Personal and Ethical Foundations

The Personal and Ethical Foundations competency area involves the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to develop and maintain integrity in one’s life and work; this includes thoughtful development, critique, and adherence to a holistic and comprehensive standard of ethics and commitment to one’s own wellness and growth. Personal and ethical foundations are aligned because integrity has an internal locus informed by a combination of external ethical guidelines, an internal voice of care, and our own lived experiences. Our personal and ethical foundations grow through a process of curiosity, reflection, and self-authorship

The personal and ethical foundations competency area is less about what happens in the classroom, and all about what’s going on outside of it. The key phrase that stood out to me from the competency description was “commitment to one’s own wellness and growth.” The past year has really pushed my limits of self care, emotional growth, and wellness. For one, I was determined to complete the program within one year despite working a full time entrepreneurial job that took up 40-50+ hours per week. I also wanted to get the full master’s experience, from assisting as a TA to never turning down the chance to spend time with friends, catch a baseball game, or host a (predictably unproductive) study group. Navigating all of these time constraints while still making time to eat, sleep, cook clean, etc,has been challenging. On top of a busy schedule, the last year has brought about unexpected tragedies that brought the entire community to a halt. Therefore, as opposed to discussing specific coursework or projects related to personal & ethical foundations, I think it would be more fitting to discuss certain coping mechanisms that have helped get me to this point.

Wellness & Healthy Living

Competency criteria for wellness and healthy living range from “recognize healthy habits for better living” to “be aware of others’ wellness and support their efforts to be well.” Being a part of a grad cohort was a fun preview of an office environment where there are shared goals, challenges, and comradery. Checking in with classmates throughout difficult times in the semester (i.e. finals, midterms, etc) was the bare minimum of supporting others’ efforts to be well. Sometimes supporting others meant trading off responsibilities on group projects, or getting together in small study groups to keep each other on task. Usually, working together proved to be less productive because it always turned into chatting socially. However, social interactions are just as important for mental health and keeping things lighthearted. My favorite way of promoting healthy living was inviting peers to join me for walks, baseball games, and dinners - any way to get outside and/or get moving. It can be difficult to make time for both socializing and being active, but those are two things everyone needs to do. So…they are better done together!

Ethical Codes & Professional Standards

Ethical codes determine most professional standards, but there are times when ethics are at odds with professional expectations. For me, this became clear following the tragedy in UVA’s community after three football players were shot and killed. Being connected to the athletic department meant that I was involved in a number of ongoing programs and events at that time that involved student-athletes, including football players. I remember fielding calls 24-48 hours following the tragedy asking about the status on the programs and events. Some superiors expected updates, and progress to be made. I felt strongly that this was inappropriate given the circumstances, and refused to engage in conversation beyond explaining that all operations were paused until further notice - both for my benefit, and the student-athletes involved. At the time, it felt uncomfortable professionally but I knew that it was the only response, and though I was described as a “tough cookie,” the same superiors came to agree with me once they learned more about the situation. I suppose this is an example of “working with mentors to identify effective means of dissent.”

Self Assessment & Reflection

Personally, I am an obsessive writer. I keep a personal journal, a handwritten planner, a daily “to do” list in a notebook where I also scribble down pros/cons lists, insights, lessons, and doodles. All of these outlets help me to keep my thoughts organized. Once I fell into a job that I was truly passionate about, I started keeping a list of every small thing I was proud of that I did. This included data on social media projects I managed, notes from mentorship sessions, and so on. After a year, I could look back at all the little things that made up my experience. It also helped to accurately update my resume and articulate all of my accomplishments. Essentially, the competency criteria “analyze personal experiences for deeper learning/growth and engage others in reflection” is dependent upon writing down everything and taking lots of pictures so that you make it easy to reflect when the time comes.