Learning Outcome Narrative: Strengths

Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10; Artifacts A, C, D, E, G

Within my time in the SDA program I have grown immensely both personally and
professionally. In reflecting on my strengths, the development of innovative practice has been
consistent theme throughout my assistantship, internships, and coursework. Prior to the SDA
program I had always been a creative thinker, through this program my creativity has developed
into innovative practice that is supported by theory and student experience. I have been fortunate
to work in offices that have not only fostered innovative thinking, but have whole-heartedly
encouraged it. As I move forward in my professional career I hope to find working
environments that are as passionate about strategic and innovative thinking as I am. The three
unique areas in which highlight my innovative skill set are program development, supporting
the student narrative, and navigating ambiguity.

Program development
Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10 Artifacts: A, C2, D, E, G
I came into the SDA program with a strong background in program planning and
implementation. My love for events, and the community that resulted through being involved in
student organizations was one of the main reasons why I chose to go into student development
(Artifact A). My events in undergrad were fun and socially engaging, but lacked intentionality. I
was not thoughtful the accessibility of my events and intended impact. The SDA program has
given me the theoretical framework to come up with programs that are thoughtful to diverse
student needs, and are created with an educational impact in mind.

A main task of my graduate assistantship in Innovation and Leadership has been planning
and implementing iLead, which is a yearlong training and conference for positional student
leaders (Artifact G). In this planning process I have been able to work on a committee with
members from across campus (LO 6), creating the call for proposals (LO 8), leading a student
marketing committee, and working with my supervisor to develop a vision that is centered in
increasing students multicultural competence, knowledge of health and wellness practices,
college governance, and leadership development (LO 4). During the two years that I have spent
working on this project I have been able to give creative feedback and envision new potential for
this through re-creating the layout of the conference (Artifact D). iLead also allowed me to think
about student needs (LO 2, 10) and address them through an intentional and collaborative
training.
In my internship at Bellevue College in the office of Student Programs I was tasked with creating
a positional leadership training, but for a more diverse student population in terms of age,
financial need, and citizenship status (Artifact C, LO 5). Of the 30 students that I was working
with half were international students, majority were students or color, many of the students had
families, and several were undocumented students. For the international students, many were out
of the country during the time of the training, to meet their training needs I utilized Canvas to
keep these students engaged, but also used this as a way to archive of online trainings and
resources (Artifact E, LO 7). The experience with leadership and professional training was a
wide spectrum of experience ranging from adult learners who had worked in professionally for
many years to international students who just turned 18. To make sure that my sessions were
successful and engaging for the diverse body of students that I was serving, I made sure to
implement assessment after each training to allow myself the ability to change future workshops

to meet student needs. I also made sure that all workshops were highly group dialogue and
reflection based so I could make sure to honor the different levels of learning experience within
the classroom (LO 4).
Putting on International Week, a formal ACPA award-winning program, was one of the
largest components of my internship with the International Student Center at SU. During the
early planning stages I noticed that there was a significant lack of programming that was focused
on international students (LO 5). Previous years of I-Week consisted mostly of events about
study abroad experiences and international research. While these other components are
extremely valuable, I want to give international students the space to have community events and
identity based dialogues. After noticing the gap in international student specific programming
for the week, I reached out to students and staff in the office to gather ideas for events. This led
a multitude of programs that ranged from educating faculty and staff about name pronunciation
from different areas of the world, to a karaoke event, and dialogues about international student
experience at Seattle University. These events all challenged me to work collaboratively with
international students as well as faculty and staff across campus (LO 6).
Supporting the Student Narrative
Learning Outcomes: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Artifacts: A, B, D
Gaining the language to better understand my identity as a multiracial, Asian American
women has been one of the greatest gifts that I have received through my graduate education.
This has come through reading identity based theories (Renn, 2008) and having dialogues with
close friends about power and oppression. Being able to better understand my own experiences
and identities has been incredibly life giving for me, and it has unlocked a passion for facilitating
conversation about identity development and personal narrative with my students (Artifact B).

