Mid-Year Reflection: Assessing Your Professional Growth and Realigning Goals
July is here so we mark not only the midpoint of the calendar year but also a key transition in the academic and bar preparation cycle. Some of us are gearing up for the new academic year by planning orientation and fall programing. Others of us see the end of the tunnel as the bar exam approaches and we anticipate vacation or a short break prior to the start of the academic year. Our students and graduates may be focused on bar exams, internships, clerkships, externships, or finishing up summer courses so as crazy as it may seem, this is a quieter season and presents a valuable opportunity for many of us.
Mid-year is an ideal time for academic and bar support professionals to pause, reflect, and realign. Our roles are ever evolving, deeply relational, and intellectually demanding. Yet in the rush to support others, our own professional development often gets sidelined.
Let’s take stock of our growth and plan for the months ahead!
- Reflect on Wins and Lessons Learned
Let’s consider January through June and write down key moments from the first half of the year. What were some of the most impactful student interactions? What programs, workshops, or initiatives worked well? What did you do to stretch beyond your comfort zone? What did not go as planned and what did you learn from the situation? It is imperative that you consider personal growth, innovation and creativity, or those difficult conversations that helped you grow.
- Revisit Your Goals and Set New Ones
Return to the list of goals you set at the start of the academic year. If you did not set goals, this is the perfect time to develop some. Are there goals you accomplished that deserve celebration? Celebrate! Are there goals that no longer serve you? Eliminate them! What areas of expertise or skills do you want to deepen before fall semester rolls around? List at least three and make them happen. Consider skill development, institutional impact, and self-care.
- Assess Whether There Is Alignment Between Your Work and Your Values
Academic Support Educators often need to take a step back and ask themselves several questions and assess circumstances. Does your day-to-day work align with the values you care about? Which tasks energize you or drain you? Determine where you might need to advocate for boundaries and clarity. Determining these things can be helpful for focus and intentionality in the new semester.
- Plan for Professional and Personal Growth
What are the professional development opportunities you have put off and why? This might be the time to plan for those opportunities which might require finding an accountability partner. Submit the proposal to present at a conference, start the research or writing project, attend a webinar of interest, join a professional learning community, and request mentorship from or collaborate with a colleague. Please do not forget yourself! What personal practices do you want to integrate into your routine to sustain “YOU” this year? You care for others but what do you do to care for yourself?
- One Single Commitment is Okay
Now that you have completed the leg work and personal work, you only need one concrete action for the rest of the year. It may be as simple as creating a professional development plan to revisit monthly, scheduling time each week to read or write, developing a new workshop based on an identified need, or joining an interest area listserv. The only way to make a change and grow is to make a small and intentional move.
Why do any of this? Particularly since I have no time to do anything more. Here is why. In this field, we often pour into others without pausing to pour into ourselves. Does this not convince you? Use the moment as an act of strategic recalibration and radical professional selfcare. Truly! Every single day, you do important work which may go noticed or unnoticed, appreciated or unappreciated but nevertheless significant. You deserve space to grow within your work environment. Do it for you!
(Goldie Pritchard)
