I could identify my experience as a PA as many things, challenging ,exciting, frustrating at times and an adventure. But I would have to say most of all I found it educational. In this position I learned so much about people, myself, and how to work as an effective team. I worked with the most wonderful people I could think of, my fellow PAs. They have all the compassion, love and every to inspire an entire campus and to change the world. My FIR and Melissa were my mentors, they gave guidance and support. They were honest when communicating and always challenged me to be better. As for my residents they were the most wonderful, talented and crazy group of people I have met. They were all so full of potential it was mind blowing. Everyday they taught me something new. They all came from drastically different backgrounds, and perspectives on life. This taught me to listen and be open to new ideas. This also sometimes brought conflict within the community, learning how to deal with conflict and take a neutral perspective was a times challenging but a great learning opportunity. They were always honest with me, their feedback was valuable to improve in my position and as a person. We grew this year from our experiences together and I would not have changed a thing.
One of my greatest moments in this job was the Health Summit put on by my community for the LLC. In my mind this embodied every aspect of the outcome "love of learning." For this event the Health Professions students picked categories they felt were important and relevant to everyone participating in the event. They chose hand hygiene, sexual health, CPR and healthy lifestyle. Students worked in class in the weeks prior to the event to learn about their topic and how to present it in an interesting way to fit all learning styles. Students found this challenging but also educational for them. The students also created a website to help the retention of information presented at the summit for all who attended. When the day of the Summit came it was very exciting to see just how prepared the students were. It was so amazing to see the students that you live with and see in class each week teach a large group of people with all the confidence in the world. All participants seemed engaged and really enjoyed the activities This was such a great learning experience for everyone involved. It was so great to watch my resident take charge and host a wonderful event.
I never imagined I would learn so much from a job. One area that I really struggled with at the beginning of the year was taking feedback constructively. This position really became easier when I changed my perception of making a mistake. As I made mistakes with this position and received feedback I learned to look at them as learning opportunities. Learning to take feedback has helped learn to reflect and assess on my strengths and weaknesses. While I learned to reflect on feedback I received, I encouraged my residents to reflect as well. I asked them to reflect on activities, class discussions as well as their academics It was very interesting to watch the reflection process from the outside. The residents were very perceptive to themselves and surroundings. They had great conclusions and often knew exactly what they needed, all they needed to be asked were the right questions.
One learning outcome from this position that has helped me the most would be learning to assess group dynamics and make plans or changes accordingly. This was one part of leadership I did not expect to be so challenging or interesting. The community dynamics changed rapidly over the year which was fascinating to watch. As the group dynamics shifted I found my residents needed different things from me as a leader. This skill will help me in all leadership positions I take for the rest of my life.
Thanks for an amazing year,
Stephanie Northouse
P.A. Health Professions Residential College,
Living Learning Community 2013
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