Personal Essay

I once asked my family what trait they believed distinguished me most from others. The answer was unanimous: caring. I am deeply passionate about everything I do, and I believe the degree to which I care is reflected positively in both my personal and professional lives. I need people to know I care deeply for them. I need them to feel seen and heard; I need them to be supported and loved; I need them to never feel alone or forgotten. My studies, career aspirations, and relationships with others have always revolved around this deep-seated desire to help people and show them how much I care. As a student, educator, and instructional designer, I continually strive to ensure my actions demonstrate this care and uphold the expectations of the communication discipline.

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When selecting a master’s program to further study communication, I needed to know the people who would be teaching me would also be deeply caring individuals. I considered many other factors for picking a graduate school, but ultimately, I made my decision based on care. Gonzaga University emphasizes the concept of “whole person” education, which to me is the purest form of care. To me, the phrase means caring for all aspects of a person that can impact their education. It means sacrificing time and energy to form meaningful connections with other people. It means creating equitable and invaluable experiences that show respect for the intellectual and personal experiences of others. 

As an educator, I make it my priority to learn students’ names the first day of class. I make this my first promise to my students, and I ensure that I am calling them by their preferred names rather than merely memorizing the roster. Syllabi, course policies, and other matters are undoubtedly important to cover during the first week, but they are not my first priorities. My first priorities will always be my students, and if I do not take the time to know them personally, I have failed to educate the “whole person.” Once I know a bit about my students, I tell them I want them to have some control over their educations by allowing them to negotiate the course syllabus. This allows them the opportunity to ask questions and better understand how the course is designed, and it also lets them decide as a group what they think is “fair.” Ultimately, this process is more time-consuming for me, especially when we agree upon changes for the course. However, I am showing my students I value their opinions and truly care about their educational experiences. 

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As an instructional designer, I strive to demonstrate care through effective and intentional course design strategies that are grounded in my research in communication and educational best practices. Whether I am helping to design an assessment, drafting instructions for an activity, or providing feedback to another instructor, I hold true to my values and the lessons I have learned throughout my education. I serve many audiences (instructors, students, administrators, and other stakeholders) in my role, and I care deeply about them all. I want instructors to know their opinions and ideas matter, and I want to help them maximize their effectiveness as educators. I want students to know that equitable opportunities and policies are being designed to help them succeed. Finally, I want administrators and other stakeholders to know they are heard and valued, and I want to help contribute to something much larger than myself. 

Throughout my life, I have learned that care takes numerous forms. Care includes our core values and foremost priorities. Care is learning students’ names and helping them to be active participants in their own educations. Care is spending countless hours to ensure the needs of others are met. Care is a way of thinking, speaking, and behaving. I hold various roles in my life. If I were to ask someone to describe me in one word, though, I would hope they would not merely say “student,” “educator,” or “designer.” I place greater value on how I think and perform rather than what I do. My caring demeanor is what makes me who I am and fuels me to persist despite challenges that may come my way.