Your Online Persona

Is it at all possible to blend your online personal persona and your online professional persona?
I've been mulling this over for a while now, as it pertains to the Student Affairs field, and I'm sure some professionals could speak up and say "of course it's not possible!" and others might disagree.

I bring this up now because during my recent graduate school and job search, I've kept a close eye on what I post publicly and even watching the content of my posts, sometimes not being myself or as casual. It's not that I post anything inappropriate, I just don't want to post anything that might offend an employer/search committee trying to get a feel for my online reputation.

My Skype and emails have recently changed screen-names to become more professional; or should I say grown-up. I happen to still be using screen-names I created in middle school, and you can imagine how creative and embarrassing they were.

I just realized this is one of the reasons I love Google Plus. On Google Plus you can put people in different "circles" (for example, family, friends, coworkers, soccer club, etc) and then chose which circles you share the post with. But my personal issue with blending a personal and professional online persona pertains mostly to Twitter. Ideally, I would like to continue using it as a crossbreed account where I share posts both of personal nature and professional nature. I am just curious as to if this method is going to work in my future. I suppose it might depend on the universities I'll work in. But what if it means I don't get a job somewhere? Okay, so as a young one in the student affairs field this might be a bit of paranoia. But maybe someone can comment with feedback.

Here is a link to my Twitter, if you're interested!
https://twitter.com/#!/CatieHolker

How do we chose?

I've been mulling over which area of Student Affairs I would like to pursue. I realize I have plenty of time to figure this out between now and the time I'm waiting to get to graduate school, however it is something that bothers me.

According to the Student Affairs page on Wikipedia, there are at least 25 different areas I could consider. I've crossed out the areas that I'm not qualified for or not interested in and bolded my favorites;

1. Academic Advising
2. Admissions
3. Assessment and Research
4. Athletics
5. Campus Safety or Police Services
6. Career Development or Career Services
7. College/Student Union
8. Community Service and Service Learning
9. Commuter Services or Adult Students
10. Counseling Services
11. Dining and Food Services
12. Disability Support Services
13. Enrollment Management
14. Financial Aid
15. Fund Raising
16. Greek Affairs
17. Health Services
18. International Student Services
19. Judicial Affairs
20. Leadership
21. Multicultural Affairs
22. Orientation or First-Year Experience
23. Recreation and Fitness
24. Residence Life
25. Spirituality, Faith, or Religious Services

Even narrowing this list still leaves me with a lot of options. 

A graduate assistant in the student activities department on campus where I work has helped me find websites and links to jobs that I'm qualified for at community colleges. So far I have applied for positions such as a Program Assistant in Continuing Education, Admissions Representative, Admissions Assistant, Center for Humanities Coordinator, Student Services Operations and Account Manger, Counseling Services Coordinator Pre-College, and even some administrative assistant positions in colleges and universities, just because I need a job once I'm out of school and I might as well get my foot in the door of an institution. 

Lately I have most strongly considering a position in an Education Abroad office, maybe some kind of director or coordinator of programs. When I was at a Minnesota College Personell Careers in Student Affairs conference in February I did a mock interview and pretended I was applying for such a position. It felt comfortable discussing my experiences and views on studying abroad; I thought it could be something I would be good at. 

The thing I most have to work on now is confidence.
When I look at various positions and see that I'm over qualified, I get excited and start my resume and cover letter, however after I hit submit my confidence goes down and I worry that there are too many candidates who are older or more qualified than I. 

Higher Education and the Internet

I recently came across >this post< via a higher ed twitter account that I follow which is essentially an electronic version of somebody's portfolio in higher education administration or college counseling/student development. Very quickly I'm realizing that the Internet is a goldmine for higher ed information, blogs, job postings, and more! I look forward to one day creating my own electronic portfolio pertaining to my competencies in different areas of student affairs/student development.

Though I'm far from applying to them, I frequently browse The Chronicle of Higher Education for job postings. Some of the positions I would die for! Especially those in foreign universities. I would love to be some kind of American consulate for a foreign university and help students study abroad in the United States or find programs to get them to travel in English speaking countries. So far I have found one position similar to that; now if only I can be patient enough to finish graduate school and THEN apply for these amazing jobs. There are so many areas of student affairs that I'd be excited to work in. I'm optimistic about finding a job I'll like after school.

I've found fascinating articles and conversations via higher education themed twitter accounts such as The Student Affairs Blog, Higher Edu Watch, and Follow EDU. Someone I work with in student activities invited me to a Facebook group called Future Student Affairs Grad Students and several strangers have already helped assuage my anxiety about my grad school app!

I know that my Internet explorations to find higher education related sites, profiles, and blogs are still young, but I wanted to share what I've found thus far. Anyone have some recommendations for more Twitter profiles? Blogs? Sites?

This Friday I'm going to a Careers in Student Affairs conference in Minneapolis with a friend who has also applied to a student affairs graduate level program. I will definitely blog all about it when I get back. Even though they're fake, I'm quite nervous for the mock interviews! At least I'll be prepared for whenever I might have some real ones of my own.

Thoughts in Higher Education

With my recent application to graduate school for student development administration and almost 4 years of experience in various areas of student affairs at my undergraduate campus, I have become somewhat of a higher education nerd.

Though my acceptance to this graduate program is not guaranteed, I know I desire a future in higher education, and I'm going to work hard to get there.

It was several weeks after I started writing my essay for graduate admissions at Seattle University, after pouring over this 3 page essay for hours at a time, that I realized the raw truth within it. As I was writing I thought to myself "I want to get into graduate school, I'm going to work very hard on the essay, I'm going to say whatever it takes to make them like me, right?!?" But looking back at the essay, I found no fluff, I found no begging, no lying, just pure truth. It became obvious to me that I found my passion in student affairs/higher education and I cannot wait to begin building a career in the field.

For educational/developmental/recreational purposes, I wanted to create this blog where I can post about higher education and student affairs issues, news, and thoughts. I'm looking forward to filling it up so I can tickle the brains of fellow higher education nerds.