Getting Ready For The Movement

My name is Munirat Adebimpe and I am a graduate student in the College Student Personnel (CSP) program at the University of Rhode Island (URI). I am currently wrapping up last semester in the CSP program at the university and looking forward to attending the national NASPA conference to assist with my job search and professional development. As an undergraduate student at the University of Rhode Island, my passion to work with college students was fueled by my interactions with student affairs professional, but like many undergraduates at that level, I was unaware of what route to take. I was a resident assistant for a few years and served several committees that assisted with social justice initiatives at the university. When I graduated from URI with my Bachelors degree in Human Development and Family Studies, I worked in the mental health field for about three years prior continuing my education. I utilized this time to refine my counseling skills and reflect upon what aspects of student affairs most interested me and luckily, I found it working with “at-risk” student populations. I have surfaced into an individual that has committed a vast majority of my graduate career towards assisting and supporting at risk and underrepresented students on college campuses. I have devoted a considerable amount of time to educating myself and others on issues of social justice and equality, that being said, I feel comfortable enough to say that I operate in day to day operations within the multicultural perspective. Based on my understanding of this perspective, I have developed an appreciation in validating every student’s lived experience. I am vowed to being the best practitioner that I can be while developing the skills necessary to accomplish the goals I have set forth.

I am extremely thrilled to be attending the NASPA national conference in Chicago because of its’ the overarching theme that is essentially embedded in social justice. I believe this conference would not only promote my desires to become a skilled worker, but it will aid significantly in expanding upon my future educational endeavors. This conference will provide ample professional development opportunities, as it will enable me to attend educational sessions, workshops, network and communicate with others about the experience. My goals for attending this conference are genuinely to develop and emerge as an entry level professional, create and develop connections in the Chicago area, attend sessions that have an emphasis on social justice initiatives on college campuses and further refine the skills I currently possess. There are countless educational sessions at the conference and I have already started to input some key sessions in my itinerary. The first session I plan on attending is Creating Social Justice: Best Practices and Lessons Learned. The presenters of this session have described that they will assist participants in their respective session in understanding the best practices to create inclusive, multicultural campus communities. Other sessions I plan on attending are as follows: Responding to Troubled Students: The Role of Student Affairs , Implementing Innovation: Moving from Theory to Practice, African American Women’s Summit: Live the Legacy Using Strengths, Understanding Why You Became a Student Affairs Educator, (Re)Constructing Opportunities for Ethnic Minority Students, Game of Oppression: A Life-Sized Experience, Educating for Social Justice: Impacts of a Student Affairs Program, Nourishing Racially Diverse Students’ Sense of Belonging at PWIs. I am convinced that my goals personally, socially and academically will be met within just a few days at the conference.