Responses

Jaime Discussion:

             Reflection in everything we do is important. It is important to look back and see if we really gained everything we wanted to or needed to from an experience and an encounter. Reflection has been all around me this week as just six days ago I lost my dad unexpectedly. Unfortunately, the lesson I learned here is in spite of wanting to make the world stop, that ultimately things still need to continue and sometimes we do our best work in those situations. The world stopped here but my capstone still needed to be completed and I knew how important that was. Sometimes the education we receive is not always what we learn through a textbook, but how we apply that to the world around us. I think that is important in higher education. Higher education yes is about what we learn in the classroom and how we can take that knowledge to our professional careers, but there is another aspect and that is life lessons. That is why we have a whole department connected to student affairs and the college experience we have. For some, this area is as important.

                Putting together my capstone project allowed me to really reflect on my journey at SNHU. This is an initiative that deep down I feel could be a big turning point at an institution. I feel that oftentimes students get lost in their journey, especially if they have a big bump in the road (such as Covid, or a death in the family or just struggling with a class) and having the support of a call center could be the key to whether a student stays at an institution or deicides to leave. After reading my personal philosophy, I see that my views have pretty much been on target the whole time. My philosophy statement was about having the full college experience for all no matter what type of student they are or where they attend.  All students should have advisors and guiders along the way to help them with what they need to aide students in their journey at school. I believe that while you enter college you do need to learn how to guide your own journey, that oftentimes many of us just need to know there is a helping hand there if needed. I feel the time I spent on my capstone was well worth it as I hope one day to bring an initiative like this to life in an institution.

                I really feel like my journey at SNHU has allowed me to grow as a person not just professionally but in all aspects. I hope that one day I can use the knowledge and discipline from this journey to start a chapter of my life as an administrator that allows an equal education for all and one that can focus not just on the academic needs of students but the personal needs as well.

Michael Discussion:

Hello everyone,

If this is your last class, then congratulations!  The journey toward a Master’s degree is over and you should celebrate your success.  It has been hard earned, and well deserved.

In my experience, putting together my capstone project helped me to reflect on all that I have learned.  I work in higher education so much of it came from my working knowledge, but if asked to put that together before my studies, it would have been a much different looking result.  I would like to think that my capstone encompasses the volumes of knowledge I have acquired in pursuit of my graduate degree.  From coursework on the history of higher education to proper plan evaluations, budgeting, and even enrollment strategy, I have gained a well-rounded view of how higher education works, where it started, and where the potential is for it to go.

I really enjoyed the capstone work and I think it’s an invaluable part of the coursework.  It allowed me to reflect on what I learned and my personal growth over the last year and a half.  It gave me the opportunity to put that all together and showcase it as a presentation of what my new degree has done for me.

My personal education philosophy statement was rather simple; equal access to education for all.  My capstone project, with its focus on growing retention and graduation rates is an extension of that I believe.  By supporting students in all facets of their personal growth and education, we can help to provide the pathway to a college degree for any who seek it.  Students dealing with multiple issues, whether they be financial, personal, social, or other, need to be supported in those areas so that they can focus on their education and own selves.  There is an inherent learning in higher education that extends beyond the classroom and into a student’s being.  It provides the ability for reflection, and a safe space to discover who they are and how they envision the world.  Maybe a little “dreamer-ish”, but it is how I envision it for our students, and my own children.

I appreciate all of the discussion replies and feedback you have all provided throughout my journey to completion and I wish you all the best of luck.  If you are not currently working in higher education, I look forward to working with you when you get there.

My sincere thanks to all of you!