STARTING OUT IN HIGHER EDUCATION PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
HEGSA is pleased to share with you the inaugural piece in the Contributor’s Section authored by second year Master’s Student, Kelly Freeman. We thank her for sharing her experiences through the Insider. For those interested in contributing interviews, opt-ed pieces, book reviews, or experiences at higher education-related event to the newsletter, please contact a steward about your idea. We look forward to sharing your work here!
We all know we should join and be active members in professional organizations, but how do you get started? I grappled with this last year, as a first semester Master’s student, with little to no experience with student affairs and higher education, let alone professional organizations. I wanted to be involved, but I did not feel ready to jump into a NASPA or ACPA national conference.
My first opportunity to become involved came out of my work as a graduate assistant in Freshman Studies at the University. I was lucky to have encouragement from my colleagues as well as the opportunity to start with a small and specialized professional organization. The first event I attended was a Town Hall meeting for the New Jersey Association for New Student Advocates (NJANSA). By starting out with a small organization and event that was specific to my work, I was able to get a feel for professional organizations and learn what membership meant. The knowledge and experience I gained from that event gave me the courage to seek out larger scale professional opportunities. Last spring, NASPA advertised a summer regional conference. I had joined NASPA while taking Intro to Higher Education, but until this point, I really was not too sure how to actually be involved. When the Region II conference was posted, I saw it as an opportunity to network outside of New Jersey and to work my way into NASPA without going to a national conference. This conference was located at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and it was not just educational, but quite fun. Events ranged from traditional sessions to a social at the National Zoo by the elephants. However, one of the best things about the conference is that you can register as a first-time conference attendee. This allowed me and my fellow first-timers to develop some connections before the main conference, and learn how to effectively attend a bigger conference. With the support I received, I felt the conference was a huge success and it helped me become more confident in pursuing membership and involvement in professional organizations.
This prompted me to respond to NJANSA’s call for presentation proposals for its bi-annual conference in Atlantic City in the fall. I had never presented or even submitted a presentation proposal, but I decided to take the opportunity. To do this I relied heavily on the guidance of my colleagues and classmates who had presented before and were heavily involved with professional organizations. Their experience and advice was invaluable, and after submitting my proposal and then re-submitting an updated version at the request of the conference committee, I was given the go-ahead to present. Now I had to make the presentation, which I realized was even more daunting than the proposal. However, again with the support of my experienced colleagues and through many drafts I finished it. The presentation was simple and it focused on the work of Freshman Studies in collaboration with the entire University. While I was nervous to present, I am glad that I took the risk to do it, and can say that it went well. It is through experiences like these that I hope to become more involved and continue to seek new opportunities professionally. If you are starting out, I suggest starting small, find people who will support you, be brave, and take any opportunities that come your way.