1. What did you do for your practicum?  Please include a detailed description

For my practicum, I did Resident Assistant groundwork training to be an RA in the coming 2022-2023 school year. It was 4 weeks long and in the first week, we discussed I was introduced to the RA roles after discussing what we thought were some roles expected of us.  I was also presented with new perspectives on the residence hall environment and provided with some techniques, skills, and knowledge necessary to successfully perform as a RA.

2. What did you learn from your practicum? 

In the groundwork, there were 4 large modules. I learned how to manage my relationship with my residents as friends and as a leader. I learned different ways to face real-life scenarios as a leader to help facilitate problem-solving among the residents. Community development is a huge part of this job and there is going to be conflict in a community that I will have to help facilitate. Next, I learned about how to build an inclusive community. It's important to recognize biases, have empathy, and have those difficult conversations. Lastly, I learned how to respond to community concerns. There are certain roles I have in a crisis and times when I need to lean on others for support in emergencies. Overall, I brought my leadership skills to better understand how I can be the best RA.

3. How have you grown as a leader, student, and professional? Upload at least 1 artifact as evidence of that growth and discuss WHY you chose it. Describing WHY you uploaded something is more important than the item itself.   

As a leader and a student, I have grown by being able to lead peers that are around my age and being able to gain their respect. Here is a weekly journal log from my second week of training. I choose this piece of writing to demonstrate how as a leader in the community it's about persuading others to achieve the goals you set. I learned building a community is about getting the residents to want to build community as well. Also, as a leader, it's important to continue to challenge others to be better and as an RA I want to do that for my residents.

4. How can you apply your practicum experience to your life/career moving forward?

There are many life skills that are transferable from being an RA to my career and life moving forward. I learned how to counsel and advise first-year students on academic and personal questions and concerns, and being a mentor in life is a good skill to have in the workplace. I also learned how to develop a positive living environment for residents, often resolving conflicts. Learning how to set a positive work environment is super important as a leader. I also worked with other resident assistants to practice how to develop a successful hall community. In my career, I will have to work with others to create a successful community and team. Lastly, I learned a lot about conflict resolution skills which are very important skills to have in a career and life in general. 

5. What are your plans for:

1. The rest of your time at UMD?

 I have 3 semesters left at UMD and will start taking a graduate class next semester in the Business Analytics program. I am a part of the plus 1 program, so I plan to get my Master's in business analytics 1 year after I graduate with my BS degree in finance and operations management and business analytics. I also plan to get an internship in business analytics next summer 2023 to gain real-life experience.

   2. Post-graduation and your prospective career/field of interest? 

After being in finance for a little, I have discovered business analytics is more of an interest of mine over finance because it is data-driven with a focus on spotting trends and making decisions. I love to problem-solve, and I believe this is a great program for me because it is a lot of continuous analysis of problems and solutions for the company as a whole whereas finance is related more to investing.  I believe the graduate program will allow me to demonstrate a high level of expertise that not many peers my age will have, which is especially important in a field where the demand is exponentially growing right now. I am not exactly sure what career I want but I know business analytics is what I want to do, and I hope to find my path through the classes and projects done in the graduate program. 

6. How will you incorporate what you learned in PL (this could include your practicum) into your job search? 

The public leadership program has given me a wider perspective and given me skills outside the 2 majors I am gaining in the business school. I focused on different policies and current events by using different leadership approaches to figure out how we can solve those issues. I got to work with students in all different majors and we brought different skills to the table. I learned ethical decision-making and how to have a healthy discussion to negotiate myself well. I flourished my leadership styles and developed my writing and presentation skills. In my career working with others and being able to problem-solve real-life problems are essentials skills, I will need and have practiced a lot.