Higher Education Preview Weekend

This marks the one year anniversary since I first stepped foot onto UPenn's campus last year. We are currently hosting the Higher Education Preview Weekend and I have personally met with a lot of the prospective students who are excited and interested in coming to Penn GSE next year! The process was very nostalgic, from the craziness of interview sign ups to the mock class taught by Marybeth, everything was triggering fond memories of when I was a prospective student. I remember how another prospective student at the time (now my fellow cohort member, Emily) had to convince me to attend the Sunday night dinner and meet people right from the beginning. The cohort was very supportive and friendly and the weekend was absolutely wonderful. I still remember Marybeth calling me out in class and talking to me about my choices of school and what my "fit" was at that time. To this day I would always recommend students to at least visit the campus before making any decisions, because just being on that campus can give you a feel for the environment and the "fit".

I am excited to meet more prospective students tomorrow. Hopefully they will commit to Penn and continue this legacy that is the Penn GSE Higher Education Program.

Patience is a virtue

So just an update on my job search process. It has been almost two months since I started actively looking for jobs. One recommendation I would give to anyone coming into this program is to get your resume and cover letter polished and ready to go during your first semester. Since I had that done, getting into job application mode was a lot smoother and I was able to apply to more positions right away.

Something that I had recently found out and was EXTREMELY helpful was the fact that universities and colleges go through a quiet period where despite their application closing and that they most likely will not reach out until a few months later. So during this time, I have really learned to be patient and to keep applying to more positions week by week. From what everyone has told me thus far, hopefully I will see a few responses and phone calls when it gets closer to May!

Spring Break and NASPA

Whew! I apologize for not posting for a while! Spring break happened and a whirlwind of things to catch up afterwards.

So to go off of what my good friend Karla has stated, spring break was wonderful. It was nice to go back to California (even if it was for a few days) and see some of my friends and hang out with family. The weather was great (ranging from mid 70's to 80's). I had forgotten the feeling of wearing shorts and tshirt outside and it felt great! I also had the chance to eat some good food near my hometown. My second half of the spring break was also dedicated to the NASPA conference. I did not go to the The Placement Exchange (TPE) like Karla did but I did attend the conference. I found it to be extremely helpful for those who are new to the field of student affairs.

I attended several sessions and they are all wonderful. I would definitely recommend looking over the events beforehand and choosing a few before going in. Once the conference starts, there are hundreds and hundreds of people walking about the convention center so it will be nice to have a direction of where you are going. Overall though, I found the networking aspect to be the most rewarding part of the conference. I attended two types of reception (Region 6 and API). Region 6 referred to the states specifically in that region (in this case 6 was CA, AZ, and HI) and API stood for Asian and Pacific Islanders. Going to those two receptions and making connections there were in my opinion the main reason why someone would want to come to the conference. It was a time to talk to fellow graduate students or new professionals in the field and gain knowledge about different schools and culture. Then at the end of the day we would exchange business cards and when a job posting comes up in that particular school, now I know at least one person in that university who may be able to connect me with someone else. That to me was Networking 101.

Afterwards I have followed up on several of my contacts and kept in touch with everyone. I am excited to have met so many talented people and am certainly looking forward to getting to know more people in the future!

GUEST WRITER - Karla Silva

Hey everyone!

I am really excited to share a blog post with you all. A few quick details about myself: I am in the higher education cohort with Wesley, I came straight from undergrad (Northern Arizona University), born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, graduate associate in Sansom (upper classmen and graduate students), and my assistantship is with the Dana How Scholars Program (Collaboration between the Christian Association and the Upward Bound program).

Spring break was last week, and the second part of my spring break was spent in Baltimore, MD attending the NASPA conference! NASPA is the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. It is one big conference full of undergraduates, graduate students, administrators, faculty, and staff. There are a ton of different workshops you can attend, roundtable discussions, and receptions. Many of my cohort members did TPE (The Placement Exchange) which, as I have been told, is like speed dating only you are trying to find a job. I did not participate in TPE but many of my cohort members did and they had many interviews and have even received a few second round interviews.

This was my second time attending NASPA, I attended once before as a Junior, my experience this time was very different. Last time I came in trying to get to know more about the profession, and networking. This time, I came in with a purpose, to network, network, network, because lets be real, I need a job! Also, to gain some meaningful experiences, and attend workshops that would better me as a professional. My job search is extremely narrow as I am only looking in Fort Collins, CO and possibly Greeley, CO and Denver, CO. I made sure to be strategic about what receptions I was attending, making sure I went to Region 4 west and to any receptions that I knew administrators would attend, so for example, the Colorado State University reception. As long as these receptions state (open) in the program then you are welcomed to attend. If you know people that went to these schools or that are currently there, do not be afraid to ask them if they can introduce you to some people or even give you some information as to who they are and what they do at the school. Also, make sure to talk to as many people as you can and exchange your business cards with them, and also e-mail them a thank you as soon as you can. To keep all these people straight in my head, I always write where I met them on the back of the card, and anything that will remind me of who they were and maybe one or two things we talked about, this is a tip my mentor gave me and it has worked great for me. NASPA is also a great way to meet up with colleagues and friends who you haven’t seen in awhile. I was able to have lunch and chat with my mentor and other friends and colleagues from my undergraduate and past conferences while at NASPA.

Some Cohort Members

NASPA can be incredibly overwhelming but it can be very rewarding. Attending these types of conferences really enhances your network and professional development. NASPA 2014 really was a great experience, I was able to connect with many people, attend workshops, spend time with my cohort, and even explore the city of Baltimore.

Baltimore Inner Harbor

Spring break is around the corner!

I cannot believe it is almost spring break already. A part of me still thinks that I just started this program a couple of months ago! Spring break will mark the half way point to spring semester and essentially the 75% mark of our program. It's crazy to think that I am graduating in a couple of months!

Despite my surprise, this break cannot come at a better time. With all the classwork, assistantship, and job search, it will be nice to go back home and recharge for the final stretch. I find it difficult sometimes to focus solely on coursework when I know that new jobs are being posted every couple of days. Once I have started applying to places, I knew that I needed to keep the momentum going. Therefore I would check every now and then and see if there are any particular jobs that I am passionate about. I have also learned to widen my search a little bit to include student activities and student life. Not to be confused with residential life, but I realized that just focusing on academic advising and admissions may limit the number of job opportunities out there.

Nonetheless, the effort is there and the grind is on. The objective: secure a job before graduation!