>> What's interesting about student affairs is
that most people just fall into the profession.
I had never heard of student affairs
as a profession until I was kind
of well into my undergraduate career.
And so, there's not a whole bunch of
preparation that needs to happen, I think.
I think the people can really
enter into student affairs
at whatever juncture they are in their career.
But having a heart for the work, so wanting
to help students, wanting to serve students,
having a philosophy that's student
oriented, student driven is important.
Certainly, going to school to learn various
theories and approaches to managing students
in their experiences, those are the
kinds of things you can do to prepare.
I think that if you honestly
want to help students,
if you've come to understand during your college
career that being a student leader feels good,
it's very rewarding to assist
students, to give back--
I started out as a resident assistant in
the residence halls, and loved my students.
And in retrospect, it felt like
I always was supposed to be
in a helping profession like student affairs.