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Moral,
Ethical, and Spiritual Issues
For me, the moral, ethical,
and spiritual competency is one of great importance. I
believe that as a professional in student affairs, I
need to understand how my values and spiritual beliefs
influence how I do my job and interact with people
around me. I truly believe that my impact on students'
lives flows from my relationship with Christ. I hope to
be an example and role model for students by making
choices consistent with my beliefs and morals and by
taking ownership of my decisions, whether positive or
negative.
My Personal Commitment to God and
Why I want to Work in Student Affairs
Being a Christian in a Secular
Environment
Discipleship Groups/Mentoring
Relationships
Worship Nights in Engstrom Hall at
APU
Devotions with My Staff and the
Women RAs
Codes of Ethics Guiding Student
Affairs
My Personal Commitment to
God and Why I Want to Work in Student Affairs:
My relationship with Jesus is
the sole most important part of my life. I believe that
I am God's beloved daughter, which influences how I make
choices and interact with other people. In my life, I
have experienced God's grace and love for me. In many
ways, my desire to work with college students stems from
my relationship with God. Although I was raised in a
Christian home, I grew and learned a lot about myself
and my values the most during college. I asked a lot of
questions about my faith and how to make it a true part
of my life, especially when I discovered that many
issues do not have a black and white answer. On
the whole, I learned that God loves me as I am - with all my
weaknesses and points of brokenness. My relationship
with God has been a journey of many ups and downs. Yet,
God proves Himself faithful over and over again to me.
It is because of Him that I want to work with students,
especially college students. College was a time in my
life where my relationship with God was taken to a
deeper level, and I saw God work in tangible ways. I
truly believe that college is one of the most life
changing times in people's lives. Because of this, I
pray that God will give me the chance to impact people
for Him simply by being an accepting and loving person
towards them.
As a student affairs
professional, I want my focus to stay on helping
students see their value and worth. I want to walk
alongside of students as they struggle through their own
questions, life situations, and overall development.
More than anything, I hope that my life can be an
example of God's love and grace to the students I am
given the privilege to interact with. I believe my
passion and love for students is also communicated in my
philosophy of students affairs; because of my belief
that God has created us all uniquely with gifts and
talents, I want to be someone who can speak truth into
students lives encouraging their individuality and
giftedness.
My
Philosophy of Student Affairs
Being a Christian in a
Secular Environment:
One of my long term goals in
student affairs is to work in a secular environment.
For one year during my time in the CSA program, I had
the opportunity to work at Cal Poly Pomona Foundation
Housing Service. From the start of my time working at
Cal Poly, I saw the need for professionals who really
care about students, who are not willing to compromise
themselves to move upwards in rank, and who live their
lives as an example to students by doing the things they
tell students to do. At times, I struggled to be in an
environment that seemed against some of my beliefs, yet
at other times, I saw God open doors to conversations
with students that were simply incredible. For example,
I had a student come and knock on my door once to ask
questions about "faith" and "God" because she had seen a
tattoo of a "Jesus fish" that I have on my lower back.
During my time at Cal Poly, I was able to have
conversation after conversation with students about my
faith because of the questions they would ask about why
I chose to live my life the way I did. Although I am
currently working in a Christian environment, I want to
one day be back at a secular school, working with
students who otherwise may never experience the love of
God.
Discipleship
Groups/Mentoring Relationships:
One of the ways that I have
worked with students at Azusa Pacific University is in
the context of small groups and mentoring
relationships. Last year (2003-2004), I met with a
woman because of an accountability/judicial issue.
During our meeting, we talked through what had happened
and also that God was ready and waiting to give her
grace regarding the situation. It was an accountability
meeting that an RD can really only dream of! After the
meeting, I received a note from the woman thanking me
for talking with her and still accepting her even though
she had made some poor choices. Over the next month or
so, we continued getting to know each other. She
eventually approached me about leading a d group
(discipleship group) with her and some of her friends.
I had the privilege of meeting with four women
throughout the rest of the year. During our times
together, we talked about life, held each other
accountable, and read through the book Abba's Child
by Brennan Manning. This was a time where four women,
who were at the start of their journeys with Christ,
were able to simply ask questions about themselves and
God.
Review of Abba's Child
Abba's Child at Amazon.com
Worship Nights in Engstrom
Hall at APU:
One way that I sought to bring
a spiritual element into my job at Azusa Pacific
University (APU) was encouraging my Resident Advisor
(RA) staff to create an environment allowing students to
be real and worship together in community. My staff
came up with the idea of hosting a worship night. Our
first worship night consisted of several different
cultures' worship styles being presented. The students
in Engstrom Hall loved it! We spent time worshiping God
through singing, scripture reading, and prayer. The
idea of worship night caught on, and my residents asked
if it would be alright if they continued to have monthly
worship nights. It was so exciting to me that my
residents wanted to continue being together in community
and take ownership of this themselves. As a result, my
RA staff and I were able to support our residents in
hosting worship nights throughout the second semester.
"Worship Night" Schedule
Devotions with My Staff and
the Women RAs:
One of the things that I value
in my job at APU is being able to be honest and upfront
about my faith in God. Because of this, I take
seriously the opportunities given to me to talk with my
staff and the women RAs about their own faith, how God
loves them, and how they can focus on God in their
leadership. I have given myself the challenge of
presenting development opportunities to my students
focusing on God. One of the things that I did with my
staff was a devotional on leadership coming from God. I
presented the devotional to them along with a challenge
to figure out what leadership meant to them. I gave
them time to write out their thoughts for themselves and
them come back together to talk things through as a
group. I have also had the chance to talk with all the
women RAs. During a women's day retreat, I spoke to the
women about beauty and finding their worth in being who
God created them to be.
Devotional on Leadership
Codes of Ethics Guiding
Student Affairs:
As a professional in
Student Affairs, I believe it is important that I am
familiar and aware of the codes of ethics of various
professional organizations. One of my hopes is that I
will remain conscious of the ethics set forth by those
leading the field of Student Affairs. American College
Personnel Association (ACPA) and National Association
for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) are the two
leading Student Affairs organizations; because of this,
I want to make sure that I know what they stand for and
promote. I also believe that it is important for me to
understand the values of ethics of the organization for
which I work. Currently, I work at Azusa Pacific
University (APU). APU's four cornerstones are Christ,
scholarship, community, and service; it is important to
me that I am able to support and stand behind the ethics
and values for the institution in which I work and give
my time.
National
Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
Standards of Professional Practice
American College Personnel
Association (ACPA) Statement of Ethical Principles
Four
Cornerstones of APU
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