Kelly Freeman just completed her first semester as a graduate student in the HESA M.A. program. She received her bachelor’s in International Relations and Economics from SHU. She worked in forensic economics for a year, but missed working in student affairs and has gone back into the higher education field. While in the program, she feels fortunate to see student development theories play out through her graduate assistantship at Freshman Studies; which provides valuable experience for her goal of becoming a practitioner in higher education. As a First Year Experience (FYE) Mentor, she enjoys her students because they keep her job fresh every day. She hopes to eventually run a FYE program, become a Dean of Students, or work within the general area of Student Affairs.
Master’s Student Kelly Freeman
Kelly’s advice to fellow master’s students in the HESA program is, “don’t let yourself be intimidated by the fact that you’re surrounded by doctoral students. I was, but then I realized my opinion was just as valid and valued as the other students. Know that you are also accepted and your experience is just as important.” Kelly also believes master’s students need their own orientation to the program, especially those who have not come from a higher education background.
Kelly sees the trends in higher education heading toward providing services to students other than freshman such as SHU’s Sophomore Center, as well as supporting at-risk populations of students who have below average GPAs. She is interested to see how higher education professionals can focus on the data of students such as pre-nursing sophomores so as to understand how to change and grow with and for these students. Kelly hopes that though this current undergraduate class is considered the most academically prepared, they need to learn to be their own self advocate, not rely on technology to be engaged. She believes we as professionals need to develop new ways to support the non-traditional cohort, an important part of the SHU community.
Kelly encourages graduate students to be part of the traditions and culture of SHU. If you ask Kelly about SHU fun facts, she has many to share, including “do not step on the seal in the center of the Green, because it means you won’t graduate on time! If you do step on it, you have to run to the Pirate and run back to the seal in one minute. If you watch, you’ll see that students go to great lengths not to step on the seal.”
Feel free to stop by Kelly’s office in Moony Hall 13 or email her at kelly.freeman@student.shu.edu.
Master’s Corner
A new section of The Insider highlighting the Higher Education and Student Affairs Master’s program. For more information about the Higher Education and Student Affairs program, visit http://www.shu.edu/academics/education/ma-college-administration/index.cfm.