"A leader is someone who helps improve the lives of other people or improve the system they live under."
-Sam Houston
-Sam Houston
Service is personally fulfilling, but it is also a vital action of a great leader. As a future training manager, I will need to coordinate people and resources to achieve the goals of the organization (Gardner et al., 2018), but as a leader, I should also use innovation, trust, and influence to motivate people (Litchfield, 2018). As steps toward maintaining an active life of service, I have done pro-bono work in the field, and I have joined several professional organizations in order to gain valuable knowledge and experience, to network, and to serve.
My vision is to help improve the lives of other people everywhere I can.
Primary Evidence |
In Summer 2020, outside of any course or program requirements, I completed an internship with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). This experience directly related to my focus on staff training, and in addition to the service aspect, it was a great opportunity to network with staff and managers in the field.
At the time of the onset of my internship, TDCJ was working under short deadlines to move existing face-to-face training plans and materials online. I worked with a Correctional Training subject matter expert to create training videos, and as an additional service to the Training and Leader Development Division, I created a video production guide for use by employees and future interns. Please view the letter below, from David Yebra, the director of the division, for further details.
At the time of the onset of my internship, TDCJ was working under short deadlines to move existing face-to-face training plans and materials online. I worked with a Correctional Training subject matter expert to create training videos, and as an additional service to the Training and Leader Development Division, I created a video production guide for use by employees and future interns. Please view the letter below, from David Yebra, the director of the division, for further details.
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Please note that the lecture/green-screen footage was captured before I started working on the project, and re-filming was not an option due to time constraints faced by the division. I did advise the team on how to capture the lectures at a higher resolution for future videos, and I made recommendations to help improve the green screen studio.
Supplementary Evidence
I have become an active member of the Association for Education Communications and Technology (AECT), and I have served in the following ways (click the linked dates for evidence):
Reviewing conference proposals has provided me with insight and experience in trends and techniques in scholarly research. In addition to learning more about research in our field, these service opportunities have provided networking opportunities, and I have cultivated meaningful relationships with other AECT members, especially in my focus area of organizational training.
- Conference reviewer for the Design & Development division, 2020
- Conference session facilitator on behalf of the Graduate Student Assembly (GSA), 2020
- Representative to the Organizational Training & Performance Board, 2020-2021 & 2021-2022
- Conference reviewer for the Culture, Learning and Technology; Design & Development; Distance Learning; and Organizational Training and Performance divisions (12 total reviews), 2021
Reviewing conference proposals has provided me with insight and experience in trends and techniques in scholarly research. In addition to learning more about research in our field, these service opportunities have provided networking opportunities, and I have cultivated meaningful relationships with other AECT members, especially in my focus area of organizational training.
I have joined the following professional training and ISDT-related organizations and will participate in additional service opportunities as needs arise:
I also served as a proposal reviewer for:
- American Educational Research Association (AERA)
- Serving as a Professional Development Coordinator for AERA Division C graduate students as of August 2021
- International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI)
- Association for Talent Development (ATD)
- Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA)
- Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA)
I also served as a proposal reviewer for:
- ISLS Annual Meeting 2022 (International Society of the Learning Sciences)
- ISTE Live 22, the annual conference for the International Society for Technology in Education.
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Serving in areas outside of my career is helpful in maintaining balance in my life, and as such, I hold the following volunteer positions outside of school and work:
- Blog Editor for NutritionFacts.org
- Undercover videographer for animal welfare organizations