Running head: EPORTFOLIO NARRATIVE REFLECTION

E-Portfolio Narrative Reflection

Shelby J Hearn

Loyola University Chicago

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Knowledge Gained in the Program

In the grand scheme, two years in a master’s program does not seem all that long. Two

years, twelve classes—how is that possibly enough time to learn everything there is to know

about higher education and student affairs? The obvious answer is that it is not enough time, that

there is likely never enough time. However, the sheer amount of knowledge that I have absorbed

in my time at Loyola University Chicago’s Higher Education program is startling given how

clueless I was when I stepped into my first class two years ago. The Higher Education faculty

have taught me so much in the ways of theories, practices, pedagogies, and histories, and I even

had the privilege to learn from beyond Higher Education and apply that knowledge to my classes

and my work moving forward.

When asked to choose my favorite class or class I learned the most from in the Higher

Education program, I am hard pressed to choose just one. The class that surprised me the most

was Enrollment Management. I was unsure about the class but wound up being grateful to have

taken it. I learned about the ins-and-outs of college admissions and how difficult it truly is to

differentiate between thousands of equally qualified applicants while remaining fair. We delved

into the different models of college choice, exploring the myriad factors that lead a student to

one college or another (if to college at all) and what will play into their persistence while they are

there. I had the privilege of not just learning from my professor, Dr. Aliza Gilbert, but also other

professionals in a variety of areas within enrollment management from deans to higher education

consultants. I learned something entirely knew each class period and that knowledge will

continue to inform how I understand my profession, my colleagues, and my students.

Student Development in Higher Education was truly a foundational class. The theories I

learned in that class quickly became integral to my everyday work and will continue to be
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paramount to my professional practices. Primarily it taught me to constantly critique the seminal

theories of our profession; to critique them is to allow for inclusive and equitable practices.

While theory was central to the course, it was the ways in which we practiced blending theory

and practice that I learned the most from.

Counseling Practices was a course I took outside of the Higher Education program, but

one that I do recommend to anyone who asks because so much of what is learned in Student

Development, Multiculturalism, and Leadership can be applied to the skills learned in the class.

It was another opportunity for me to take the theories I had learned in my courses and apply them

directly to practicing interpersonal skills within student affairs. My main takeaway from

Counseling was the practice of cultural humility over cultural competence and the necessity of

mindfulness when engaging with students as an educator. When thinking about educational

theories, I truly benefited from the ways this class taught me how to be mindful in my

relationships so that I could be more intentional in my implementation of theory to practice.

Knowledge Gained from Assistantships

In my time at Loyola University Chicago, I worked within a few assistantship and

internship roles. For the majority of that time, I was a graduate assistant in Student Organizations

& Activities at Northwestern University. I was surrounded by so many professionals who valued

my education and sought to ensure that my work aided in my professional development. As an

advisor to a programming board for late-night events, I was privileged to have direct contact with

students on a nearly day-to-day basis. In my work with them, I was able to constantly think about

what I was learning in the classroom and attempt to apply it in real time. It was with them that I

was able to truly understand the nuances of theory to practice, as well as the understanding that

sometimes the pacing of higher education does not allow for the level of intentionality that we
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would like. I learned to be ok with that and to assess the ways in which I could do better at my

next opportunity. I gained a lot of knowledge about institutional workings and leadership and

how decisions are made and how to advocate for my students and for myself. A lot of that

advocacy involves establishing hard proof of what has been done and what is needed, and I have

established strategies to do just that.

At my internship at Northwestern University’s Women’s Center, I learned even more

about the structure of higher education and about the necessity of finding collaborators and

partners in this work, particularly when doing equity, inclusion, and support focused

programming. The Women’s Center is situated within the Office of Institutional Diversity &

Inclusion and so directs its services not only to students, but to faculty and staff as well. Working

in an office like this opened my eyes to the workings of higher education beyond just student

affairs and student-facing work. I saw firsthand the importance of supporting all members of a

campus community; if the faculty and staff are hurting or without support, how can we expect

them to be able to support their students? Thinking of the Jesuit concept of cura personalis, to

care for the whole person, I learned at the Women’s Center how to care for the whole community

or institution.

Knowledge about Self

I am in many ways a different person from the one who moved from Carrollton, Georgia

to Chicago, Illinois just two years ago. Graduate school at Loyola University Chicago challenged

me in ways I never expected, and rewarded me in others. In two years I have spent more time in

self-reflection than I have in the entire 24 years I have been alive. That self-reflection has

enabled me to see myself and my place in the world more clearly and has developed in me a

sense of self-confidence both personally and professionally. I have learned to be okay with
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mistakes and with asking for grace and space. I needed a lot of that as I balanced school, multiple

jobs, and life beyond my education and work.

Some lessons learned about myself were more difficult than others. I learned about

needing to put myself first, my wellbeing before all else, but that can still prove difficult. I also

began to understand that I do not need to be well liked by everyone to do well in my work. That

is a lesson I still struggle with, but one that I sorely needed. Above all else, I learned that I have

the ability to do hard things and to learn through and from difficult times. I gained knowledge of

my own resilience and built on it through this journey towards a higher degree.

Social Justice & My Future

I think the primary thing I learned about social justice is the ways it can be and ought to

be woven into all aspects of educational work. Socially just education is not isolated in an office

for diversity inclusion, nor is it the responsibility of a small group of professionals on a campus.

Social justice can be found in all aspects of education from admissions, to student activities, to

advising so long as we act mindfully and intentionally in how we choose to educate.

I arrived in the Higher Education program with the ultimate goal of working in LGBT

student services or being in some ways a part of direct social justice education and programming.

This desire has not left me in its entirety. I would still love to find myself working with queer

students, developing programs that are educational, celebratory, and healing. However, my

education at Loyola University Chicago has opened me to other options, providing me with the

skills and drive to bring my social justice lens into any place I work. I feel confident that I can

and would be fulfilled in almost any area of the work now that I have the theoretical and

practical tools to bring a social justice foundation to my professional life.