I became interested in conflict resolution when I began my career in Student Health. I realized that there was a need to develop strategies for resolving day-to-day conflicts that arose from a lack of effective communication with students. The Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (NECR) program taught me a lot about myself. I had the opportunity to take an honest assessment of how I understand conflict and learn about how and why I navigated through conflict in the manner in which I did. The outcome of this assessment was a heightened self-awareness of how I approach problem-solving. The NECR program taught me to effectively analyze issues from all sides of a conflict.
What is unique about the NECR program is that I was immediately able to apply what I learned in the classroom, from lectures, role plays and interactions with my fellow students, to both my personal and professional life. Professionally, the program taught me to be creative when exploring the broad range of options available when working through conflict.
Primarily, my education instilled in me the desire to look at problems and issues from a variety of angles while looking toward solutions. So much so, that I was inspired to return to school. Currently, I am pursuing a Master of Arts degree in Higher and Postsecondary Education at Teachers College. I look forward to learning new ways to incorporate my conflict resolution training into my new program.
