I wanted to start this page by sharing a piece of the first reflection I wrote for the LDT Program in our introduction week. I used that reflection paper as a starting point to jump into the program and to start to comb through different themes and interests. I eventually came to eight topics that I felt particularly passionate about (displayed in the picture below). Looking back almost two years later at all of my work and thinking about where I am in my life and career as opposed to August 2018, I still find these passions to be very true, but I am now so much more connected to them. I have gotten to do so much work in this program to actually work towards really making these passions part of my day to day life and career.
These past two years have encompassed a lot of change and a lot of growth. Coming into the program I had ideas about the direction I wanted my career to head, but was not sure how to get there or how I would even know if I was heading in the “right” direction. I felt a bit a lost in what my next steps would be and really struggled with imposter syndrome when learning more about my peers and the faculty members in my program. I felt like I knew the least about education out of everyone in my class and didn’t really know even where to begin. What I quickly learned was what the LDT program does best is helping to push its students just enough to a space where they can really explore their interest and learn how to pursue them and creatively solve problems. I slowly started to develop my niche in the program and what has now become the niche that I want my career to live in, which is creating equity in higher education and medical education through admissions processes. With every class I worked through and every project I tackled, I was given the space to reflect and customize my education based on my passions. Each class helped me refine my abilities and broaden my thought processes.
When I look back at the past 5 years after graduating from undergrad, it seems to only make sense that this is where I would have ended up, but I could have never done that without the help of many people along the way and specifically the family that I was welcomed into in the LDT Program.
I feel more confident than ever in my abilities to really push to make changes where I see necessary, to solve problems with a design thinking mindset, and to keep making strides as a learner. I think often times you really need other people to see something in you and to push you to see it yourself and that is without a doubt what the LDT program did for me. I am extremely excited for what the future holds and will keep everything I learned from this program in the forefront of my mind when moving forward.
In case you want to read my initial reflection from the beginning of the program, please find it below!
