Evidence of Competency: Movie Review In reflecting on the two years in the M.Ed.

program in Higher Education, another course that I thoroughly enjoyed was Student Development Theory. Being able to have a better understanding for how students grow and mature throughout their college years was very insightful, but beyond that having the chance to learn more holistically about human development was both interesting and beneficial for me. In particular, I appreciated learning about various human populations and the identities that they possess that impact development over time. Through a final assignment that I completed for the Student Development Theory course, I was able to illustrate competency in my communication skills and commitment to social justice. For one of the final papers, I had to write a movie review about college students. Through the movie we had to access its ability to illustrate college student development. This assignment required us to choose a movie from a selected list and identify developmental characteristics of the main student characters as they journey throughout the movie. I chose to the movie School Daze (1998). My intent for selecting this movie was the opportunity to see development in a movie I grew up watching but also the students identity within the movie. Through the movie and the theories I was able to gain better understanding of the theories through media and art. In terms of communication skills, I really challenged myself by attempting to organize the information in a complex but natural way of how the characters have development through the developmental theories I chose and how they transition through the stages. I felt I was able to integrate the various sources of knowledge and ideas into a cohesive movie review. I was able to link together my personal and professional goals for the assignment as a means of illustrating my commitment to social justice and student development. I took this assignment as an opportunity to learn theory through film but also see how this would apply to the students I will be working with in the future. Through the various developmental theories, I was able to see the transition

the characters go through but also ways in which they develop. As a means of realistically being able to relate to students it is important to understand where students are at in their development process and take the opportunity to serve as a resource and advocate for students and their families, illustrating my competency in the area of social justice. Lastly communication skills were also depended on how I articulated and communicated that in my paper. In order to complete this assignment I had to be intentional, clear and cohesive because often times with movies you can see many developmental theories but it is important in the way you articulate and providing reasoning as to why you chose that specific theory for the character. Furthermore, this artifact is able to express out written communication skills in the areas of comprehension, synthesis, and analysis due the fact that I had to give the artifact one voice as film can be portrayed differently.