child and family studies digital portfolio. i have been through many different majors during my four...

Child and Family Studies

Digital Portfolio

ELISA MAJOR

I have been through many different majors during my four years of attendance at LSU and none of them have even come close to

my level of enjoyment that I have found in Child and Family Studies. Deep down I have always known that I wanted to work with people, especially children, but I struggled with finding the right career that would enable me to do so. At first I thought I wanted to be a teacher but after exploring my options, I was

quickly discouraged and wanted to find a new life path. For a brief period of a semester or two, I switched to the the major of

psychology. I was fascinated by all of the information I was learning but still did not feel as if I was in the right place. After talking to different students and researching more possibilities for a career, I finally found this degree program and I could not be more happy. I have always had a knack for wanting to help people. I am a very sensitive person and I have come to the

realization that it is easy for me to understand what other people are going through and what they need.

WHY I LOVE CHILD AND FAMILY STUDIES…

The Child and Family Studies program at LSU has opened up so many opportunities for me to learn more about different life

situations and experiences within the human services field and how important it is for people within our program to get out into the real world and help others! Not only have the classes provided me with various real world applications (as well as real world experiences)

but they have also provided a sense of community between my classmates, professor, and I. This program has not only shaped me into a better person who is ready to jump into a career, but it has

also encouraged me to be my best self and communicate effectively while building on interpersonal relationships with people that I

meet. I have changed so much over the past two to three years that I have been with this degree program and I cannot wait to uncover

more opportunities that I know will arise in my future. I am so blessed to have found Child and Family Studies and I am

encouraged by all the lessons that I have learned.

WHY I LOVE CHILD AND FAMILY STUDIES

CONTINUED

CHILD AND FAMILY STUDIES COURSES

This course serves as a basis for all future human ecology classes in the undergraduate degree program of Child and Family Studies.

This class allows students to identify human ecology as a profession, view its mission both historically and philosophically, determine the

interrelationship of its various specializations and competencies, and outlines commitments necessary in various specializations.

http://www.lsu.edu/catalogs/2012/pdfs/30Courses.pdf

In this class I learned about what human ecology really is and how it can be applied to my life. Not only was I able to experience the

different aspects of human ecology including: Family and Consumer Sciences, Nutrition, and Textile and Merchandising, but I also was able to take a tour of the department and learn more about where I would be spending most of my time during my college career. I was able to learn more about the Human Ecology department and affirm

my beliefs that this was the right major for me to pursue.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 1000 – HUMAN ECOLOGY AS A PROFESSION

This course provides a systems approach on how to examine various family processes and their development throughout the life span.


Through this class I was able to take a deeper look into what a family truly is and what families may experience throughout their

lives. I took this particular class when it was offered during a summer intersession and it ended up being one of the best two

weeks of my life. Not only was I able to learn about how different families cope or deal with different real-life situations, but I also

learned about what I wanted in my own family life and how I could achieve it. We were instructed to keep a family journal through which we described different aspects of our lives and how we

wanted to raise a family of our own and set standards for ourselves and our future family to live by.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 2050 – FAMILY DYNAMICS

Excerpt from my personal family life journal:

http://elisamajor.weebly.com/family-

dynamics.html

FAMILY DYNAMICS CONTINUED

My Family Father - Jeff, Mother – Marilu, Sister – Courtney, myself, and

Sister - Juliana

http://elisamajor.weebly.com/family-dynamics.html



This course offers a systems perspective of contemporary families and they way the process including environmental influences,

elements of family management, and management of school and community resources and services.


This was the first Child and Family Studies class where the students were actively engaged in discussions during each class and

everyone’s opinions were valued. Each member of the class was encouraged to not only read about family systems, but to also come

to class ready to share what they learned from the readings and how to apply what we learned to every day life situations. This class not only makes you more aware about your choices and how they affect

others, but also how different factors can affect different relationships in your life. This class helped me to look at the bigger

picture and start to focus on my desire to understand and help others.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 2065 – MANAGEMENT IN FAMILY SYSTEMS

Excerpt from my personal discussion comments on the book Family Resource Management by Tamie James Moore and Sylvia M. Asay and Til Debt Do Us Part by Dr. Bernard E.

Poduska:

http://elisamajor.weebly.com/management-in-family-systems.html

MANAGEMENT IN FAMILY SYSTEMS CONTINUED



This course outlines the development of children from prenatal to age eight in the family and other developmental contexts. Students are also required to make field observations with infants and toddlers, conduct observations and practical experience in the School of Human Ecology’s Preschool

Laboratory and in other early childhood settings.


I thoroughly enjoyed this class because this was the first time that we, as students, were able to observe children outside of

class in both a daycare and preschool setting. These outside-of-class observations enabled me to take what we learned in class

and apply it to real-life situations with the children I observed. I was able to better understand why some children would act in

certain ways.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 3055 – DEVELOPMENT OF YOUNG CHILDREN

IN CONTEXT

During this course, students learn the development of the bases for decision-making that is related to family income, saving and

spending.