In the second year of my graduate assistantship I was in charge of the planning and
implementation of the First Year Leadership Institute (FLI), which is an immersive orientation
program for 30 new Seattle University students (Artifact A). One of the most powerful
component of FLI was organizing and leading a story sharing activity. This activity was
facilitated in part by myself, but also the positional student leaders that I trained to serve as
mentors. Many of the students that were involved had never outwardly reflected on their
background and impactful life experiences to their peers before, making trust, solidarity, and
vulnerability extremely important in this space. Students left the experience with a new way of
understating how their life experiences have shaped who they are, but also gained new insight
into the experiences of those around them.
In my internship with the International Student Center (ISC), understanding students and
student issues was a central focus of my experience (LO 2). In the short time that I worked with
the office I was able to be a part of three different dialogues international student experience.
The first dialogue or real talk was facilitated by the ISC and I was invited in to observe.
During this event I was able to learn more about the microaggressions and challenges that
international students face at SU (LO 4). I wanted to continue this dialogue so I could effect on
campus. Shortly after the first dialogue I was acquainted with a staff member in the Redhawk
Resource Hub about campus climate for international students and conversation about how to
make this event space more inviting to these students (LO 5). These first two session brought me
much closer to the international students attending these events, and shortly after these dialogues
I was invited by an international student to co-facilitate a panel for faculty and staff about these
students experiences. This particular student noticed a common themes of microaggression faced
by international students both in and out of the classroom. These themes were compiled together,

and faculty and staff from across campus were invited in to learn from these students about how
to make the campus more supportive of international students. Not only did this event serve to
make the campus friendlier for these students, but it also brought a sense of validation to their
shared experiences.
To be best acquainted with the emerging nature of student affairs I have really worked to
gain understanding of the students that I work with through supporting the development of their
personal narrative (LO 1). As a professional I want to continue to strive to have student voices at
the forefront of my innovative practice (LO 10).

Navigating Ambiguity
Learning Outcomes: 3, 5, 6, 8, 10 Artifacts: A, D, E
Being able to effectively navigate ambiguity and change has been a major component
of both my graduate assistantship and my internship at Bellevue College (Artifact A)
When I came into the office of Student Programs at Bellevue College I entered an
environment that was filled with conflict and job dissatisfaction. It was quite clear on my first
day that the staff in the office was over worked and exhausted. They were often too
overwhelmed to provide me with direction and guidance. Expectations were unclear, and had
little knowledge about how to plan events in this new institutional setting. For a while, my time
in the office felt very unproductive. I would help with daily tasks as needed and attend
meetings, but I wasnt gaining the experience that I had hoped. I reached a point where I
realized that this wasnt acceptable (LO 3), both for myself and for the school that I was getting
paid to work at, which lead me to reflect on my why. Why did I choose this internship? Why did
I want to work with this population of students? After further reflection I named this: I want to

promote leadership development through promoting dialogue around salient identities and
personal strengths (Artifact E, LO 6).
When I was able to name this why, I was able to focus. I had an overarching goal for the
work that I was doing, despite the political climate of where I was working. The ambiguity of
what I was doing was less of an issue when I clearly knew why I was passionate and what I
wanted to accomplish within my role (LO 10).
This philosophy of knowing my why was something that was also useful to me when
navigating the divisional restructure. Midway through my first year in the program I learned that
the focus of my office would be shifting dramatically. My advisor, myself, and the students that
I supervise started off the new academic year without job descriptions. But despite the initial
feelings of discomfort, this change allowed me to work on projects that I had special interest in,
and tailor my students work to align with their professional vocation (Artifact D). I was able to
create special projects for my students, I created a task force of my peers and undergraduate
students on Universal Design (LO 4 & 8), and I was able to work on collaborative projects as
needed. Having a positive attitude and being able