Professional Reflection Essay

We make decisions early in our lives that have a massive impact on our future. It has always been a passion of mine to touch the lives of the youth in a great and positive manner. What better way to live out this passion than being an advocate for the generation to come. It is my goal, to inspire and aide a generation of students in achieving their goals. I believe that School Counseling will give me the opportunity to do so. My personal and work experiences influenced my motivation to become a School Counselor. Through my years of experience I have overcame many challenging obstacles but they all worked together in the end for the better. In example, the first university that I attended after high school was Valdosta State University. When I attended VSU, my approach of learning was extremely nonchalant. After some life struggles I decided to relocate to Atlanta. Upon moving, I made a promise to myself that I had to finish what I stated back in Valdosta. My outlook on learning had become more meaningful. I enrolled in Atlanta Technical College and this is where my hungry for an over average GPA began. Once I began this journey, deciding to focus in Early Childhood and Education, like any other college student, I faced difficulties adjusting myself to university’s requirements. Eventually I became more confident and showed much more interest in the change. I worked harder, and received high grades, which boosted my ambition to perform better. In my last quarter at Atlanta

As the standards of the counseling profession are continuously being shaped, I desire to play a role in the educating

Counseling is defined as ”the use of therapeutic strategies to help clients address personal concerns and mental health issues” (Nystul, 2016). Pursuing counseling as a career involves many years of formal study and certification or licensure. After receiving licensure to practice as a professional counselors it is a requirement to maintain involvement and certification in certain associations in order to hold your license. These association often require further education and/or professional practice in order to maintain membership in these associations. It is quite obvious that counseling requires a large amount of commitment and passion in order to pursue it as a career and maintain a title as a counselor. I have conducted an interview with a professional counselor in order to further understand the experience of being a counselor. The interview that I conducted explores the requirements of maintaining and receiving a counselling career, the experience of being a counselor, and what characteristics or skills a professional may have. The Individual who agreed to the interview was a counselor by the name of Susie Facio. Susie Facio, through this interview, will be giving us a look at what influenced her to become a counselor, what her work entails on a day to day basis, and what qualities and skills she has acquired in order to become a successful counselor.

My pursuit of becoming a School Counselor led me to apply to the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland, College Park. I am a former student at University of Maryland with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. After graduating and teaching for two years in Prince George’s County Public Schools, I discovered my true passion lies not only in the classroom and students’ academics, but playing a pivotal role in the growth of their career, social, and personal development. Although I am no longer teaching full-time at the moment, my interaction with students from diverse backgrounds left an indelible responsibility to continue making a difference in our students. The objectives and mission of the School Counseling Master’s Program at University of Maryland can best help my goal of becoming an effective counselor and leader who is an agent of change to students and service the mental and emotional well-being of the younger generation.

I desire to pursue school counseling as my career to become an effective and successful leader in this profession. Why? I have always held a passion for touching the lives of the youth in a great and positive manner. A licensed school counselor entails helping students with academic achievement, personal/social growth and career development, ensuring students become the industrious, well-balanced adults of tomorrow. while, operating as a professional school counselor involves me obtaining the appropriate knowledge and skills that will support me with providing exceptional service for clients. I believe that I can obtain this intelligence here at Capella University. I comprehend that as a professional school counselor I would be expected

From this twenty year counseling veteran I learned about a functioning guidance program, the role of the counselor, the amount of time she spends in various components of the program, how to foster a positive relationship with the teachers and faculty, ways to continue to develop professionally, and insight for a future career in school counseling. As I drove away from the school, I felt a mix of emotions such as, intimidation, excitement, and hopefulness to name a few. When I began to try to take in just how much is required and how many people rely on a school counselor it was intimidating. In my mind I began to wonder if it is possible for one person to be that much to that many people and still keep some kind of balance. As soon as the thought passed through my mind, I immediately heard the words of wisdom that had been shared with me, "don 't beat yourself up for not being able to be everything to everybody." I also reflected on how upbeat the counselor sounded when she talked about her role in helping students become "the best people

Though knowledge is beneficial it does not turn the tide of making a difference unless one has the skill set to help implement those improvements. Communication skills are a necessary tool as a school counselor to develop future and existing relationships to implement those improvements that were apparent within one’s research. Another skill that one must attain is actually having genuine interest within the current field. If one has little interest within their career, they will disregard research and conduct business as a need to know basis, which could be detrimental. Lastly, self-reflection is relatively important when involving research because one has to reflect on the information that has been unraveled. It is important to see how one feels about the information and how it affects them as an individual so the counselor can identify those aspects, so it will not get in the way of their

In schools all over the world today, School Counselors are crucial to assisting students, parents, school administrations, and the community. I believe that creating an effective counseling program that supports the counselors’ role in education will foster a close interaction between students and counselor to achieve success in their personal/social lives, academic achievements, and college readiness careers.

