CSSA Blog @ Oregon State University

Tonight I spent a moderate amount of time thinking about where I was last year around this time: CSSA Campus Days (the on-campus interview event) was but two weeks away and I was very uncertain about what would come from the months of writing personal statements, nagging references to finish letters of recommendation, and obsessive mail-box checking for big, thick envelopes bearing good news. The application process to graduate school all but consumed my life from October until March, when I finally received word that I had been accepted into all three programs to which I had applied (I won’t name names, but I will say one was located in New York City).

Up until that point, I assumed the hardest part of the graduate school application process was writing the Statement of Purpose (and trying to find different ways of writing “I like students”) and interviews (and trying to find different ways of saying “I like students”) – but boy, was I wrong! For me, the hardest part was sitting in front of three acceptance envelopes and feeling paralyzed with fear that I would make the wrong decision. Don’t get me wrong – I feel very fortunate that I had a choice to make at all – but as the decision deadline approached, I was thisclose to closing my eyes, pointing blindly at an envelope, and letting fate decide.

And it was not even about choosing between the programs – I can say without a shadow of doubt that the CSSA program was the best fit for me and my educational goals. But then there was the many other factors to consider – family, my partner, New York City vs. Corvallis, geographical location, climate, housing, resources, again, New York City vs. Corvallis… but ultimately, I knew that whether I went to the program that was one hour from home, six hours (OSU) or a whole lot of hours, I was still going to have the support of my family and friends, and that I couldn’t escape the rain even if I tried. And okay, I’ll admit that, yes, it sure would be nice to be living in Manhattan right now, but I’m pretty sure my GPA and bank account would suffer for it.

Without a doubt, it was a tough decision for me to make, but ultimately I knew that if I was going to make the commitment to go to graduate school, I needed to go where I could get the most out of the experience – I believe the expression is “Go big or go home.” The commitment to go to graduate school is by no means a promise you make with your fingers crossed behind your back. I have my whole life to live in a big city, to live in a region where galoshes are not everyday footwear, to be close to my family. These are by no means insignificant factors in any decision-making process, but I felt like I was using those reasons as an excuse for not pursue something because I was afraid I would fail.

It probably would not comfort any of you that I really do not have a point to all this (I rarely do) – just that I know many of you who read this are prospective CSSA students who might soon have a big decision on your hands.  While now, a year later, I find myself happy as a clam here in the CSSA program, you have to chart your own course.  I recommend any one who comes to Campus Days to really take full advantage of your time here – survey the town (it shouldn’t take but 10 minutes!), talk to current students and alumni, attend the information sessions, and find out if Corvallis or OSU offers what is important to you.  For those of you unable to attend Campus Days next week, request to be put in touch with a current student or faculty member (if you haven’t already!) who can answer the questions you need to make an informative decision.  We all have been through the same stress, anxiety and pressure you might be finding yourself in now and I feel confident that I can speak for my cohort that we want to help you find what is best for you.

Good luck in all your graduate school application endeavors and I hope to meet some of you next week!

One of the greatest joys that a parent can see, I’ve been told, is watching the successes of their child.  Likewise, I would have to say that watching my father has given me so much hope and excitement.  This last term, my 50-something father re-enrolled in school and started his Master of General Agriculture.  When I asked him why he did it he just looked at me and said, “I can’t have you showing me up, now can I?”  Well… he didn’t say that exactly, but I could see it in the glint of humor in his eyes.

Regardless, his return to education leaves me awestruck.  I know that we all strive to be mentors and roll models of education for the students that we work with.  Having that hit so close to home just gives me the shivers every time I think about it.  Coaching my dad through the application process and having him call me excitedly when he got accepted has reminded me that, no matter the age, I live for the joy of helping students succeed.

Tristen Shay

For those readers who are about to go through the Campus Days experience, I thought I’d spend my next two posts talking about it.  This post is reminiscent about my own Campus Days experience, and my next post will be more about things to expect if you’re a prospective student (last year I was the Campus Days coordinator).

It was February, 2005, and my mother and I drove down to Corvallis from Seattle in a significant rainstorm.  We arrived in Corvallis about 11pm and checked in at the Holiday Inn Express on the river.  After carefully removing my suit from its dry-cleaning plastic, I fell into bed eager and nervous for the next two days.

