Western Regional Careers in Student Affairs Day

I recently attended the Western Regional Careers in Student Affairs Day at USC with a group of Cal Poly Pomona students and professional staff members!  Thank you University Housing Services and Reyes Luna, Associate Director for Residence Life, for supporting student leaders like myself and funding the trip to this amazing conference! It was exactly what I needed to regain momentum and inspiration during my process of researching and applying for graduate programs in Higher Education and Student Affairs!

Before attending the conference I thought I had my mind set on a couple of  programs for Higher Education here in Southern California, but this conference made me aware of the variety and range of programs available throughout California as well as throughout the United States.  I was able to learn more about the programs in the CSU system I had previously researched including the programs at Fullerton, Long Beach, and Northridge, while also discovering programs I had previously disregarded because of financial concerns such as University of San Diego and Oregon State University.

I learned that private schools as well as out-of-state schools should still be on my radar because there are opportunities for scholarships and assistantships which can pay for some or even all of the cost of attending graduate school!  It can't hurt to apply because I have always wanted to travel and broaden my understanding of the world around me. Why not travel while continuing my education at the same time?

This conference also helped me make connections with faculty and graduate students at CSU Fullerton, CSU Long Beach, and the University of San Diego.  These were just a few of the programs with representation at the graduate fair during the conference, but I was grateful to make a special connection which each of the programs at the schools listed above.  As a result of these connections, I am attending several information sessions in the near future at these universities and am talking with several faculty members about the opportunity to sit in on graduate classes!  I am so excited to attend my first information session and hopefully sit-in on part of a graduate class next week at the beautiful University of San Diego and learn more about their M.A. in Higher Education Leadership/Student Affairs!