Shawn Athanasios received his BA from California State University, Northridge in Speech Communication and has an MA in Culture and Communication from New York University (NYU). His degree was within the field of Interpersonal Communication and Conflict Management and his thesis topic was Meta-Cognition and Human Defensiveness. He wrote about the importance of individuals learning how to understand their defensiveness and negative thinking habits as a way to improve overall cohesiveness within their human relationships. He is an Adjunct Professor at a few Universities (NYU, Marymount Manhattan College, Pace University & Manhattan College) where his teaching experience include the following courses: Interviewing Strategies, Intro to Human Communication and Culture, Interpersonal Communication, Small Group Communication, Principals and Theories of Communication and Public Speaking.
Shawn decided to create his own Consulting Business under the umbrella of Personal Development for those looking to enhance their current profession, change careers, discover their deepest passions, communicate and manage conflict more effectively, achieve high levels of motivation, and find balance with their total self by offering a holistic approach to career and personal development.
Shawn has had many fulfilling experiences that include being raised in Laos, Ghana, India & Egypt by parents of the U.S. Foreign Service and Diplomatic community, teaching ESL in South Korea, serving as a Primary Counselor for kids out of Juvenile Hall, and mentoring grade school children through a Psychologist's referred program.
In addition, Shawn is proud to have received a full scholarship for his Masters Degree studies at NYU, where he was the sole recipient of the Rosenberg scholarship and for graduating Magna Cum Laude. He also presented two papers at the New York Speech Communication Association (NYSCA) conference while at Graduate School. Shawn discussed the importance of taking full ownership of one's shortcomings as essential to inducing change within oneself and one's environment and how to be an effective interpersonal communicator.
His volunteer work is reflected through participating in Buddhist Activities as a member of the Soka Gakkai International, the largest Buddhist lay organization in the world. Previously, he was the Young Men's Division Leader for Houston District, transcribed the World Tribune to audiotapes for the blind Buddhist members, published an article in the Soka Gakkai's Living Buddhism magazine and was a volunteer staff writer for the organization's newspaper (The World Tribune). He continues to lead group discussions on Nichiren Buddhist Theory.
Shawn Athanasios