Competency in Professional Behavior

In order for students to be competent in this area, they need to be able to show a high level of maturity and composure in their academic and personal lives.  An important quality to have in this area is a strong work ethic, which includes showing up on time for class or work, notifying a professor or boss when you will be absent or late, and completing tasks on time and being able to produce evidence of hard work.  Students must also show a certain level of humility in the work they are involved in, either in the workplace, school, or community.  They should also be able to maintain professional relationships with people who have opposing or problematic viewpoints, personalities, and values.  Most importantly:

• Students need to be hard workers in order to prepare themselves for the real world.
• Students must not limit themselves to selfish pursuits, but consider how what they do benefits their community.

My first proof of competency in this area is my prior involvement with Amnesty International.  For two years I was the president of a student Amnesty International club/organization that facilitated letter signing campaigns to help end human rights violations.  As a club we hosted biweekly URGENT ACTION tables, where we had four letters (minimum) about various human rights violations.  We informed students about the issues in the letters and encouraged them to sign the letter, which we mailed to the appropriate party.  We also hosted an evening with a Tibetan monk (Palden Gatso) who spoke to a crowded audience (the entire Egan library) about the atrocities he faced at the hands of Chinese military.  I produced flyers for the event and hung them up in the community.  In order for this group to run smoothly and be successful, I had to sacrifice a lot of personal time and energy.  However, I feel as though this group contributed a lot to the Juneau community members by making them aware of wrongdoings in third world countries, and what they can do to help. 

Amnesty International Student Organization

My second proof of competency in this area is the work I did in Speech 218: Leadership for Undergraduates.  In this class we spent a good deal of time discussing texts about various leadership styles and theories.  As part of the class, we had to organize a community service project that everyone could take part in.  As a class we decided to make "snack packs" for Glacier Valley Elementary students who had to take standardized tests, giving them energy to endure the tests.  As a class we also volunteered for the Humanities conference, registering people, leading groups from one presentation to another, and ensuring that speakers had everything they needed.  One of the final elements of the class is to become involved in a leadership role on campus, which all thirty students accomplished, taking on roles as student ambassadors, student government officials, community advisors, and peer advocates.  I applied and got a position as a community advisor for student housing, a leadership role that I kept for two years.