The ability to adapt and become flexible is the most valuable trait anyone can acquire. In today’s professional world, change is a constant. If someone is unable to work around such a changing environment is not likely to be able to stay in the game. My personal goal for my professional life is to always remain open to change and flexibility. In conjunction with this philosophy I have chosen to create an interdisciplinary education which will help me achieve this goal most effectively. Through all of this change, computers will remain a constant in our daily lives. The ability to understand computers is one which I find to be the key to survival. As these changes occur, another constant will remain. Professions will always take on business structures and tenets. Hence, a full understanding of what makes up these structures and how they work together to keep a business running will allow me to walk into any profession understanding the basics of how everything works. Finally, there seems to be a trend in the ways in which the world is changing today. Nations are interacting and doing business with one another, borders are blurring, and the world is becoming whole again. No longer can we expect to only interact with our close neighbors and countrymen, we must open our minds to the differences of the world and respect this phenomenon. In any business I am confident that I will employ both my computer and political science backgrounds. Before I discovered this new philosophy, I was unaware of the ways in which the disciplines connected with each other. I was narrow-minded and could only see myself being stuck doing the same job with the same set of skills for the rest of my life. Now, I realize that this is very unlikely, and frankly highly undesirable. As my lifetime progresses, the world will continue to change and more than likely I will need to adapt to many professional careers. Being well-rounded and flexible is the best thing I can do for myself and my future. In your own words, how would you describe your philosophy concerning your professional life and future, how do you see the professional world and how you will fit into it? This is different for everyone and really is a reflection of your own personal views. I used to only see the world as a corporate ladder, a planned laid out future, for example. Also, reflect on whether or not your personal philosophy is interdisciplinary, and in how you came to this conclusion. As I have said before, my previous philosophy was very mono-disciplinary in nature. Each discipline had its own box and never got mixed up. Each philosophy is different and not all rely on interdisciplinary. Looking at your life and views before you became an interdisciplinary student, how have you changed? What were your goals before and how have they evolved to this point? This is the most unique, as each person wanted to follow a very specific and different path than your peers today.
Also Consider:
What do you like to do during your free time? Are you a part of any clubs or organizations? Pick the ones that would be beneficial to your chosen career. How has this experienced
Have you participated in an internship or externship. And how has it helped you professional skills?
• How have you used your interdisciplinary in your professional life?
• What has been your professional history?
• What are your strongest and weakest job skills?
• What can you do to develop and improve upon your weak skills?
**We look forward to hearing your stories! And don’t forget to make sure that each of your posts are being signed with your full names! Thanks for everything this semester; it was wonderful getting to know you all! Good luck in your future endeavors!**
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Elise,
ReplyDeleteLooking at my life prior to becoming an Interdisciplinary Student, from what I remember, my goals were not nearly as clearly defined as they are now. I knew I wanted to be in Education in some capacity but I wasn’t sure which direction to take. I was confused as to whether or not I wanted to enter Elementary/Secondary Education or Higher Education. Entering into this program has given me the opportunity to examine my professional goals much closer as well as to sharpen my technical and research skills. Initially I thought I wanted to be a classroom teacher but my experience has taught me that I would much rather work in administration, which has been part of my professional history, and this is the area in which my strengths seem to be most prevalent. The skills I would most like to improve upon are my writing skills. Often I know what I want to say but it doesn’t always come out right on paper. Probably the best way to improve upon this would be to keep a journal (which I never seem to have enough time to do) or hopefully as I continue my education the skills will improve naturally with each writing assignment and each semester.
I think my philosophy concerning my personal and professional life are the same, always be open minded to anything that is thrown your way. I think I have always thought that way because that was what I was taught. Life is not just always a constant thing where you know what to expect. Maybe some do have that life but I never did, my parents divorced when I was little, I moved from NY to Fl in middle school, I traveled back to NY once a month, my mom opened numerous successful businesses etc.....I think the only difference in opinion from then until now would have to be I didn't know that an interdisciplinary education could open so many different doors in the job market. I thought that when I received my education it would be for a particular job, for instance I thought a degree in Forensics would get me one job: crime scene investigator. As an interdisciplinary major with a focus in forensics, behavioral and social sciences and a minor in criminal justice I have so many more job opportunities. I could be a crime scene investigator, but I can also be a lab technician, I could work in the crime analysis/mapping unit....I think you get the picture. But that is what I want, an exciting variety of careers to be able to choose from.
ReplyDeleteMy free time activities are somewhat different than what people would probably assume: I am an avid reader, I horseback ride and I paint with oils. I dont know how beneficial to my professional life this is but I enjoy these things and they all relax me. Something I can say about the painting is that it is something that I have to be very precise with and pay great attention to detail etc. These qualities are important in the handling of evidence or trying to solve a case and such things.
I think my weakest job skill would have to be my attitude, I can follow directions very well but I do take things personally and I have a problem with authority so my temper might get me into a bit of trouble. My strongest assets are my writing and ability to multitask and get things done. As a way to improve my weaker skills I should probably attempt to not say anything rude in everyday life. If I can manage to keep my mouth shut when people are being idiots and deserve a rude comment I should be able to keep my mouth closed around a manager.
Simone Cohen
My philosophy towards my professional life involves the necessity of
ReplyDeletelearning quick and being able to adapt. I know that those two skills
will be necessary for a career. I think I have changed in my realization
of the possibilities of an interdisciplinary education. Seeing the
interaction of different fields of knowledge through my college career
has encouraged this belief. I feel as though I have not had too many
opportunities to really display this interdisciplinary education, but I do
anticipate them in the future. MY professional history includes a short
stint contributing to the Orlando Sentinel during high school and an
extended relationship with Alliance Wakeskate online magazine, including
columns and contributions for the past four years or so. My weakest job
skill is punctuality. In the future I am looking to incorporating the
interdisciplinarity I discovered in college towards my career field, and
everyday keep learning.
