Making Connections
Old Dominion University’s LeADERS program connects students to courses and real world experiences in the areas of: Leadership, Academic Internship, Diversity, Entrepreneurship, Research, or Service Learning. This LeADERS ePortfolio shares how my experiences in the areas of Leadership, Academics, Diversity and Service Learning have supported my personal and professional development.
Reflecting Back
I joined the LeADERS program to find ways to become more connected to the university, and to grow and evolve as a leader.
A significant challenge I encountered throughout my time in the LeADERS program was being able to balance my time, especially during the service learning portion of my year. I had to learn how to balance my time between academics, my observations field experience, and my work life (given the time constraints of my placement and lack of reliable transportation). I overcame this by developing a consistent schedule for these aspects of my life ( while making time for myself) and reaching out to Old Dominion University to provide transportation to my placement school.
Some significant successes that occurred throughout the LeADERS program would be completing the courses and programs associated with the content areas of the program, having success within field placements with working with students despite the pandemic (and other confounding factors), and understanding how each area of the this program has shaped me to be the best person, best leader, and best educator I can be.
I see all my LeADERS experiences coming together through it all being rooted in the realm of the education. For the Academic Internship, Diversity, and Service Learning experiences, my courses were teaching me the fundamentals on creating engaging integrated lesson plans and activities, working in inclusion and multicultural classrooms, and navigating through the logistics of classroom management. The lesson-planning experiences has proved to be key when planning and assisting in planning of events and functions for various organization as I learned to be concise and meticulous. Learning how to work with various demographics of students has correlated on how to work with various demographics of people within my organizations, academics, and work-life. The classroom management fundamentals learned along the way have also correlated to managing people within organizations, academics, and work together task efficiently completed. Lastly, to complete this experience, the Leadership Lecture Series, provided me with the leadership tools necessary to use these experiences within the different areas of my life.
Offer examples of relevant course materials, either hyperlinking to documents, pulling in images, or quoting from your material.
Looking Forward
After gradating this semester with my Bachelor of Science degree, I plan to continue my education at Old Dominion University in the Master of Science Education program, to obtain my teaching license. I also plan on continuing to serve on the Old Dominion University chapter of the Student Virginia Education Association (SVEA) executive board (in some capacity), as well as continue on my journey of advocating for social-justice education within the Student Virginia Education Association Aspiring Educators (SVEA-AE) state program’s executive board.
Experiences within the LeADERS programs has prepared me to achieve my goals upon graduation as I have been equipped with the leadership tools, resources and networks to necessary to become the best educator I can be for my future students and to provide mentorship to other up-and-coming educators entering the program.
Skills of Mastery
| Work in a team structure | Plan, organize, and prioritize work |
| Make decisions and solve problems | Communicate effectively through written |
| Communicate verbally | Demonstrate computer-literacy |
| Analyze quantitative assessment and performance data | Create integrated lesson plans |
| Engage in proficient time-management | Work in inclusion classroom |