About Us
The Heartland Region Professional Student Group (PSG) was started by a group of passionate students who wanted to help other students:
- Learn how to use Experiential Education in their chosen field.
- Make connections with Experiential Education professionals.
- Promote the significance of Experiential Education as an alternative to conventional teaching methods.
We will do so through new media, personalized workshops, and mentoring relationships. The AEE Heartland Professional Student Group will provide guidance, support, resources, and opportunities that help students achieve their personal and professional goals.
Our Word
Most students have one goal in mind: How can I set my self up for the most success upon graduation? Students in Recreation, Parks, Outdoor Education, and Experiential Education programs have an exciting professional future ahead of them. This is a future, however, where emerging professionals must compete with graduates from a wide variety of unrelated programs to achieve. For every recreation or experiential education job opening that is posted, there will be a handful of history, psychology, anthropology, or accounting majors applying as well. Some applicants in direct competition for these jobs many even be right out of high school.
Competition for the entry-level jobs that most recent graduates are eligible for will be steep. And they won’t be just amongst fellow graduates in the field. The old adage ‘it’s not what you know but whom you know’ isn’t just a witty phrase. It is a fact of life. It’s how the world works.
Active membership in a professional organization provides a direct avenue for building a professional network that will serve students well at the end of their academic experience and through the jumping off point in their careers. Meeting and connecting with other people as excited and passionate about your field will both fuel your own energy for the work you will be asked to do, and will help create strong bonds with the people who will be in a position to help you further your career and professional goals.
The Association for Experiential Education provides an incredible resource for students and emerging professionals to:
- Expand their professional circles.
- Seek guidance and mentorship from many of the very same people who write their textbooks.
- And to begin forming long lasting and far reaching professional networks.
Get involved! Learn more about how AEE can add depth and value to your education. Add your voice as we expand the ways AEE caters to students at future conferences. Meet other passionate and motivated students. Begin creating your own professional network that will prove invaluable as you step out of the classroom onto the path of your career. Start charting your life course TODAY.
