Quest to be a Lifelong Learner
When I started my undergraduate degree I had absolutely no interest in pursuing additional higher education. But as I continued through college, I found that, with the help and motivation of incredible individuals around me, I had developed a love and a passion for learning. However, this was not a new love for learning but rather, a re-discovered love for something that had always been there.
I was sitting in a lunch meeting when I received an email confirming my acceptance into the Master of Arts in Communication and Journalism at South Dakota State University. I could not be more excited! I get the opportunity to formally continue my education at a university that has helped strengthen my love for education by providing me with incredible mentors and classmates. I am thankful for all the people along the way who have inspired, challenged and taught me because without such incredible parents, teachers, mentors, and advisors, I would not be the student that I am today.
Learning does not end when you take off the cap and gown, learning should be a continuous journey and present each and every day. We should make it our goal as a society to strive to foster and celebrate learning so that we raise a generation that is curious and eager to learn.
A week after I submitted my personal statement, I had the opportunity to (nervously) shake the hand of Neil DeGrasse Tyson and thank him for inspiring a portion of my personal statement and for challenging people to strive to be lifelong learners.
I am thrilled to take another step in my educational journey and look forward to what this new chapter teaches me. My personal statement articulates my inspiration for wanting to pursue a graduate degree and what I hope to achieve from the program.
For almost three years, from the age of ten to thirteen, my family and I would attend outstanding musicals and plays at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After attending the musical, we would spend hours walking through the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. My sister and I would make up stories about the pieces of art and my parents would incorporate the history of the pieces into our fantasy narratives. Throughout high school, I put little thoughts towards what an incredible and valuable experience those three years were for me and how they were the fundamental blocks to my passion for learning and expanding my views of other cultures. My parents have always encouraged creativity, learning, and education. The knowledge that they shared with me planted the seed in me to strive to be a life-long learner.
Anthony J. D’Angelo once said, “Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow.” I have grown and developed my passion and thirst for knowledge and exploring the world around me. As a young child, I would organize my toy animals into classes. I loved the days when it was art day at pre-school and I could blend my primary color paints to make secondary colors. I have always been a person that is driven by my desire to immerse myself fully in leadership positions in anything that I commit myself to. In high school, I was the captain of the cross country team, Nordic ski and track team, Student Senate Secretary for four years, National Honors Society Executive Secretary, and a Junior Rotarian. When I came to college that hunger and drive for leadership did not faultier. While at South Dakota State University, I held the position of the president for both the Consumer Affairs Club and Staters for State, an Education and Human Sciences Ambassador and a member of the track and field team.
In a podcast, Neil DeGrasse Tyson stated quite bluntly that, “Not many people can count more than five teachers who impacted they’re learning”. I was shocked that he had said this. I have always treasured my education that I have been able to obtain, but it was not until this moment that I considered myself to be an outlier. Without skipping a beat, I am able to name more than fifteen educators throughout my life who have positively impacted and constantly encouraged my drive to be a lifetime learner.
Our society so often celebrates the end of education, whether it’s throwing papers into the air on the last day of high school or counting down the days until graduation. We should appreciate our educational experience and strive to be lifelong learners and proclaimers of knowledge. In hopes to be transparent and honest, when I started at South Dakota State University I truly had no intention to continue my education past the undergraduate level. It was not until my sophomore year, when Val Kleinjan (Albert) was my instructor for Honors HDFS Lifespan Development, that I considered furthering my education. She joked that she achieved her Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism because she didn’t know what she wanted to do in the real world and then achieved her Masters in Counseling and Human Development because she still didn’t know what she wanted to do. From the first day, she showed a passion for learning and for sharing her knowledge. She reveled in watching her students succeed and in pushing them to strive for higher academic goals. She was relatable, passionate and was everything I needed in an educator.
During the spring of my freshman year, I switched from pre-Nursing to Consumer Affairs with Marketing and Advertising minors. I knew Nursing wasn’t my path, but I had no idea what I wanted to do with my new educational path. I have shadowed a variety of professionals including people at top Advertising agencies in Minneapolis, a SDSU alumni in charge of the top ten partners with the NFL Vikings team and the head of human resources at a Fortune 500 Company. As interesting as their jobs are, they did not spark an excitement for me. It was not until a friend recently advised me to “Be the person you needed when you were younger”, that I felt a spark within me. From the first Lifespan class to the present, Val has continued to be a constant source of knowledge, friendship and supporter of lifelong learning. It is my goal to inspire students to continue building their knowledge over their lifetime. I would like to be an inspiration and mentor for a future student like Val and so many of my other teachers and professors have been for me.
The Communication Master program has been highly praised by the mentors I have at South Dakota State. Not only will the program provide me with the opportunity to student teach, but it will provide me with the invaluable skill to communicate successfully. Whether my career path finds me in academia or in the corporate world, understanding how to communicate effectively is an instrumental skill for success. To achieve a graduate degree in Communication Studies would be a fantastic stepping stone for me to become the person that I needed when I was younger and continue my quest to be a lifelong learner.