There are many resources and organizations available for the professional development of counselors in all areas of specialization. The Association for Addiction Professionals (NAADAC) is a national organization that provides addiction counselors “…nationally-standardized certification, education, and clinical training to obtain the skills, qualifications, and experience that allow you to make progress in your career” (NAADAC, 2013). Their concern for professional development helps addiction counselors by giving them the tools to advance in their careers and continue to develop the personal skills necessary for working with clients struggling with drug, alcohol, and many other addictions. The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) is an international organization that offers “…a wealth of professional development opportunities, from its annual conference to its regularly scheduled webinars, from self-paced topic specialist training to one-day workshops” (ASCA, 2014). While both organizations offer education to the counseling professional,

I empathised with her situation, however I maintained the professional boundaries and avoided using sympathy. I could clearly see that I wasn’t going to be able to offer her a solution to her problem and in this unfortunate case I was unable to take her enquiry further. Consequently, she was aware she had to settle for a lesser grade or a potential fail, however had an awareness of what she had to do for future practice.

His main roles are working with students who are a part of the advanced placement program; he is also responsible for working with students that are a part of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) educational program. These two programs have a rigorous curriculum; the AVID program consists of students that are enrolled in a rigorous course of study that will enable them to meet requirements for university enrollment. Besides these two programs Mr. Ryland is also in charge of the comprehensive competency-based guidance program, which provides students with a developmental and proactive guidance program. According to Ryland “the competency-based guidance program is to offer a system intended to assist all students with the development of their educational goals, personal goals, and even career goals” (2015). Mr. Ryland has worked hard for the position he holds as the head school counselor. While interviewing Mr. Ryland, this learner asked him about his professional development. Mr. Ryland began to discuss how “professional development is about the knowledge and skills a counselor gains to promote their job development” (2015). He says that promoting job development entails, attending conferences or training sessions. Professionals who seek personal development are the ones who desire for a long lasting career and personal growth in the counseling field. These individuals are often the ones who have an exceptional drive for the counseling field, and

Looking back, I now have higher expectations about the duties of a school counselor and acknowledge the areas in which the counseling department at my school lacked. Most notably being that I was never given any traditional form of counseling. Unfortunately, I think this is due to the this growing field having not yet obtained its identity of a counseling emphasis. I knew that I could go to my counselor for academic advisement, I was sure that I would get more assistance if I struggled with my classes, but I do not believe that my counselor took an active approach of inquiring about mental health. Instead the counseling department seemed focused on student’s only when grades were down.

School counseling as always caught my attention. When I started my higher education, I had a focus on studying Elementary Education. However, after completing a college assignment for one of my psychology course, I found a very interested area in Psychology which is counseling. Since then, I have falling in love with counseling, and have spent a lot of time researching the career. I have conducted different interviews and have engaged in different counseling events that have helped me get to know the career. Therefore, when given this assignment, I felt more than prepared because I have spent a lot of time researching this career. However, I used the given source, ONET, to have more of a broad understanding about School Counseling.

School counselors help students in setting up their career path to college, ensuring that student achieves academic success and maintain a positive personal/social behavior during their educational years. As stated in The role of the professional school counselor, (ASCA, 2009b), through leadership, advocacy and collaboration, school counselors promote equity and access to rigorous educational experiences for all students. For this reason, counselors help students become proactive and judicious grown-ups for their future. “The ASCA National Model: A Framework for School Counseling Programs....unites counselors with one vision and one voice, which creates unity and focus toward improving student achievement” (ASCA National Model: A framework for school counseling programs, para. 1). This program was designed for school counselors to promote student success in their academics, emotional and social life.

There are racial things happening all around us every day but many times people can block it out or don’t notice it because it seems normal. This week I decided to watch and see what racial or gender type things happen at my place of work. I work at a restaurant in downtown Green Bay, it a bit more expensive than most places. I’m going to cover the way customers are served and how they are treated and how things are a little more advanced in the kitchen staff.