I have officially completed my second year and have only three more semesters until I am Dr. Clark!!! Here are reminders of what I thought after I completed my first, second, third, fourth, and fifth semesters.
Completing my second year during a global pandemic was not expected. I’m sure no one expected the changes to “normalcy” that we’ve experienced. While there is much trauma to grieve, I want to lay out my top 5 things to remember from this semester:
#5
I got to experience hosting my first two twitter chats! Having my students work with me to pivot our assignments due to COVID-19 was a fun and unexpected experience. In addition, hosting the #SWCARESChat on May 6th was thrilling!
#4
I won a Presidential Award for Community Multicultural Enrichment. The many celebrations and thanks were overwhelming and filled with love. It was such an honor to receive such a prestigious award and to have my efforts recognized by the VCU community. Again, I want to extend my sincerest gratitude to each and every student I have had the pleasure of sharing a classroom with or an advising session and every colleague that has contributed to my growth.
#3
I wrapped up my first year as the coordinator for the VCU School of Social Work’s Online MSW Program. This year taught me just how valuable the content I’m learning in this doctoral program is to my success as a student-centered educator and leader.
#2
I wrapped up my first experience being part of an executive leadership team. From growing our consortium as an ad-hoc group to paid membership to developing articles of incorporation – I learned a lot and will forever be thankful for this 3.5 year experience.
#1
I was challenged by my mentor to authentically live out my word for 2020 – GRACE. And with my efforts, I needed to apply it to the school groups that I interacted with in the process. Admittedly, I am someone who enjoys being the leader and organizing groups when we have assignments to complete. An area that I needed to strengthen is trusting the quality of my teammates work. With the onset of COVID-19, it actually brought joy to my heart to see the strengthens that my group mates had and the final products we produced. The experiences I had this semester balancing work, family, and school will serve me well as I enter Year 3 and a group capstone dissertation because OH YEAH – Year 3 starts tomorrow!!!!
How to cite this blog post:
Clark, S. H. (2020, May 4).Β Year 2 is over!!!Β [Blog Post]. Retrieved fromΒ Becoming Dr. ClarkΒ website: https://becomingdrclark.com/year-2-is-over!!!/β