This class helped me learn more about my own finances. During the time I took this course, I was considered a dependent to my

parents and was not aware of the different financial opportunities. This class opened my eyes to the financial world

including how to make and keep your budgets, how to build your credit and stay out of debt, and how to create a stable financial background. This class also stressed the importance of saving and budgeting your money, which is something that I definitely needed help with at the time. This class made me step out of my comfort zone and learn more about the financial world and its terms and concepts, and I now feel more confident about my

spending and savings.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 3060 – FAMILY FINANCE

This course looks at parent-child relationships and other adult-child interactions and relationships. There is an emphasis on the development and interactive nature of

adult-child relationships during the influence of an adult-child relationships and its outcomes on the child and

adult behavior.


This class took my understanding of family relationships to a whole new level. I not only learned more about

interpersonal relationships between the adult and their child, but also the effects of different parenting styles. I learned in-depth about the importance for a child to have a strong and bonding attachment with their caregiver.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 3065 – ADULT-CHILD

RELATIONSHIPS

This course allows students to volunteer their time in a preinternship seminar with family, child, and consumer

scientists in today’s society.


This class provided me with various ways through which I learned more about the career path I wanted to take in life.

In this class I conducted thorough research on different career options for me in the future. I also learned how to properly develop an academic and professional resume for

these future jobs. Once again this class was lead by an open class discussion where we were encouraged to share

life lessons that we learned from the text. I thoroughly enjoyed this class because I not only learned about myself, but more about what I wanted to do with the rest of my life

that involved helping other people.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 3090 – INTERNSHIP SEMINAR

This course provides supervised professional experiences that are designed to integrate academic learning with practice and

experiences in Family, Child and Consumer Sciences.


HUMAN ECOLOGY 3067 – PRACTICUM IN FAMILY, CHILD AND CONSUMER

SCIENCES

Through this class I was able to start volunteering in the human services field and gain experience

working in a field with children. I volunteered my time for this class at Trinity Episcopal Day School

during their after-school care program. I was privileged with working with children that ranged from ages 5 to 13. During the after-school care program, I was an assistant teacher for the art

program and helped the children learn and grow by using their imagination and creativity. This job was and still is very rewarding, especially when the children return home from their long school

day happy and leave with a sense of accomplishment and achievement that I and the

other teachers helped create.

This course outlines the growth, development, and guidance of the adolescent figure within the home,

family, and community.


This course was another class that thrived on participation. Not only did I participate in the class by

engaging in class discussion, I also was required to lead a class discussion about a certain topic on adolescents. I was also required to present a

PowerPoint presentation to the class about the research I found on a topic about adolescence. My presentation addressed the predictors within family

systems that would affect adolescents and shape them later in life. This class also prepared me in becoming more comfortable speaking in front of a large group of

people and encouraged me to develop better leadership skills.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 4051 – ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY

Excerpt from my class presentation on adolescents in the juvenile justice system and sample of presentation

PowerPoint:

http://elisamajor.weebly.com/adolescent-and-family.html

ADOLESCENT AND FAMILY CONTINUED



This course outlines marriage and family as legal institutions. Students learn about the history and development of family

law principles, as well as gain knowledge on the public policy process with an emphasis on family policy issues.


This class opened my eyes to the various family policies and laws that are present in our community and society today.

This class encouraged me to learn about the ways that these policies and laws affected families and children. This class

was the first one that I took where we debated different issues as a class and I enjoyed it. It was eye-opening and thrilling to experience different sides of an argument on a

certain family policy that was backed by significant research.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 4052 – FAMILY POLICY AND LAW

HUMAN ECOLOGY 4065 – FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION

This course provides an overview of family life education, which includes its history, philosophy, and topics. Students also learn how to plan, implement, and evaluate family life education programs in

diverse family settings.


It was not until this class that I learned exactly what family life education is. Through this class, I learned more about the different

programs that family life educators create for families and communities and how exactly these programs are created. I learned not only the criteria that is needed to be followed in order to create

a program but also what family issues are important. We were given several in-class opportunities to create our own programs and we quickly learned that it was not as easy as it seemed. There is a lot of work that is put into family life education because there are

various people that can be affected.

HUMAN ECOLOGY 4067 – INTERNSHIP IN CHILD AND FAMILY

STUDIES

This course provides a way for student to apply what they have learned in their child and family studies degree to the real world through supervised professional observations.


Through this final class in my Child and Family Studies concentration, I was able to gain more experience in a

career path I was interested in and build connections with people in my career field. This class not only provides an opportunity for a solid and career building internship, but

also encouraged me to become fully engaged in class discussions. This class outlined the importance of working and helping other people and being able to learn empathy

and understand others.

http://elisamajor.weebly.com/index.html

LINK TO MY RESUME




child and family studies digital portfolio. i have been through many different majors during my four...

Documents

family studies program

family studiesthe child

family studies continuedchild

human ecology department

future human ecology

powerpoint presentation

different students

right career