Admission

PERSONAL GOALS STATEMENT

In application towards the Ph.D. in Education at George Mason University

Jay A. Allen

As humankind, we are given the freedom of choice as to whether we pursue the discovery, development, and use of the unique gifts and talents we are each given. It is only in doing so, that I believe we can find the unspeakable joy of flourishing in this lifetime. My overall goal is to continue to use education and experience as a process of refinement to test and approve what I believe to be my life’s purpose and then serve fervently in that capacity.

The journey which has led to my becoming a lifelong learner began with some degree of academic challenge. Not taking advantage of available counseling at the University of Maryland, it took the realities of being academically dismissed for me to wake up to the need to “tune into myself” and reflect on my deepest interests. Soon finding that the field of education filled that passion, I had the pleasure of founding and presiding over the student association that served my major and then continuing on later in life to become a professionally certified alpine skiing instructor. Later spurred by professional expectations, I completed my Master’s as a part-time student. This endeavor truly ignited my desire to positively influence society through the opportunities that can only be gained through additional education. Now having completed 19 1/2 years of active-duty military service in the U. S. Coast Guard, sixteen of those years as a helicopter pilot, my passion for being a leader and an educator has become much more well-formed and George Mason’s educational philosophy parallels my desire to be a person of influence. Where vision is a means of defining a method, I view George Mason’s Ph.D. in Education as the next phase in my plan. Through my educational pursuit at George Mason, I desire to continue my research in leadership development, particularly how it relates to the military and values formation. My goal is to help define the theory and practice found in high quality leadership development curricula and combine those interests within the dynamic context of leveraging the newest instructional technology methodologies. Ideally, I hope to use my experience and knowledge gained at George Mason to influence the method by which leadership development is approached in the U.S. Coast Guard. Beyond my service in the Coast Guard, my expectation is pursue employment as a Chief Learning Officer in either government or the corporate sector while also likely serving as an educator or consultant in a volunteer capacity focused on developing military ministries. Although I do see the George Mason Ph.D. as a terminal degree for me, I fully expect to continue research and purposely write on various topics within the subject areas already mentioned.

From the other items included in my application to George Mason’s program, you will see that my path leading to this decision recently included studying at Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Although initially excited about participating in a largely online environment (based on my current employment as the e-Learning Program Manager for the U.S. Coast Guard) at an educational institution which shares my faith, my experience over two semesters led to further personal discoveries of how I best learn and what is more my passion. Starting my Ph.D. studies in Organizational Leadership, I have further refined my interests specifically towards Educational Leadership and how Information Technology may be used effectively to assist learners in reaching their performance goals. In addition, I have affirmed that the in-class educational experience is where I succeed best, particularly at the Ph.D. level of study. The combination of my career-path discovery along with my personal preference in learning styles led to a gradual decline in my performance at Regent. However, having met a number of faculty and students at George Mason, I have no doubt that this pursuit will re-kindle my excitement for the highest levels of personal performance and professional development.

This vision for my future and my passion for furthering my own education is a result of parental influence, the inspiration of my wife of seven years, reading much on the subject, and the trials and tribulations of a military career. Through each of these, I can honestly say that it is my response to the valleys of life that I’ve grown the most and realized that it is in those valleys that the ground is most fertile. It was in a valley that I found faith, it is in the valleys of marriage that I have matured, and it is in the valleys at work that I have seen the value of higher education. It is in these latter experiences of my professional life that my most significant experiences and achievements have directed me towards lifelong learning.

Through all of the above, my passion for people has only multiplied as humanity is truly our greatest resource. My responsibility, so aptly written about in Hugh Hewitt’s book In, But Not Of, is to be an influence in this world and that “[I should] not consider these opportunities to be optional (Hewitt, 2003, p. 210).” As such, I consider my pursuit towards acceptance as a Ph.D. in Education candidate at George Mason University to be one of duty, commitment, responsibility and ministry. A pursuit to which I hope I will be favorably granted.

Reference

Hewitt, H. (2003). In, but not of: a guide to Christian ambition and the desire to influence the world. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc.