Reflection on Graduate School
Life is a journey, with who we are changing at each step. As I finish my time at SLIM and start to look ahead I'm startled to consider the things revealed by this period of my life. Over the past two years I've changed how I see myself in relation to others, my connection to the community and my understanding of the global community.
The primary change is my people skills. The shy introvert I thought I was has been replaces with a confident extrovert whose compassion touches those they work with. With a presentation required for nearly every class added to my conference presentations I've had the opportunity to become comfortable leading lectures, discussions and events. Additionally as a leader in the campus gender & sexual minority community I've served as a resource for those coming out and listened while my friends vent about their challenges.
These on-campus realizations were accentuated by off-campus activities. My time in SLIM also introduced a period where I began to meet and work on things off campus. Joining St. Andrew's Episcopal Church served as a catalyst for these changes as my fellow parishioners introduced me to a world of services, need and support which I had previously missed. Through these connections Emporia became home to me.
This new found appreciation for community is not limited to Emporia. Before I started SLIM I deleted all of my social networking pages for simplicity. During my coursework, I've started to become active on Twitter and Facebook, used Google Hangouts and Skype for distance meetings and explored new methods of building an online community. Through my classes and colleagues I've realized that there is a need to be comfortable with these new tools as my community will by its nature be a global one.
My journey the past few years has been a rough road with many forced changes. But I've adapted to the terrain, and with the support of the home I've found I look forward to the next steps into the great unknown.