Higher Education & Student Affairs | For more information about Baylor's HESA

Same Place, New Adventures by Natalia Rubio

When I graduated from high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. All I knew was that I wanted to work with people and that I was going to attend Baylor University. I chose my major almost randomly and somehow managed to not change it my entire time as…

When Where You End Up is Not Where You Expected to Be by Allison Carruthers

I can trace my interest in student affairs back to a certain high school Spanish teacher named Ms. Lebel. Now, granted, from what I understand most people who end up in student affairs aren’t even aware of the field’s existence until they’re already surrounded by it, i.e. sometime in their undergraduate years. My story is…

What is a Residential College? by Nick Blair

Asking someone what a residential college is will get a variety of responses, debates, and discussions similar to asking your friends “is a hot dog a sandwich, why or why not?”. That is to say, there are many ways to describe residential colleges. Today, I will attempt to provide a fair representation of the concept…

Student Affairs, Self-Care, and Success by Toni Nogalski

At its worst, self-care is like avocado toast: a concept vaguely associated with Millennials whose merits are best left to be debated in the blogosphere. At its best, the term proliferates professional circles as a reminder that workers are not automatons, but people, with needs that can be obscured by the mounting, daily stressors of life. Self-care is often talked about, yet infrequently “achieved” in part because the term is amorphous, highly individualized, and…

Finding Value when You’re Totally Overwhelmed by Daniel Adams

Greetings! My name is Daniel Adams, and I am the Graduate Program Coordinator of the Fine Arts Living-Learning Center at Baylor University while I get my master’s in Higher Education Student Affairs. I actually just completed my first round of midterms. You learn a lot of things when you feel overwhelmed. Let me emphasize the…

The Apprenticeship Experience – My Time at Baylor Visit Experiences by Lauren Samuelson

What is a Graduate Apprenticeship? Is that a typo? Is it supposed to say Assistantship? When I was looking at Baylor’s HESA program I had the exact same question. Our GA positions are called Apprenticeships rather than Assistantships here at Baylor. I think it’s something that makes our program really special because of the relational…

Engaging in the Journey with the Enneagram by Kristin Koch

For many HESA students, graduate school can feel like we are standing on a bridge that connects our undergraduate experience to our future career. The good news is that we can cross this bridge successfully in a few ways: we can keep our head down and put one foot in front of the other to…

A Balancing Act by Deanna Calder

We have all heard about work life balance. It is an idealistic balance of all of the roles, relationships, and responsibilities we have in our lives. As you begin to navigate your graduate program, I have no doubt that someone will tell you the best way to balance your apprenticeship, family, friends, and more. You…

Rejoicing in the Chaos by Megan Foo

I’m a planner-and-checklist kind of person. I love filling in my planner at the beginning of the semester and giving structure to the chaos that accompanies the HESA program and an apprenticeship as a Graduate Residence Hall Director: class assignments, readings, meetings with students, trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle, getting enough sleep, and other…

Interview Placement 2017: Tips and tricks from current students

Interview Placement is about 3 weeks away, and we are so excited to meet everyone who is coming to campus! Interview Placement is just as much a time for you to get a feel for what life at Baylor could look like, as it is a time for you to interview for apprenticeships. As those…