As I talked to a friend they
insisted I should do a presentation on my grad school journey. After the
completion I did not know what to expect or what path I would take. At some
point it hit me maybe ii should be working towards going to grad school so I can
get two more years to plan out. I remember as a 4th year student at NIU Ricky
Layfield a member of the Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA)said “James
you know as a senior you can be a member of BGSA”. Listening to his words as I started
my last year at NIU I started attending the BGSA meetings on a regular basis. They helped me see Graduate school was the
path I was suppose to take and made it seem a lot less intimidating than what
imagined. I was given an unofficial blue
print on how to get in grad school and what to expect.
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| The Bling I wore to Graduation Each one has its on meaning. |
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| ME and My roommate 2015 Graduates |
As I continued into my senior year
my supervisor Ted had sent me an email and recommended this class that would be
an introduction to Student Affairs. I jumped on the opportunity and maybe after
a week or two I knew I wanted to know more about student affairs. As I compiled
my list of schools to apply for graduate school NIU was the only school on my
list. Unlike when I came into undergraduate
I did not need to apply to 5 schools for grad school because they would get
very expensive and with a number of grad programs a requirement would be for
you to visit campus, application fees ,
ect. As I started this process I was informed to have at least two choices. I
became more open and was looking to find another school I could add to my short
list. After attending the Oshkosh Placement Exchange (OPE) I was more opened
and had added a potential three schools to my list.
One of my Fraternity brothers Lavan
talked me into attending OPE he was going. I registered and I honestly psyched
myself out from going. After looking and reviewing the job postings I saw
majority of the postings was for housing individuals. I have unofficial housing
experience I was never a Residential Adviser (RA) but I was highly involved
with the Residence Hall Association for three years along with many other
things. I told myself there was no point of going because I was not an housing
person. I was surprised after
registering and I got a few schools contact me about setting up interviews with
me. After having a pep talk with my Trio
counselor she informed OPE would be a great experience to get into interview
mode and I had to remember I have enough transferable skills to help me succeed
in the housing field. I went and over
the two days we could interview with different schools I was able to secure
like 10. I was excited since I had not been registered for the event a whole week.
After leaving OPE I was fired up I was
able to test my interview skills and open my perspective to a few new schools.
After attending OPE my next goal was to get my Grad School Application for NIU
complete. I had started but still needed to take the Millers Analogy test (MAT),
pay my application fee, secure my letters of recommendation, and find a graduate
assistant (GA).
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| ME and My little Brother |
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| ME and mamma bear |
As I completed my Grad School App
for NIU the day before spring break I had 5 interviews coming up over spring
break. One was a skype interview for a school out of state and the other 4 was
in person for GA’s at NIU. I will be the
first to say that of those 5 interviews I did not get any of those GA’s I interviewed
for during my spring break. I know I interviewed
great and I could be a good fit where ever I go. But that wasn’t my call and I continued
to look. After spring I was officially informed
I was accepted into the NIU grad program I was excited and knew I had to work
that much harder to find a GA. I had this fear that I would have to wait a
semester to start grad school or I wouldn’t get in. Applying to grad school has
been one of the most nerve wrecking things I have done in my undergrad
career. As I shared my concerns with a
friend she said hey my office is looking for GA’s. She had me send over my resume
and they called me to sit up for an interview. The first interview had to get
rescheduled and I felt a little anxiety. As we rescheduled the interview I was excited
and got a good feel from the Department. They were eager and im pretty sure the
first three questions came from things they found on my resume and was interested
in knowing more. The first question
literally was tell us more about Beijing. I thank Dr. Heard for telling me and pushing
me to include my study abroad experience on my resume. It has been a life saver
and now has helped me get two different jobs.
I also am able to control the interview if given a question completely around
my study abroad experience. I was excited the next day after the interview to
get an email welcoming me to the team of the office. I so graciously accepted the
position and am looking forward to start working there in august.
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