I am a lifelong learner. From a young age, I was that kid who enjoyed school and was constantly inquisitive. Throughout my school years and into my working years, I couldn't read enough books, and the books I read were in a wide variety of genres, from biographies to historical novels, crime mysteries, nonfiction psychology, and how-to books. Throughout my career, in every job I've held, I wanted to know as much about everything in the company, my role, and other's roles. Coworkers teased me that my favorite question was, "Why"? I was never embarrassed by their teasing because I'm proud to be the person who asks questions to understand and learn. After I complete my educational technology master's program at Michigan State University, my learning will continue with several areas of priority. My first priority is to continue my education and hone my skills in helping employees develop communication, coaching, and strategic planning competencies. My second priority is learning Spanish to communicate better with my native-Spanish-speaking coworkers. My third priority is staying current with research and advancements in educational technology.

Much of my career has been managing and coaching people. One of my favorite things to do is help coworkers develop their strategic skill sets through coaching and mentoring. As a coach and mentor, I must model strategic skill sets like effective communication and continue building my skills to coach and mentor coworkers effectively. I found terrific resources throughout my career in books and podcasts by people like Adam Grant and Brene' Brown, and I will continue to follow those authors' work. Most of my development in communication skills has come from analyzing my own and others' communication to identify what went well and what didn't. When I struggle with a particular type of conversation at work or communicating with a specific personality, I turn to books and podcasts, along with peers I admire. The best leaders continue to grow their skills long after leaving school, and I will do the same through metacognition, or self-analysis of my learning, and searching out information from those I admire and respect.

In addition to continuing to learn how to develop strategic skill sets in my coworkers, I want to communicate better with them in Spanish. My experience learning a foreign language consisted of a few years of studying German in high school and during my undergraduate education. Unfortunately, I didn't keep up with it and only remember a little of the language. In my current role, I oversee a team of employees that includes many native Spanish speakers from countries like Mexico, Honduras, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. To help coach and grow my team, I want to better communicate with them by learning Spanish. I don't expect them always to speak English, as I want to encourage inclusion and acceptance of others' cultures and languages in the workplace. I have already started casually learning Spanish by following Instagram accounts teaching Spanish. In addition, I downloaded a language app called Babbel and set a goal to spend 30 minutes a day on the app to bolster my Spanish vocabulary. The best way to learn a language is to speak that language as much as possible, so I will seek a Spanish tutor and groups to practice my Spanish.

As I continue learning and growing my skills to help others develop, I want to continue learning in educational technology. Staying current in the field will be necessary as technology rapidly changes. First, I will keep in contact with the professors and students from my program at Michigan State University through social media channels like Linkedin and Twitter, as well as direct contact via email and video calls. Having a network in educational technology and staying in touch will help when I want to bounce ideas off someone or learn what other professionals in the field are doing. Throughout my graduate program, I have found resources and groups focused on technology in education. I will continue to read and learn from those such as the International Society for Technology in Education and EdSurge. Websites and publications such as Harvard Business Review have also been instrumental in research throughout my graduate program, and I will continue to utilize HBR to learn about trends in the business workplace.

I am finishing my graduate degree, and the lifelong learner in me will not allow this to be when I stop learning about Educational Technology and how to better myself as a manager. There is such a wide variety of resources available from my peers, professors, and digital platforms that I can continue to learn without a formal program.