Ten Year Plan

Ten Year Holistic Professional Plan

In the ten years, I will be 36 years old. I think my largest goal is to continue to cultivate my sense of purpose in my worldview.  Wellbeing, self-care, soul-care, service, community and inspiration; these are core themes of my future. I will be authentic.  I will be resilient. I will be vulnerable. I will be of service. As an educational leader for college and university students I strive that I will bring my passions into the core of my practice; today and tomorrow.

            In terms of identifying strengths and weaknesses I want to continue to practice mindfulness. I feel that I want to continue to be a person that is constantly growing and development. I think this is one of my greatest strengths. I feel that I constantly want to reflect on my whole self. Look at places where I feel that I am deficient and lost and do what I can to heal those weaknesses. I feel that this is especially important to my survival. I think one of my weaknesses is feeling like I am lost all of the time. I feel that because of personal reasons, I may always feel like this, but I will always practice strategies to find myself when I am lost. I feel that hope, positivity and compassion are key strengths when I reflect on my development. I also know that emotional stability is not in my strong suit. This will be something that I will continue to be mindful in my future. This also strongly shifts my professional plan by staying in California. These will limit the universities that I plan on working for’ but they will also contribute to my emotional well-being; over time with the help of counselors, friends and therapists I hope that I will be able to find a support network just in case the job market pushes me out of state.

I plan on continuing to find a balance with time management. I know that in my current position, I am often overwhelmed with my commute. In the next two years, I plan on relocating closer to South Orange County. I feel this will be good not only for my health; but also for me to be able to take care of myself in terms of my physical well-being. Rest is especially important to my concept of self care.

             In terms of financial planning for retirement, I have opened a 403B at my current institution and i plan on becoming vested at UCI after 4 years. On top of that I save another 7% of my income into another retirement account. I hope that I will be able to have a good portion of my student loans paid off. I am trying to learn the differences between wants and needs in terms of financial decisions. I need to cut back on things that are not serving me in the long term. At this time of my life, I’m not sure what to do yet, but I am thinking of owning a home in the next ten years. 

            When I reflect on my definition of family, I believe that family is both chosen and biological. I have a dream of being surrounded by my close family made up of inspirational mentors, supportive family and loving friends. In terms of children, whether or not I am partnered, I plan on raising a child. At this current stage in my life,I know that I am planning on starting a family with my partner. As both of us will have Masters degrees and work in pretty stable fields we are hoping that we will be able to raise a child in a comfortable home.  My partner and I are also thinking of marriage in the future, but at this moment we are still enjoying our relationship as it stands.

            I plan on constantly continuing my education as a Higher Education Professional. I previously have planned on going straight into a doctoral program. That plan has changed. At this current time I am reflecting more on counseling or social work, whether this is pursuing another masters program or potentially getting a doctorate in social work. I am also considering doctorate programs in educational leadership. I feel this would be incredibly useful in advising and counseling students across multiple identities. My plan is to use this education to help continue to develop resiliency skills in the diverse college students that I will serve. I want to constantly continue to learn and create knowledge because I believe we need participants in developing new knowledge. I think this may mean working with a scholarly journal or a group of writers to add to the definitions and lived experiences around social identities. I hope my narratives will offer new stories and ways that students can survive. Yes, good to pursue

            In reflecting on career development and aspirations, at this time I am reflecting on becoming a director of a multicultural resource center or working as a director in diversity or multicultural services. I feel that this will serve my need to follow my passion of supporting student communities that I feel are close to my heart. I also plan on working with Semester at Sea in the next five years. I feel this will not only give me an opportunity to see more of the world, but I also feel that this will give me the opportunity to work with students as they discover different cultural identities that may be different than their own.

            As another career pursuit, I would like to attend the Social Justice Institute and work as a facilitator in the future. In working with a professional organization, I plan to continue my involvement with NASPA and the Consortium of LGBT higher professionals. I feel that both of these will assist in my understanding of professional competencies.  I would like to develop new initiative to serve queer students of color. I feel this would be especially important, as there is a lack of scholarly articles surrounding queer students of color.

            I also find it nourishing to develop workshops around issues of social justice. At any of my institutions I want to develop leadership programs that focus in these areas. I want to also continue work developing student conferences. At this moment, I have worked on a few conferences that develop with students with multiple identities and have intersectional focuses in their mission statements. I would like to work with students to make these larger national conferences so that we can serve college students across the country. 

            Yoga and poetry are two very important pursuits that I have not maintained while in graduate school. These are two areas of my life that I have had to let go of because of time constraints, but I am aware of how necessary they are to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I enjoy these pursuits with friends, but I also feel that these can be solitary activities that i feel constantly restore me. I have missed these greatly. 

            Mentorship, is another important area in my ten year plan. I want to be person that can be a role model and possibility model. I want to offer myself as a servant to other students and take on mentorship roles. I also want to continue to take on mentors that will fulfill my different needs. I know that in my ten year plan, I will need those that will support me, those that will challenge me and those that will educate me. I know that I need learning partners and colleagues that can teach me. In the next ten years, I will continue to develop relationships that I have already established with mentors as well as seek new ones.  

            Emotional development is important to me. I need to practice self-care. As a bipolar person, I am not what we consider neurotypical and I need emotional support and I need to practice developing skills so that I can survive in my day-to-day life. I understand this and being someone who has a borderline personality disorder, that I must live with these truths. I must be healthy. I must work and live in nourishing environments so that I can be balanced. This is not a want or a desire. This is something that I need. This is something that has been apart of who I am since I was very young; and it will remain with me my whole life. As I reflect on my emotional and intellectual well-being in the next ten years, it is a necessity that I take care of these areas in my life. I think this is especially important on how I develop a safe and nourishing work environment. I need to find a supportive institution, that lets me take care of my health and practice healthy living. I must be proactive in finding a supportive institution.

            In terms of life planning, I plan on aiming higher and delving deeper in my understanding of myself and the world around me. In the next ten years and well into the future, I plan on finding ways to make meaning in my life. My faith is very important and I want to find ways to cultivate my spiritual health. I think this will be possible as I incorporate time to focus on my spiritual health. I want to spend time as much time as I can developing my identity and spirit. As an artist (poet), I believe words are important. I want to be an educational leader that speaks truth to power and share my story as a testament of survival. I feel that it may be very important for me to write and publish. I want my life will be my legacy. My faith, being of service. These things are important to me.