Tori Wright, MAHE ‘18 worked in Residence Life as an undergraduate student at Geneva College and saw first-hand the impact of Geneva’s Master of Arts in Higher Education (MAHE) program through her interactions with the resident directors. She was encouraged to see a graduate program that formulated itself around being a good practitioner in the field and what it means to be a lifelong learner. Geneva faculty like Keith Martel, PhD, and David Guthrie shared their stories of the sense of community that came for being a part of the program which pushed Tori to seek out the MAHE program.
Tori’s journey through the MAHE program was via the Institute model, utilized by students working at another campus and coming to Geneva’s campus twice a year for time in the classroom. Upon her graduation from Geneva, she earned a position in the residence life department at Covenant College in Georgia. Tori started out as a graduate assistant community coordinator before moving to a resident director role. During her time in the MAHE program and at Covenant, Tori got engaged and made the move back to Pennsylvania. Tori finished the program while serving as a resident director for upper classwomen at Grove City College.
While the Institute model was a whirlwind as Tori navigated life transitions in her personal life and professional life, she has fond memories of a class excursion to Pittsburgh to explore the Cathedral of Learning for her diversity class taught by Jolyn Dalvig, PhD. The trip gave students an opportunity to process excerpts from their reading for class. Tori finished that class with an even deeper understanding of how to truly listen to people’s stories and be in gratitude of God’s creation of humanity.
Tori was recently promoted to the director of residence life at Grove City College and continues to utilize what she learned in the Geneva classroom on a daily basis. A prime example is the use of Astin’s I-E-O (Input-Environment-Output) model to assess how college is affecting the students she serves as well as her professional staff, specifically through the lens of residence life.
During her time as a graduate assistant, Tori grew through different experiences. She reflected recently on the importance of failure and how to seek and receive feedback. Allowing mentors, staff, and students to truly walk alongside her aided her confidence as a leader. Being able to take notes on how different leaders are gifted and incorporate those experiences into her style allowed her to become a more well-rounded person.
For Tori, a key component of her time in Geneva’s MAHE program began with not taking anything for granted, and encouraging current and future students to really get to know their professors, classmates, and other students. She believes that we know Christ more and more when we seek to love our neighbor and hold a posture of humility through being lifelong learners.
By Judy Willson ‘88
Opinions expressed in the Geneva Blog are those of its contributors and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official position of the College. The Geneva Blog is a place for faculty and contributing writers to express points of view, academic insights, and contribute to national conversations to spark thought, conversation, and the pursuit of truth, in line with our philosophy as a Christian, liberal arts institution.
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