Abstract
McKenna, a student at Pine Valley University, struggles with understanding her future career aspirations. McKenna shares these concerns with her supervisor, Emily, who encourages her that her talents would be excellent in the field of student affairs. McKenna and Emily’s relationship as mentor and mentee upsets another one of Emily’s supervisees, who feels Emily pours all her energy into McKenna’s future because of their shared interests. McKenna pursues a career in student affairs but begins to feel that she may not be drawn to the field as much as she enjoyed her former role in the Student Engagement Office.
Keywords: Advising and supporting, student leaders, careers in student affairs, student influence, self-authorship, ethic hiring processes
Primary Characters
McKenna Lowell (she/her) is a third-year student at Pine Valley University PVU). She is a communication major but is struggling to find a fulfilling career in this field. McKenna is a member of the Pine Valley Student Government Association (PSGA), an orientation leader, and President of the Pine Valley University Ski Club, which she helped establish on campus. In PSGA this year, McKenna serves as the Student Affairs Chair and works closely with the PSGA advisor and Assistant Director of Student Organizations to fulfill her responsibilities.
Andrew Brown (he/him) is a third-year student at Pine Valley University. He is majoring in biology and has a minor in Spanish. Andrew has dreamed of going to medical school since he was a little boy; both of his parents are surgeons. He is very intelligent student who works hard to build his professional and personal resumes in preparation for medical school applications. His extracurricular involvement incudes biology club, campus tour guide, Dance Marathon, and Pine Valley Student Government Association (PSGA). This year, his leadership commitment increased to include the Head of Programming for PSGA. In this position, he will work closely with the Assistant Director of Student Organizations for the university to plan events on campus.
Emily Parker (she/her) is the Assistant Director of Student Organizations at PVU. Emily graduated with her bachelor’s degree in marketing in 2019 and her master’s degree in College Student Personnel in 2021. Both of her degrees came from PVU. While completing her master’s degree, Emily held an assistantship in the Student Engagement Office at PVU. She continued her work in this office after graduation when she accepted the Assistant Director of Student Organizations role. Emily now works closely with PSGA to support student’s programming needs and leadership development. Emily’s favorite parts of her job includes mentoring and supporting students as they move through their undergraduate career.
Institutional Context
Pine Valley University is a private liberal arts college in the Midwest. The primarily residential institution has six colleges and over 40 majors. It is the home to about 4,000 undergraduate students and 500 graduate students. Moderately selective, PVU is a primarily white institution. Students tend to be highly involved, with over 80% of students involved in at least one student organization on campus. The university prides itself in providing students with autonomy to learn, grow, and lead in their own way, and students are oftentimes highly involved in the decision-making process in many student affairs offices throughout the university.
Pine Valley Student Government Association (PSGA) is a 20-member organization dedicated to enhancing the student experience. Members of PSGA work closely with various student affairs professionals and functional areas at PVU to solve problems and advocate for student needs across campus. The PSGA Student Affairs Chair (McKenna’s position) reports to the Assistant Director of Student Organizations and has weekly office hours in the Student Engagement Office to carry out their duties. The Head of Programming of PSGA (Andrew’s position) also holds weekly office hours in the Student Engagement Office and works closely with the Assistant Director of Student Organizations to organize PSGA’s events. Both positions within PSGA are paid positions.
The Case
As the semester begins, Andrew and McKenna have been spending lots of time in the Office of Student Engagement holding their PSGA office hours, working on campus-wide projects, and interacting with student affairs professionals. McKenna comes to the office during her down time to chat with staff members and complains about her major more frequently as the semester moves ahead. She feels bored and unmotivated by her communications classes and struggles to see a future in the field.
As she leaves the office for class one day, she comments to Emily, “I wish I could spend all day here! It is way more fun than going to class.” Emily laughs, as she remembers feeling the exact same way during her undergraduate years. She loved her time in extracurricular activities much more than her time in the classroom.
Emily notices that McKenna stresses about her future career roadblock and starts to invest extra time and support into her. She treats her to coffee, provides her with her personal phone number, and talks to her almost daily. The two develop a strong, but casual and informal connection. They discuss McKenna’s passions and interests, and Emily loves to point out how similar the two of them are. One day, as they are preparing for a full-team PSGA meeting, Emily asks Mckenna, “So, have you ever considered working in student affairs? You would be so great at this! It suits you.”
McKenna thinks a lot about what Emily said. She really appreciated the affirmation, as she looks up to Emily in many ways. It felt nice to hear validation from someone who inspires her.
Discussion Questions
- Where is McKenna at in development in Baxter-Magolda’s self-authorship theory?
- Which of Chickering and Reisser’s seven vectors could McKenna’s be in developmentally at this point in her college career?
- How does Emily’s influence as a mentor impact McKenna’s development and possible career choice?
Case Continued
As the semester progresses, Andrew, who is frequently in the Student Engagement office with Emily and McKenna, notices the two of them spend a lot of time together. He understands they have similar interests, but he sometimes feels left out. He hears Emily and McKenna talking about potential graduate programs for McKenna to apply for and sees them hanging out together on campus sometimes. Andrew understands that McKenna is exploring the possibility of going into a similar career field as Emily, but he feels frustrated and annoyed.
While he is confident and self-assured in his future career, not only is he missing the career mentoring, but he also gets less support in his PSGA role than McKenna does. He feels he has been unable to develop a strong relationship with Emily. He does not feel comfortable going to her with questions or for support, because she is always with McKenna. He decides he will not return to PSGA and is looking forward to the end of his term when the semester concludes.
As Andrew eventually drops out of PSGA, McKenna starts to focus on applying for graduate programs in student affairs. She relies heavily on Emily for support and mentoring and looks forward to being in a role like Emily’s. She tells Emily one day, “I can’t wait to be just like you!” Emily feels proud for successfully supporting and mentoring McKenna in this decision-making process.
Discussion Questions
- What elements of the environment contributed to Andrew’s lack of sense of belonging?
- How could Emily have balanced supporting both Andrew and McKenna, despite the shared interest she and McKenna’s have in the field of student affairs?
- How could Emily navigate career conversations with students and balance providing encouragement with space to navigate their own path?
Two Years Later
McKenna applies and is accepted into the College Student Personnel master’s program at PVU. She secures a graduate assistantship in academic advising. Throughout her graduate school experience, McKenna learns that student affairs is more than and different from what she experienced during her undergraduate studies. She struggles to understand her new role as a professional and misses the support and love she was given as a student. She faces a lot of challenges specifically related to shifting from being a student leader to a graduate student. McKenna begins to question her role in student affairs and her motives for entering the field.
Discussion Questions
- What role does Emily play (if any) in McKenna’s dissatisfaction in student affairs?
- If McKenna approaches Emily with her frustrations, what suggestions can Emily provide and how should/can she shift more decision-making responsibility and accountability to McKenna in this situation?
Author Biographies
Lyndsey Johns (she, her, hers) is a second-year graduate student at Bowling Green State University in the College Student Personnel program. In addition to pursuing her master’s education, Lyndsey serves as a graduate assistant in the C. Raymond Marvin Center for Student Leadership and Civic Engagement. After graduation, Lyndsey hopes to fund a full-time role dedicated to empowering students through leadership development and community and civic engagement.
Samantha McDonald (she, her, hers) is a second-year graduate student in the College Student Personnel (CSP) master’s program at Bowling Green State University. She currently works as a graduate advisor in the Thompson Scholarship Program, where she advises a caseload of students and supports different leadership and service-learning initiatives. After graduation, she hopes to find a full-time position working in orientation, transition, or first-year experience.