Past, Present, & Future Paper
GEN 480
Celena Hadlock

Past, Present, & Future Paper

The Past Upon starting my education with the University of Phoenix program I was unemployed and actively seeking re-employment. Prior to losing my job I was running an exceptional sports program at one of our organizations premier facilities in a very affluent community. However, I was feeling as though I had hit a plateau in my career and professional development due to not having my degree. The next areas of professional growth for me in my field involve becoming an Executive Director or an Association Youth Sports Director, but both of these positions require me to possess a degree. Not having my degree completely removed these career options from my reach and left me trapped in a dead position without much room for future upward growth or mobility. I felt that finding time to continue my education and secure my degree was not an option. Continuing my education was very important for my personal growth and development. Experiencing the rewards of learning both as a student and as certified CPR and Lifeguard instructor of several years I feel strongly about the role that learning plays in an individual’s development. Learning new things helps to keep individuals connected and engaged in the world around us and adds understanding and value to our lives. Learning impacts every part of who we are as human beings and increases the potential for who we can become by challenging and expanding what we know or thought we knew about the world around us. Prior to attending the University of Phoenix I was a college student at Southern University, in Baton Rouge, LA. My college education and life experiences provided me with various opportunities to build on my level of professional competencies through active problem solving by using different types of decision making models. While in college I worked as a lifeguard at an indoor and outdoor pool and in a hospital on an acute unit as a detox and psychiatric technician. These experiences required and challenged me to develop my written and oral communication skills, information retrieval, utilization, and collaboration skills. As a technician with the hospital I worked very closely with doctors and nurses on the unit communicating sensitive and confidential personal information about individual patients and their care plans. The position required me to provide daily Behavioral Intervention Response (BIR) Charting where information was documented in a patients chart to assist the patient’s planning team with treatment. There were also many occasions where I was required to collaborate with the nurses to discuss my observations of individual patients to the care team. This type of oral and written communication allowed me to apply many of the skills being taught in college to real world situations in a professional environment. During this period in my life my career goals were not very defined or specific. I was at a period in life where I was experiencing and exploring the freedoms associated with being completely on my own hundreds of miles away from home making daily decisions for myself. Sometimes I made bad decisions and had to deal with the consequences of those actions or decisions and other times I made what I considered to be good decisions and reaped the rewards of those brief, few, and far between moments of glory. I was interested in business and entrepreneurship but just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do career wise. My primary goals at this point in my life was to stay in school, give it my best, and explore everything that college life had to offer. Growing up in the inner city of Detroit public school system prior to going to college I didn’t really have a frame of reference that included going to college other than the fact that my parents both graduated from college and a friend of mine was interested in going to college to play in the band. Honestly, I really didn’t see college in my future. The Present During my continuing education with the University of Phoenix (UoP) I have had the opportunity to actively immerse myself in a variety of relevant courses and experiences that have reshaped my personal and professional thoughts, beliefs, and understanding on business theory, principles, and best practices. Many of the courses I was enrolled in challenged my perception of business systems and business ethics. The discussion questions were very deliberate, thought provoking and inspired creative discussions. An advantage to the UoP online environment is that it allowed me and others in the class the opportunity to read through, analyze, and apply critical thinking at leisure. This made it possible to engage instructors and peers in a virtual medium that transcended traditional methods and barriers associated with class room learning. Communication, collaboration, and problem solving have flourished in this environment because it made it easy for me to explore, develop, and sharpen my thoughts. The University of Phoenix has greatly contributed to my personal growth because today I am open and more tolerant of others beliefs, perceptions, and values. I have learned how to encourage and engage others in productive conversations that add value and insight to discussions without condemning or criticizing. General education courses that played a role in moving my career to the next level were an Introduction to Public Speaking course and a physical education swimming course. These courses were provided by Southern University. I feel that the public speaking course will be a lifelong aid, as I have been able to overcome a fear of standing in front of large groups to teach classes and provide guidance through monthly in-services to my team. This is a transferable skill that I will be able to use in the future as I move from lower management to upper management within my organization. Another general education that has been instrumental in my success is the physical education swimming course. Without this course, I would not be able to swim and get my very first job as a lifeguard. This may not be the staple for my future career path, but this course was responsible for laying the first stone on my foundation to success. It ultimately became the key that unlocked the door to the road that I am traveling on today. Team Dynamics for Managers and Financial Management in Human Services are the two courses that have applied the greatest contribution to my current and future growth. In Team Dynamics for Managers, the discussion was centered on effective communication methods, working in groups, listening skills, and determining the roles of group members and rewards/incentives to give when goals have been met. This course is applicable to my current position as a Sr. Aquatics Director and will be beneficial as I move forward in the future. It provides a foundation for teamwork that I use currently and will continue to apply. Financial Management in Human Services is another great course. This course focuses on the differences in accounting practices in for-profit and non-profit organizations. Budgeting techniques, different funding options and financial statement knowledge acquired through this course will allow me to grow as a leader in a non-profit organization. Although I understood how budgets work frm years of experience, it was helpful to have a refresher course and informational course at the same time. I felt a renewed sense of self when learning about financial management. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my online learning experience with the University of Phoenix and in comparison to my previous “brick and mortar” experience in relation to my current station in life with a career, family of four, and mortgage I would not hesitate in choosing The University of Phoenix again. When weighing the pros and cons I believe that it is all relative to individual circumstance and preference. However, if I had to compare apples to apples and recommend any changes or accommodations to enhance or improve UOP’s online experience I would work towards implementing greater consistency with how learning teams are formed, course work is distributed, and delivered to students. I have experienced several teachers that mandated even learning teams but have allowed students to select learning teams that did not fall under the guide lines recommended by the instructor (i.e. a team of two students while other teams in the class had six team members). Another recommendation might include specific policies and procedures geared towards the facilitation of class room discussions by the instructor. In some of my online classes the discussion questions were the only items presented to students and we were required to keep discussions moving forward based on the two discussion questions presented during the week. The challenge this created for students was that there was only so many things you could say about a specific topic and the discussions often grew cold and stale without direction or guidance from the instructor. Lastly, I feel that it could be reasonably argued that a specified word count does not equate to a substantial post although I understand the reasoning behind having a word count. I believe that by addressing these items for students the University can only add to the quality of the overall learning experience. The Future The desire to learn has always been a key element in my life. As a child of two college-educated parents, I have often wondered how I dropped the ball in my younger years. As I grew into an adult, I wondered if an education at my age was possible and if I could see myself as a lifelong learner. Over the years, I have taken a journey into gaining work experience. Through this process, I recognized that I was able to learn the skills necessary to further my career and transfer those skills through teaching to others. My program of study at University of Phoenix has shown me the importance of lifelong learning and the role it plays in my personal and professional growth. More importantly, I was able to learn that without lifelong learning a person’s growth will become stagnant. This can happen in your personal and professional lives as they intersect. In my personal and professional lives I strive to finish the projects that I start. I often find myself more successful in my professional life. However, I was becoming stagnant in this area and decided to return to school and unlock the doors that were constantly being closed in my face. Little did I know that UoP would unlock doors to my personal and professional growth. The classes pertaining to diversity, ethics, and teamwork meant to help you learn to work with a diverse group of individuals professionally had reshaped my personal views allowing me some growth on the personal level. Presently, I have a better job position than my last, but my goal is to push beyond my current field into the next. Without my UoP journey and the discovery of the effects of lifelong learning, there would be many limitations on what I can do professionally. Lifelong learning has a drastic impact on your life and once you start learning, your mind craves more and more. There would not be an opportunity for professional or personal growth without learning. The future for me looks as promising as my present. Goal setting has become a priority in my life. Over the course of the next five years, I have set goals that will enhance my personal growth and professional development. An important goal is to continue pursuing higher education. I plan to complement my bachelor’s degree with a master’s degree. The world is constantly changing and acquiring a Master’s Degree would be promising in these tough economic times. Professionally, I plan to pursue my dream of becoming an Executive Director in my current organization and follow in my father’s footsteps. My initial plan is to become an Associate Executive Director, while I continue on this journey of professional development. This position will allow me to work closely with an Executive Director and learn about the inner workings of the departments outside of my current specialty. This knowledge will be well gained as I journey on to becoming a leading executive. On this journey, I am certain that I will come across many workshops and conferences to take part in. My dream conference is one that will lead me down the path of entrepreneurship. Becoming an excutive is a professional goal, but becoming an entrepreneur is a personal goal for me. This is a childhood dream and although I see this one being in my ten year plan, I know that I have the ability to get it sone. The last step in my five year plan is to join my local chamber of commerce. This will assist me with both aspirations and I will be able to expand my network and enhance my development simultaneously. The acquisition of my Bachelor’s Degree will be the end of one chapter and the beginning of another. As I complete the walk that begins with a cap and gown and ends with the toss of a hat, I will know that this accomplishment was because of my efforts. I will be able to look back on the past and smile at the bittersweet moments. Each step in life takes you to the next. The realization of the fact that the future is now possible, because of my past struggles and present determination will yield me towards the next step in my journey. One day life will guide me back to this moment, which will undeniably become my past.