Learning Outcome Narrative-strengths

Strengths Narrative Edgar M. Rodriguez Seattle University

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Learning Outcome Narrative: Strengths (LO #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 10; Artifacts A, B, D, G, & C1) As a first-generation, low-income, queer, Latinx male student, I have constantly reflected on inclusion and advocacy in higher education. Based on my experiences with marginalization, microaggressions, and oppression during my undergraduate days I really set out to be an advocate and an inclusive leader. This started even before I became a student in the SDA program. During my time as an undergraduate student, I became a brother of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. My fraternity showed me the importance of what I called social awareness, but now know and understand is multicultural competence (Pope, Reynolds, & Mueller, 2004), through ethnicity, race, and the true meaning of kinship. For the first time, I was able to show up authentically for who I was around other Latinx men. Upon reflecting on my undergraduate experiences, becoming a brother of Lambda Theta Phi catapulted my leadership to become aware of injustices and active in my participation in social change. Shortly after becoming a brother, I decided to apply to become a Social Justice Advocate (SoJA) at my university, DePaul. Being a SoJA allowed me to reflect on both my privileged and marginalized identities, which really set the foundational groundwork for my passion for social justice, and competencies around identities and frameworks. Throughout my time in the Student Development Administration (SDA) program at Seattle University, I have had the privilege to truly immerse myself in the Jesuit tradition of reflection. Reflection is something that has completely changed who I am as a practitioner and leader in the field of Student Affairs by allowing me to look into myself, my actions, and the impact I have on society. Based on Kohlberg’s moral development theory (1987), which focuses on holistic structures for moral development and reasoning, I have taken reflection as a crucial and essential part of developing myself as a moral leader and practitioner in higher education because that is what Seattle University and my mentors have instilled in me throughout my time in the SDA program.

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My theme of reflection is supported by three sub-areas that I believe to be central to my professional identity, development, and practice: Inclusion and Advocacy, Leadership and Professional Identity, and Emphasis on Community. Inclusion & Advocacy (LO 4 & 5; Artifact C1 & G) Once I came to Seattle University and the SDA program, I felt like I was in a different world. I felt like a fish out of water. As I was starting my role as an Assistant Area Coordinator (AAC) in Housing and Residence Life (HRL), I noticed that there were not many staff members in the Division of Student Development that reflected the intersection of my queer and Latinx identities (Crenshaw, 1989). As a new professional I wanted to better understand the experiences of Latinx students in higher education, but also feel understood and seen by the distinct marginalization I’ve experienced around these identities. I was hoping that this would help me reflect and better understand or ground my experiences as a queer Latinx student. In the Spring quarter of 2018, I enrolled in SDAD 5590: The American Community College, or Community College for short. The Community College class was taught by Dr. Thai-Huy Nguyen. Dr. Nguyen really created the syllabus to allow us the ability to incorporate themes and ideas we were passionate about. For our scholarly reflection, Artifact C1, I was able to do a literature review, analyze, and write about Latinx students and their experiences with vertical transfers. This really allowed me to realize the following: “community colleges have systematically failed to aid and assist Latinx students in the transfer process. Latinx students have high aspirational goals and capital but are lacking institutional assistance and resources in order to attain those goals (Rodriguez, 2018).” Although I never attend a community college, which is a privilege, it highlighted different ways I could improve my practice to be a more inclusive practitioner in the field by creating more succinct pathways to success for marginalized students, especially in the ways 4-year institutions also continue to lack in aid and assistance for Latinx students . I tie this

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with LO #4, which I define as an understanding and creating a just and diverse society through international and Jesuit frameworks. The three dimensions that encompass this learning outcome for me are to advocate for all marginalized and underrepresented populations, to have a critical mindset that utilizes social justice frameworks, and to continue to challenge and reflect on our own biases and mindsets. In my Community College class, I was also able to learn more about and explore a functional area that was outside of what currently work in. Most of my experiences, as described in Artifact A, are in Housing and Residence Life and Multicultural Affairs. Dr. Nguyen assigned me to be a part of the Disability Services functional area group because I have never had to interact with the disability services office during my time in higher education. Although I never had to interact with the disability services office, I had experience in supporting students get housing accommodations. Having this project to research and explore disability services at community colleges in the area really showcased LO #5, which I define as adapting professional practice based on specific backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and settings. The three dimensions this LO encompasses are the ability to adapt and create practices and policies that are inclusive for all students, work with divisional partners to ensure practices are in alignment and incorporate theory and research into practices and policies. My group and I really dove in and created a unique gameboard, Artifact G, that highlights the life of a student that might interact with a disability services during their time at a community college. It includes differing levels of accommodations and circumstances that allow you to move up or down the game board. Reflecting on my community college class, I am really proud of how this class broadened my understanding of disability services. I realized the importance of online submission forms and the need to have clear and explicit navigational system for students to disclose their disabilities and accommodation needs

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from the university, which will help me better serve students in housing who might go through this process (Preece, Beecher, Martinelli, and Roberts (2005). Leadership and Professional Identity (LO 2 & 10; Artifacts B & D) My leadership abilities and my professional identity have grown immensely during my time in the SDA program. During my time in this program, specifically in Capstone Seminar, I was able to define my mission statement, Artifact B, as a practitioner. In my mission statement I dive into my commitment to intellectual and personal reflection while remaining critical about my identities, experiences, biases and how those interact with one another. This mission statement gets to the core of who I am and what I strive for as a practitioner and how community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005) is crucial to understanding how marginalized students, like myself, possess a wide array of capital to navigate and be successful in higher education. Additionally, I believe that it highlights LO #10, which I define as committing to creating and advancing a sense of professional identity. In this mission state I am committing to my sense of self I’ve created through my forms of capital and to continue to advance that throughout my career. This aligns with the three dimensions that are advocating for yourself and your students, intellectual and personal reflection around identities, experiences, and biases, and being authentic to who you are as a professional. Another example of how my leadership and professional identity has grown during this program is through Artifact D. My letter of promise was written by Tracy Halloran, my supervisor during my ACUHO-I internship experience at Stanford University as a House Director during the Summer of 2018. After a tough end to my first year in the SDA program, due to personal matters back at home, I embarked on a new journey to Stanford University for a 2-month long internship experience. During this internship I worked full time as a House Director (HD). As an HD for Stanford matriculated students in the Summer Session program, I oversaw a building of roughly 350 upper-class residents and 11 Summer Resident Assistants (SRAs). Stanford hold a very different

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culture than the one I’m used to at Seattle University. Stanford prioritizes and emphasizes research and education throughout all of their programs and departments. Academic excellence is something that every student is striving for during their time at Stanford. I worked hard to quickly adjust and understand this new culture and the students’ needs in my building. In my letter of promise Tracy states, “Your sense of self-awareness and your ability to speak fluently about your own intersecting identities is something I think certainly resonated with the forgotten population of students at Stanford with identities similar to yours.” Ferdman & Gallegos Model of Latina and Latino Ethnoracial Orientation (2001), showcases the way I view myself as “Latino-Integrated,” and how I see my Latinidad, my most salient identity, as a part of a larger multicultural framework. This really resonated with LO #2, which I define as the commitment to remaining intentional with students and the multitude of topics that impact their day to day experiences. This is done through seeking to understand student backgrounds and stories, incorporating those backgrounds and stories to inform inclusive practice, and lastly creating research to support those backgrounds and stories. I believe that my work at Stanford to center identity development through students’ dedication to academics shows my leadership and professional identity as a young practitioner. Community (LO 3 & 6; Artifact A) The final sub-area is community development. Working in HRL has really shown me how important community development truly is for students. As an AAC I worked closely with my Area Coordinator and the other AAC in my building to develop our community with our RAs and our residents, which is demonstrated in Artifact A. My first year as an AAC, was not an easy one. I felt unprepared and undertrained to start my role. On top of learning a new job and new responsibilities, we had a lot of missing pieces to our staff. We started off the year a couple RAs short and had to do some last-minute hiring to get our staff to be complete. After our first quarter, we had 2 RAs leave our staff for different reasons. At this point we were tasked to hire 2 new RAs while still holding

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staff and building moral. Over winter break, we ran into a situation where an RA misplaced a set of master keys. This mistake resulted in an entire building rekey. At this point we had to decide on whether we were going to terminate this RA or put them on probation for the mistake. As one of the AACs of the buildings I was in conversation with my AC to communicate my concern of the impact termination would have on our staff and ultimately our residents. Although this mistake was costly, I drew upon my professional integrity and ethical leadership to understand that this mistake did not reflect who this RA was, nor did it define them. I advocated and recommended for this student to remain on staff for the remainder of the year with the condition that they were not able to reapply for the position the following year. I used Harper’s (2010) anti-deficit framework to make recommendation that challenged the deficit-centered conversation that encompassed this situation. This directly ties to LO #3, which I define as ethically sound leadership that reflects professional reliability through practice. This is done through tying integrity and ethics to professional practice, reflecting on your beliefs during difficult and challenging moments, and remaining consistent in your work as a professional. This also connects to LO #6, which I define as demonstrating leadership and developing the ability to work well with others in a professional setting. This is done by being a driven individual that takes the lead, working with others to reach a common goal, and positioning yourself in relation to students, coworkers, and supervisors. Ultimately, we decided that we would keep the RA for the remainder of the year on a probation status and that they wouldn’t be eligible to apply for re-hire within the department. We were able to build a foundation of trust with our residents and this allowed us to finish the year with a strong team of RAs that was able to cater to our students and build community with each other. Conclusion I believe that my reflection has been a huge strength during my time in the SDA program. My ability to reflect on past and current experiences to develop my sub-areas: Inclusion and

Running head: STRENGTHS NARRATIVE Advocacy, Leadership and Professional Identity, and Emphasis on Community. I learned about the true meaning of intellectual and personal reflection to expand on my professional identity and practice. These experiences only highlight the best of my reflection as they connect to my portfolio and artifacts.

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Running head: STRENGTHS NARRATIVE References Crenshaw, K. (1989) Demarginalizing the intersection of race and sex: a black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracist politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1(8), p. 139-167 Harper, S. (2010). An anti-deficit achievement framework for research on students of color in STEM. New Directions for Institutional Research, 148, 63–74 Patton, L. D., Renn, K. A., Guido-DiBrito, F., & Quaye, S. J. (2016). Student development in college: Theory, research, and practice. Pope, R. L., Reynolds, A. L., & Mueller, J. A. (2004). Multicultural competence in student affairs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Preece, J. E., Beecher, M. E., Martinelli, E. A., & Roberts, N. L. (2005) Students with emotional disabilities: Responding to advisors’ concerns and questions. NACADA Journal, 25, 42-46. Rodriguez, E. (2018) Latinx students and experiences with vertical transfers. Yosso, T.J. (2005). Whose culture has capital? Race, Ethnicity and Education, 8(1), p. 69–91.

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