It
has been a good week and I have felt very useful and productive in my
counseling role. I could write about a
lot of things, but a general overlying thought is the decision to start my
career in a high school or middle school setting. This week my supervisor
informed me of the possibility of one of the counselors retiring at a nearby
middle school, which would be an obvious job opening for the fall. She wanted to give me a heads up but told me
how much she hopes I can stay at American Fork High next year. At this point there is not a full-time
counselor position available, but they could maybe put a few other
responsibilities in place to create a half teacher/half counselor position (thus full-time). The conversation got my wheels turning and I
really just need to decide if I want to dig in my heels and do everything I can
to stay at AF High, or embrace the option of a new setting.
I really have no idea what I want to do.
Today, just as I was getting ready to
call a bunch of students down to tackle one of my other responsibilities, I had
three students come in that wanted to talk to me. Clearly they had been crying, and it was
right after lunch—when most of the drama takes place. I invited them into my office and spent the
rest of the period listening, supporting, and talking with them. It was a good experience because I don’t get
a lot of “responsive” service opportunities as the scholarship counselor, but I
do have students who feel comfortable coming to me, rather than their assigned
counselor. I appreciate that. There were tears shed and emotions all over
my office, but I think they were all good and feeling better by the end of our
discussion.
However, as I sat there with three
emotional girls in front of me, I thought, “This is what I will deal with every
day as a middle school counselor.” It
was a very clear picture of what the majority of my time would be utilized
for. Social problems. Girl drama.
Friend issues. Problems at
home. I contrasted that thought to my
responsibilities with college preparation and scholarships and how much I do
enjoy providing new resources, knowledge, and experiences to students and
parents. Which do I enjoy more? Where do I have more skills and confidence? I don’t have the answer yet but I will
continue to reflect and filter through my thoughts and feelings.
Today, I think I choose to be a high
school counselor.
Ta-daaaa! Those are my thoughts for the day. Every day is different as a school counselor, and I really like that. You can't predict who is going to walk through the door or what the next question will be. Some take 20 seconds to resolve. Some take an hour or more. Some you have no idea what to do. I am still very much learning as I go along, but this internship is awesome and I am loving it so far.
