After graduating from Loyola University Chicago, I plan to attend a graduate program in either student affairs or higher education administration in the fall of 2013. While I have just begun to look, my goal is to apply to a program with an interdisciplinary emphasis and one where a practicum working on student diversity initiatives or queer student development would be possible. When I complete my masters program, I would like to continue working in multicultural affairs, queer student development or work on a service-learning initiative. Also, I aspire to work towards a doctorate in sociology or education and eventually teach in one of the disciplines that I have come to love as an undergraduate.

As a student, I have learned a great deal about myself ...

and I look forward to discovering even more.

The potential of a career that utilizes all my talents, while helping people develop their own, is very exciting to me. As a college student, I have learned a great deal about myself during college and I look forward to discovering even more. The thought of helping others do the same is invigorating. It is also exciting to envision myself in a professional space where I could put theory into practice through designing student programs, use my communication skills to connect with those in need of guidance, and direct my creativity into helping better student communities. As a sociology and environmental studies student, I have begun to understand many of the challenges we face as a society. Simultaneously, I have witnessed how little social scientists talk about the solutions to these problems. Whether for fear of being labeled biased activists or simply because they do not have the tools necessary to do so, I see few academics moving to address society’s needs. As a result, it’s commonplace for socially conscious students to throw their hands up in frustration and give up on social justice efforts. This is a problem that those working in higher education can fix it. Simple changes in how we think about post-secondary education and what we tell students to look for in their education would be major first steps.

There is a startling amount of potential

within universities to enact social good.

There is a startling amount of potential within universities to enact social good. As a leader of a student organization and as an employee of an office that coordinates service-learning placements, I have seen these possibilities first hand. There is so much intelligence, aspiration and excitement on college campuses. Sometimes, I feel that we simply need to point out that fact in order to mobilize students. College administrators should challenge the assumption that college is somehow not real life. Students should not be seen only as customers, but as people with strong ambitions and useful ideas. We should not have to wait until we have a diploma to organize better communities. Who is to say that colleges cannot teach students through bettering the lives of their neighbors? Why can we not look at every university and college as a hub for potential social change? I want be a part of this solution. This dramatic rethinking of education is what motivates me. In five years, I cannot see myself anywhere else but helping young people form their own identities through community work and action. 

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