Shelly Treleaven - Executive Summary

I am like a turtle. I started my journey alone and unable to see my

way. As time went on I found a path, and people to encourage me.

The path was not always easy and I struggled. Even though I have

taken my time to get to this place in my journey, it has been a

worthy pursuit.

I have always been a keen learner, but over the past two years, my endurance and patience have

been tested. I started out unclear and unable to make the connections between the learning and my

goals, and truly uncertain if I was in the right program. I enjoyed the classes and the people so I

persevered. It was not until the Family Systems and Conflict Management class at the end of the first

year that I had an ‘Ah-ha’ moment and the focus started to become clearer. I started to understand why I

act, behave, react, and feel as I do, and this knowledge was akin to having multiple doors open for me.

This knowledge impacted every aspect of my life in a way I had never imagined. I could finally see

myself more clearly; my talents, flaws, areas that I need to grow as well as my strengths.

The second year of study was amazing. I was sad we had lost Janice, but I was connecting with

the others in the cohort and was deeply impacted by each class. I, however, had one of the most

stressful years of my life in addition to my academic pursuits. I struggled with remaining on task and

focused at times and for the first time in my life, I had to ask for help. I was beginning to think I was

not going to make it. Thank goodness for my cohort, and Gloria!

Capstone work was exhilarating as well as exhausting. I wanted so badly to get it done, but I

wanted it to mean something as well. I hoped to make a difference with it. I know now that I am going

to need to continue to develop a plan for spreading the information that I gathered in order for it to have

an impact. This will be my next area for personal development.