Question: Submit a personal reflection and purpose statement prior to attending the residency. The assignment must include, at a minimum, the following key elements.
Include the factors that led you to pursue this degree and your purpose for engaging this level of scholarship. Include the academic influences that shape your thinking regarding your field of study. These influences must include, primarily, books, scholars, and well-known professionals. Personal references, such as family or religious inspiration, are often too individualized for the purposes of this assignment and course; however, if these influences play a significant role in your practice and in your continuing engagement with doctoral studies, they are appropriate for inclusion. Exercise judgment in your choices for this assignment.
1) Include your current level of preparedness and your sense of your current position in the field.
a) How do you see your studies affecting your current practice in the field?
b) What professional and personal contexts do you bring to the course of study?
c) How might these contexts assist you in learning? How might they limit you?
d) How have your professional and personal contexts shaped your identity?
2) Include the outcomes you anticipate from completing this degree program.
a) What are your aspirations for the program?
b) What areas would you like to refine?
c) How might enhanced scholarship, practice, and leadership capacities augment your personal and professional life and the lives of others your work affects?
d) How do your goals align with the School of Advanced Studies mission? To locate the School of Advanced Studies mission statement, go to https://doctoral.phoenix.edu to access the School of Advanced Studies site and select About the School The mission statement is located at the bottom of the page.
3) Include how your life beyond the program might be affected.
a) How might this program shape your future?
b) How might you use your learning to contribute to your existing communities?
c) What new communities might you join?
d) What might you lose as a result of this degree? What might you gain?