2010

**1. Leadership, Law, Student Development, Multiculturalsim and Research** When I think back over my time in this program, there are a few things that stand out as themes of the program. First, I think the themes of leadership, law, student development, multiculturalism, and research are all very prevalent throughout the program. I believe that these are the fundamentals that this program is based on, which is why each theme has a course directly related to it, and why those courses, along with the case studies course that incorporates all of these themes, are the required courses for the program. These are the themes and basic functions that we are constantly encouraged to think about and analyze in almost every course. I also believe that I will be able to draw on my knowledge of these themes to help me analyze and understand most situations that I might run into as an administrator, which is what the case study course is preparing us to do.  As I look back over my 2 years in the program, these themes have been apparent in pretty much everything I've done in my coursework, my internships and my graduate assistantship. Working at a school outside of Cleveland, I deal with a diverse group of students every day. The student development and multicultural theories that I have learned throughout the last 2 years have helped me understand numerous situations better. As far as my coursework goes, these themes have been apparent not only in my required courses, but also in my elective courses. I can think of one course especially, the Coordinating Greek Life Special Topics course, in which each theme was apparent. Leadership and student development theories are obvious themes that will arise when you are dealing with student organizations in general, so they were obviously imbedded within our class on Greek life. Law is another theme that I think is in every aspect of education. It doesn't matter what department you are in, if something goes wrong, or if a student or staff member perceives that something went wrong, there is always the possibility that the law will be involved. These were obvious topics that were discussed in this course. However, multiculturalism became a reoccurring theme in that course too due to the fact that multicultural Greek organizations are becoming more prevalent on campuses. As far as research goes, the methods that I learned in that class are methods that I have used throughout the rest of my program, including the Greek Life course. I think that this course is just one example as to how these major themes are integrated into every aspect of the program.  **2. Experience** Aside from the themes mentioned above, the other major theme (if you can call it a theme) that is stressed throughout the program is experience. One of the main reasons that I chose Kent State was because it was very experienced based and those experiences were designed to be a part of your education, not in addition to it. I think this becomes very clear when you look at the fact that it is required for students to complete two internships during the program (and you can choose to do a third internship in place of an elective course), and that most students also have a graduate assistantship. Many other programs do not go out of their way like Kent State does to help their students find quality graduate assistantships. I think that this combination of professional experience is also a foundation of the program. In many courses, professors expect students to contribute in class by drawing on real life experiences to use as examples or to use to analyze one of the theories. If we did not have all the experiences that Kent State expects us to have, we would not be able to keep the flow of discussion going like professors expect. In addition, I believe that we learn from each other's experiences through class and personal discussions. When I started this program, I did not know what to really expect. What I got, was a really good foundation to use as the starting point for my career in higher education. I believe that the overarching themes and the professional experiences that I gained during the past 2 years will be knowledge that I will forever need and will forever build upon.