Where I Am Going:

A Final Reflection

 

I think the Youth Development Leadership Program at Clemson University does an amazing job at encouraging and inspiring student engagement. As with most graduate programs, students really get what they put into it. I am so happy that I waited years after graduating with my undergraduate degree to really settle on this program. I believe the years I've spent in the workforce, really developing my passion for youth development, and gaining experience in the various aspects of programming, fundraising, and leadership, really helped shape my time at Clemson. 

 

The best part of this program for me was the endless peer and faculty support of my creativity. I was allowed to think outside of the box for multiple assignments, helping me also translate those skills to my work environment. I’m extremely thankful that faculty and students have both recognized and nurtured my creativity throughout the assignments and projects. My first experience with this was in HEHD 800, where during a group project I took a risk and offered to create a historical overview of Youth Development Leadership by creating an infographic. The support and recognition of this creativity inspired me to do make countless powerpoint presentations, newsletters, marketing pieces, and culminate with my ePortfolio. O’Keeffe and Donnelly (2013) state that, “nurturing of creativity leads to self-directed, motivated learners and fosters life-wide creativity.” I also think that the ability to foster my creativity has allowed me to adapt to real world situations and utilize analytical thinking skills for problem solving and creative program planning.

 

I am also a very lucky individual in that the majority of classes I took happened to align with issues I was facing within my organization. Evaluation and Assessment Class came at a perfect time where we were looking into how to standardize and change our camping programs. I was able to utilize my plan to assess how to move forward. I was able to dive into leadership literature and reflect on major organizational restructures at the same time. I was also able to create a logic model at a time where the purpose of camp was being questioned. 

 

A lot of people have asked me what I plan to do with my degree. My plan is to utilize it in my current position with the Arthritis Foundation. I want to continue to help grow the juvenile arthritis programs and use my knowledge to advance the organization the best that I can through program creation and management, evaluation, fundraising and grantwriting, and overall general silliness, all while wearing a tutu.