn from the experiences of my peers within the program. I also was hoping to be challenged to think differently within my coursework and was hoping that a diverse cohort in terms of age, experience level, background, and current assistantship sites would increase the various viewpoints people would take during in class discussions.

I ultimately decided to enroll in Kent State University’s Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel program because I saw the existence of, or evidence that my criteria were a part of the program. Throughout my time within the program, I have not been disappointed and have grown due to the existence of these elements. I would say that my three criteria, practical experience, theory to practice application, and diversity of experience and thought, are themes which are consistently found between the courses of the program. However, in addition to these three, I have discovered one last theme; the value of self development and reflection.



Practical Experience
 The Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel program at Kent State University values practical experiences by supporting and providing graduate students the opportunity to engage in graduate assistantships and practicum experiences. Like other graduate programs, Kent State’s program strongly encourages students to obtain a two-year assistantship that will complement their learning throughout their experience in the program. The program has created many relationships with other universities in the area to ensure there are as many opportunities as possible or their students, and the Graduate Student organization hosts a graduate assistantship interview day each year for incoming students. In addition, the program has built in opportunities for practical experience within the curriculum. Each student is required to complete two practicum courses, where they must complete 150 hours within a student affairs related office. Both these experiences helped me to develop my skills as a professional and contributed to my understanding of the role of student affairs. My assistantship experience was important because I was able to learn about the culture of a university, as well as develop long term relationships with students and administrators. My practicum experiences were also extremely valuable for me because I had the opportunity to gain experience in additional functional areas, and had a structured avenue through which I could reflect about my experience.

Theory to practice
The theory to practice value is apparent in every course I took as a student within the Higher Education program at Kent State. In each course I was asked to either complete a project on what I would do within a specific administrator role, or was asked to research a current situation within higher education and present my suggested avenues for action. Also within each class it was rare for us to not discuss how we could apply the concepts to our current work, or how it might be applicable to use in the future. Some of my favorite class work and projects involved applying the theory to a real life situation. For instance, in the College Students and Environments course we completed a project where we used environmental theory to view a campus through the eyes of a specific student population. In addition, in the Career Counseling course, our peers volunteered and we held actual counseling sessions within the class. The focus on application, allowed me to fully understand the importance of and how to utilize the various concepts and theories learned within the course.

Diversity of Experience and Thought
Diversity of experience and thought was apparent throughout the program in various ways. There were times professors would assign an article for reading that would challenge us to read with a critical eye or that would introduce a thought contradictory to other readings we had been assigned. This exposed us to the dissenting opinions within the field of higher education, while at the same time forcing us to look at things with a critical eye and form our own opinions. However, the greatest impact of diversity of thought and experience came from the faculty members teaching the class and the students within the program. I enjoy learning from one professor whose viewpoint that higher education is a business, and at the same time holding discussions with another who believes higher education is more like religion. Lastly, there was a large amount of diversity within the students in the program, which enhanced in class discussions. There were a variety of various students from different points in their lives. Some had just come from undergraduate experiences, like me, whereas other had worked and decided to come back to school for their masters. There were people who had worked in higher education before, or who were part time and currently held administrative positions. In addition, there were people who came from small private institutions, as well as large public institutions which enriched class discussions even more because of the differing philosophies

Value of Self Development and Reflection
The last programmatic theme of the Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel program at Kent State University is the value that is placed on self development and reflection. In many of the courses, I was challenged as a graduate student to reflect on my own experiences related to the topic of that course. These exercises provided me with the opportunity to not only focus on myself as a person, but provided me with a personal connection to the concepts we were learning and a broader understanding of how these concepts can impact individuals. This focus of the program also helped me to develop as an individual and an administrator by becoming more confident about my identity and learning more about my own skill sets, abilities, and strengths.

Concluding Thoughts
As mentioned, I have learned a lot from and grown because of the programmatic themes apparent in the Higher Education Administration and Student Personnel program at Kent State University. Due to the existence of these themes, I have grown to become a more collaborative, confident, practical administrator who holds a comprehensive understanding of the function and role of student affairs departments within higher education.