Defining Academic and Professional Goals: A Walden Perspective

This essay reflects on the impact of Walden University's mission and vision on a student's academic and professional goals, particularly in the context of social change and community development. The author discusses their academic goal of acquiring knowledge and professional skills relevant to their field, aligning with the university's focus on evidence-based practices and addressing societal challenges. The professional goal is to become a scholar-practitioner committed to social change, leveraging the university's collaboration with healthcare industry experts and opportunities for fieldwork experience. The essay emphasizes the importance of networking with scholars and practitioners to deepen understanding and practically address problems in the community.

Running head: ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS 1
Academic and Professional Goals
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Academic and Professional Goals

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS 2
Indeed, Walden’s mission and vision have positively impacted my personal view about
social change and the way of addressing challenges in the communities we live in. At first, social
change appeared like a complex thing to me but with time, I have come to appreciate the role of
the various programs by the university in ensuring that the student becomes change agents in the
societies they come from. Most of the thing learned in class are backed by some practical
experience, making it possible to distinguish my roles as a scholar-practitioner. By celebrating
the achievements of the alumni in community development, Walden University has inspired me
into becoming a social change agent as well as a sharpening my leadership skills and
consequently shaping my future profession as a scholar-practitioner.
My academic goal is to gather as much knowledge as is possible from my lecturers and
fellow students as well as develop professional skills to enable me to attend to my future clients
in a satisfactory and sustainable manner. This is very much in line with mission and vision of
both Walden University and the school of nursing (SON). The two focus on providing the
students with academically rigorous and contextually relevant studies with the aim of enhancing
critical thinking, ability by the student to implement evidence-based practices as well as gaining
the core specialty nursing knowledge so as to address challenges in the societies and to transform
the communities. By acquiring the necessary knowledge, I believe in improving the quality of
service delivery across the human lifespan with the aim of meeting the client’s need at both local
and global scale (Yob et al., 2016).
My professional goals is that of being a scholar-practitioner committed to social change.
The educational studies offered by the school of nursing are based on the scholar-practitioner
model, addressing the continuum of care across the diverse nursing professions offered in this
university. As far as my professional objective is concerned, Walden University collaborates

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS 3
with healthcare industry experts to help shape our studies towards community development. The
doctoral-level-faculty, for example, connects us to the best practices and field experts who act as
our mentors. Apart from class work, the programs offer fieldwork experience which provides us
with the opportunity to apply what is learned in class. Additionally, we are given an opportunity
to hear from high profiled and distinguished scholars, scientist and change makers. This does not
only expand our network but also allows for a deeper understanding of the ways of practically
addressing problems in our societies (Social Change Working Group 2016).
References

ACADEMIC AND PROFESSIONAL GOALS 4
Social Change Working Group. (2016). 2015-2016 Social Change Review.
Yob, I., Brewer, P., Ferraro, A., Lange, L., Sanders, M., Stoodt, G., & Tallman, J. (2016).
Perspectives on Social Change at Walden University.