At 6:30 am the next day, I woke up even more nervous than I had gone to bed.  I made my way to campus and sat in a crowded classroom not knowing what to expect.  I ended up at a table with a CSSA alumn, a current student, and some other prospective students.  We all made small talk and drank the coffee and juice, but the climate in the room was that of nervousness.  After a welcome by the Dean of the College of Education, the Chair of the Adult Education and Higher Education Leadership program, and the CSSA main faculty member, our day really started.  We were all assigned interview times, and were told that today’s interview is for admission to the program–tomorrow’s interview will be for assistantships.  My interview was the first or second time slot of the day, leaving me lots of time afterwards to attend the concurrent informational sessions, explore the campus, and get to know other candidates.  My interview took place in a small office–I interviewed with a current faculty member (as well as current student affairs practitioner), a current student, and an alumn of the program.  I liked that I was able to ask questions about the balancing act and the transition.  The current student in my interview had also moved from out of state.  After my interview, I spent most of my day in the hospitality room mingling with other nervous candidates and current students.  The rest of the day was mostly a blur, including lunch and dinner at two local food joints (Local Boyz, Hawaiian food, and American Dream, a pizza place).  The next day was for assistantship interviews, so I knew that it would be more nerve-racking than the first.  We were told that it’s not a guarantee that you’ll get an interview for assistantships because while the program facilitates the interview day, the assistantship supervisors have the ultimate say in who interviews and who gets the position.  I slept again, nervously.

Assistantship day was here!  Our Campus Days coordinators had a drop-box system going for arranging interviews.  You drop your resume, the supervising site drops a note back with a “yes”, “no”, or “phone interview”.  I was very lucky–I interviewed with five sites.  I remember interviewing with Diversity Development, Student Conduct, the CSSA program, and Career Services–I can’t for the life of me remember the fifth site.  Student Conduct was my first interview of the day; it was also my first choice!  The two people interviewing me were the administrative assistant and the housing and dining conduct liaison.  The director was out at a conference at the time.  I felt good about that interview, but still had 4 to go!  There was this waiting room in which the interviewers would retrieve the interviewees–again, a nervous energy permeated the air, but as aspiring student affairs professionals, we played ice breakers to…break the ice?..more like calm the nerves.  The end of the day came quickly and I was soon back in a car driving up to Seattle.

The thing that stuck out the most?  The welcoming feeling I got throughout the process.  It didn’t feel like a competition with the other candidates.  It really felt like it was about finding the “fit”.  Over the next month, I interviewed at three other institutions and really felt like I was competing with the other candidates; more importantly, I felt like the programs were trying to “weed out” the candidate pool.  I didn’t get that feeling at OSU.  It was quite a process and quite and experience!

Just about one and a half months later, an email came stating that I had been admitted.  A week after that, I was offered the position in the Office of Student Conduct.  It was settled.  I was destined to be a Beaver.

Jill Creighton

Yes, time just goes by so fast. This term, I am doing two internships, which just keep me busy and learning so many things from that. I especially enjoy doing an internship at ISOSU (international students of OSU). The best thing about this internship is to be able to work with students. In my graduate assistant position, I closely work with other international exchange coordinator in other campuses and abroad. I am just amazed by student organization on campus. They put a lot of energy and passion into it besides homework. We just had a retreat for ISOSU and other affiliates on Saturday. It was great to exchange our opinions. Since we all are from different backgrounds, we have different communication styles, I learned a lot from them.

I still have a hard time speaking up in class. It is kind of like jumping rope to me to jump into a conversation. I always need to make sure that the other people finish saying their opinions. But this term, I will try to challenges myself to speak up more. I think the CSSA program is a great place to put ourselves into challenging situations and learn from that because there are always great supporters to help us go through the challenging times.
My teachers, adviser (Jackie), mentor (Joanna), my cohorts, my co-worker in GTA office, my roommates,  CSSA graduates and writing center. If I ask for help, they are always fully supportive to me even though they are busier than I am.

As I get comfortable being at OSU and living in Corvallis, I tend to stay in my comfort zone. But I will not stay in my comfort zone. I will go to the places I feel less comfortable to challenge myself and learn from that.

Okay, so where has the time gone? I had it all planned out by week four I would be working on and finishing up competency five, and well to be honest I have only made it through competency one. So where has the time gone? Well I think we all need to remember that we are graduate students and sometimes “life” happens, like getting sick or having a weekend class for your minor. All of these expected or unexpected events have thrown my whole plan to be done working on competency five.  So as I have pondered this over the last few days, I can either stress about it, or I can continue to keep on working and knowing that I am going to complete my portfolio.

Like many of my other Cohort members, I am enrolled in an online class this term. It is the required Counseling course and I believe many of us had been questioning how a course like this could be offered online. After much doubt, I have accepted and actually believe that I may even appreciate the fact that this course is offered in this format. I do think that I might be less confused about course assignments if it were a traditional course offering, however it is giving me insight into how online course are for the students I do or will work with.

I have never participated in an online course and I assumed because of my perceived learning style that I would do quite poorly in an online course. Well, I actually found out through an assignment for the class that I have misinterpreted my learning style preference. I always believed that I had an experiential (aural) learning preference, much to my surprise my strong preference is actually read/write learning. This learning preference will be very valuable to my success in this course.

Traditional classroom courses will always be my preference in course offerings because I enjoy the personal interaction and the “high touch” atmosphere. I also miss not seeing all my cohort members. However, I am grateful for the experience that this online course will give me as I progress in the profession. Oh and another added plus, since I work full-time, it allows me to have more office hours at my job, at least for one term, which I am enjoying as well.

Have a great winter and a successful term everyone!

Patrick Moser

When I came to Oregon State to start the CSSA program, I knew that I wanted to do the portfolio option. I had no idea on how I wanted to present my portfolio, but I knew I had some time to ponder my ideas. Then during my first year, winter term, I met with my Major Advisor, and she started asking me questions about my portfolio. I was unsure why she was asking me those questions…I thought I had plenty of time, but I am sure glad that she did.

While I was on spring-break during my first year, I visited a museum in my hometown of Idaho Falls, Idaho. During my visit there I was completely amazed at how much time I spent in the museum, soaking up all the information that had been archived for years. That is when my brilliant idea came to me; I would do a museum theme for my portfolio. So, I officially became a curator of my museum. I have started the process of putting my website and museum exhibits together for my defense. I hope that you will check back and watch as I continue to archive my portfolio.

Alicia

No. Non. Sorry. Can’t. Nej. Uh-uh. Nein. Maybe later?

Sorry, I’m just practicing saying “No.” The way this quarter is shaping up, I was convinced I forgotten how.

This quarter, I am enrolled in Multiculturalism in Higher Education, Fundamentals of Counseling, Spirituality in Higher Education, an internship with The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards, an internship with the Dean of Students, and two projects co-coordinating Campus Days and creating a presentation for the Intercultural Career Development Conference (organized by this blog’s very own Tristen!). Oh, and did I mention the 20 hours a week at Career Services for my assistantship, too?

It’s safe to say I registered for everything this quarter but sleep, study, and a social life.

And yet, I am thrilled to be participating in such great initiatives, projects and courses. I will certainly be banking on my passions (and copious amounts of caffeine) to motivate me and sustain my energy throughout the next 10 weeks, but I hear that’s the secret to working in Student Affairs, anyways.

While I admit I need to learn how to say “No,” I hope never to make it a habit. If I was not so promiscuous with my “Yes’es”, so to speak, I would never have been a Resident Advisor, a housing intern in New York City, or a CSSA graduate student.  I think it is important for me to remind myself, from time to time, that where I am today is literally the result of a series of happy accidents that have created great purpose in my life.

I am looking forward to see what accidents I can stumble into over the next five quarters and my career thereafter.

– BQH

Hello there CSSA Bloggers!

I have two things to report today.  First off, please be sure to welcome our newest author on the blog, Alicia Petersen.  Have a look at her Author Bio on the right and leave her a comment.  Thank you Alicia!

Second, if you haven’t noticed already, there is a new section on the sidebar with links to electronic portfolios from CSSA alumni.  These alumni have agreed to allow us all to view their portfolios so that we might see what a finished portfolio can look like.  In the future, I hope to create a section of the blog devoted to portfolio conversations where alumni and current students can post entries regarding the process of portfolio creation.

Thanks to you all for participating.

Admin aka. Paul

As the beginning of Winter term gets off to a roaring start, I try to remember that now is the time to take time to balance my time. This is one lesson that I am constantly relearning. I think those of us in CSSA may sometimes think that we can make 24 hour days into 28 or 30 hour days. The reality, is that we all need to be careful to take the time to make our health and well-being a priority. Remember to take time to exercise, to eat well, and most importantly, to sit and breathe. Enjoy the time you have, because this program is over in a blink. So that is what I implore of all of you and of myself to do – take time. Have a quick coffee with a friend, take a walk around the park, spend a half an hour just sitting and talking with a loved one. It doesn’t need to be a major time commitment, but trust me, your mind, body, and soul will thank you.

Tristen Shay