Katelyn Eden

When I was in my undergrad, I struggled finding my career path, and I had an academic advisor that poured into me and helped me kind of redirect my strengths. That experience really shaped everything for me and led me to wanting to work in education, to be that guiding factor for other students moving forward. Having someone believe in me and help me see my potential when I was lost made all the difference, and now I want to be that person for my students.

The best career advice I've received is building your network. I find a lot of strength in talking to people within the field that you have desire, building your personal and professional web so you have resources to kind of lean into. Having that network of people you can turn to for support and guidance has been invaluable throughout my career.

Imposter syndrome isn't real, and you can do hard things. I think there's a lot of pressure to be graceful under pressure, but I am often finding that transparency is helping other people understand the humanism behind leadership. There's always a younger version watching, and I haven't seen a lot of young women in my field that speak to the honest challenges that we face. Being authentic and honest about the difficulties you encounter can actually help others more than trying to appear perfect all the time.

The biggest challenge is probably just the changing landscape of higher education with political impacts. But I would say the areas of opportunity are looking at incoming student trends and creating customized pathways for students experiencing roadblocks. Whether that's students traditionally coming out of poverty, non-traditional students, or first-generation students, we need to really look at how we can better serve special populations that may not be completing at as much of a success rate as others. That's where I see the real potential to make a difference.

I think empathetic leadership is probably the most important value to me. And then I would say presence, really just the power in being available and being present. Whether it's with my students, my colleagues, or my family, showing up fully and leading with empathy makes all the difference.