Diana,
ReplyDeleteWriting skills are definitely something worth honing. Every job, no matter what, requires writing, whether it be a small amount or a large amount. One does not want to seem like they do not know what they are talking about or sound uneducated or childlike because their writing is not up to par. I think in addition to keeping a journal, reading is a great way to enhance ones vocabulary and see a lot of the written word. Hopefully the correct use of grammar and such can rub off on you haha, I think it rubbed off on me!
Good luck in your endeavors!
Simone Cohen
David,
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the learning quick and being able to adapt, I think those are two very important skills to have in the job world. I am in the same boat with not having been able to show my interdisciplinary education in the work force yet but there will be plenty of time for that later when you have graduated!
Simone Cohen
@Simone, It sounds like you have had an interesting life and I admire the fact that you make time for your hobbies. I forgot to mention my hobbies in my blog which include sewing, reading, swimming, and hiking all of which bring me different forms of relaxation. But the fact that I forgot to mention them shows you how much time I have to spend on them. I have to say I do identify with your weakest job skill. Early in my former career I too struggled with authority and my temper. Over the years I learned it was to my advantage to control those emotions which in turn only allowed me to grow in my profession. Eventually I became a manager and of course gained a different perspective. I found it was easier to agree to disagree than to resist authority. The boss is the one that gets paid the big bucks and hence ultimately the responsibility falls on them therefore, just go with it. Trust me, your time will come.
ReplyDelete@David, You are absolutely right about the ability to be a quick learner and to be able to adapt to change. These are skills that I believe employers benefit most from. It is very costly to train people and people that do not adapt well are somewhat non-productive which in the long run only affects the company’s bottom line. Punctuality of course is very important because it demonstrates a person’s character but unfortunately it is one of those things that is a discipline and has to be practiced just like any other habit. (It can be tough to conquer.) Hopefully you will find a way to strengthen this skill because it will only be a benefit to you in the job market
ReplyDelete@All
ReplyDeleteAll of you have great strengths and skills.With the help of this degree and its learning opportunities will learn how to combine these skills in your professional lives. I wish you all the best of luck, you guys have really inspired me to find out my hobbies and activities i need to explore and include more in my daily life. We are constantly learning and experiencing new things in life. Take what you learn and get to the goals you have always wanted to achieve. Yay!
I know that I want to become an educator and maybe later in the life a guidance counselor. Therefore, I believe my professional philosophy would be about getting to know my audience and being able to reach them. I understand that I might have to change my teaching methods according to my my students learning abilities. My professional history hasnt started yet but I'm ready for it to. I do know that I will apply my psychology background to understand the cognitive aspects of how people learn. As for my Exceptional Ed background it will provide an understanding of my future students. I cant think of any skills I am weak in, but when I do I am definately going to rely on the education and this mentoring blog to improve them.
ReplyDeleteJanelle Brooks
I would describe my philosophy concerning my professional life as more freewill at the moment because nothing can be predicted only planned. At the current moment I don't have a set career goal but I'm still finding my niche. Until I find my niche, I will keep searching and learning until I find that passion. I know I will fit into the more investigative professional world because I lOVE, lOVE, lOVE, finding out more information and learning so doing something where I can gain more information will be in my future professional career. My personal philosophy is interdisciplinary because not every single career needs the knowledge of one aspect, it usually needs more information of 'random' things. I lOVE my lDS degree because I allows me to search for more information and gain knowledge about whatever I want.
ReplyDeleteThe way my life views have changed is by making me understand that the kind of areas I would like to get into as a professional career involve more than one kind of background knowledge. I initially thought that a degree will only give you a one narrow path with no exits and u-turns but with this degree I have exits, u-turns, rest stops, and more.
In my free time, I'm always working within student organizations and being productive within programs that promote multiculturalism. I didn't realize this until a few days ago, but my minor of Anthropology in Multicultural Studies actually corresponds with the school communities I'm actively apart of. what I've always been interested has corresponded to what I enjoy learning.
The job skills I believe are my strengths are my listening and analytical skills. I like to hear and/or understand both sides of a story whether it may be pros/cons, agree/disagree, where to build a building- just about anything because I strongly believe that knowing more and listening more makes a person a more effective leader as well as a better person. Yet one of my weaknesses is being very passionate about my work. I know it would seem like having passion about your work would be an advantage but when I passionately believe my opinion, I know why I'm making a decision or opinion where I can predict what the other person would ask or say about my opinion. You can say it's the "I know I'm right" or the "I told you so" syndrome. I don't know how to develop my weakness to become more of a strength rather than a weakness.
-Valerie Perez
@ Diana
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you say that IDS has allowed you to develop your technical and research skills. It has too helped me develop and embellish my skills as a researcher for the main career information. keeping a journal to improve your writing skills would be a great idea or if you plan on taking classes in writing I would like to recommend Professional Writing course that UCF has. I'm currently taking it this semester.
- Valerie Perez
@Janelle
ReplyDeleteOne thing I really do recommend would be volunteering at schools where you can set up little activities with after school programs to interact with the children. I think it would definitely assist you in learning how to accommodate your teaching skills with a variety of students. It could also help you in gaining experience in your area os Education.
-Valerie perez