Core competencies developed through education build on one’s characteristics to create excellence during their college career. More importantly, these skills qualify the student to work in their respective professional settings. These competencies may determine whether a person will work better with a group as opposed to working on their own. Or, are they a critical thinker who can analyze work of others and synthesize conclusions? Those examples are just two out of many core competencies necessary for success in the workplace.
The first core competency that I am developing is teamwork. I thoroughly enjoy collaborating with people and peers– I am a people person. I am extremely determined to be on time with my work, which makes me a good team member. I make sure my work is complete and meets all criteria. I worked on a group project with three partners in an environmental studies class. I found that collaborating with others is a great way to work on a project, because partners get to bounce information off each other. I enjoyed how the project gave me an enhanced sense of responsibility. I needed to do exceptional work because the end product reflects on all the team members. This experience with teamwork will prepare me for career work in my field.
The second core competency I am going to discuss is civic engagement. I really enjoy helping others and an ideal job in my opinion is one where I can do that. I have lived in Santa Barbara my whole life and am very involved in my community. I have a special link with the disabled community and was honored to receive the Community Spirit Award from Cottage Rehabilitation Institute in 2018. Last summer, I was a counselor and coach for Wheelchair Sports Camp where I have been a volunteer for nine years. Additionally, in an college level course at California State University Monterey Bay in Spring 2020, I learned how to collect statistical data on five communities, compare demographics with community infrastructure, and prepare graphics to illustrate my data. This class experience will help me to analyze community needs to focus on environmentally sound solutions.
For my third core competency, I choose creative thinking. Creative academic thinking is crucial to develop a new environmental paradigm in the world in order to make society healthier and more sustainable. To spread sustainable environmental ideas and goals throughout all levels of society, environmental professionals need to challenge the environmental status quo and propose innovative and practical sustainable systems. Our environmental problems need more than modern solutions –we need to get people to accept an environmental paradigm shift to a more sustainable future. Critical thinking requires a certain amount of risk taking and I am not afraid to go beyond the current norm. As a environmental studies major, I have learned to communicate information coherently and to extract environmental research from scholarly databases and from raw data. Environmental social justice is integrated into the environmental studies major, bringing sympathy and understanding of environmental inequality throughout the United States and the world.
Being able to think creatively also defines me as a person. I face certain physical obstacles and challenges in my life. I see these not as a hindrance, but as challenges and opportunities to change myself and grow or to change a situation for the better. Creative risk-taking mirrors my life’s path because, in the past, I have strongly felt as though I had to prove to people and society that, despite my physical challenges, I am just a regular person who can contribute to society. Creative thinking helps me overcome the challenges I face in life because if I find that if I am physically excluded from an activity, I will not give up on it, but will find a way to participate. In the future, I will have to think creatively in many life situations to order to participate completely in society and excel in my career.
Gus Albertsen 