School Counselor Career Essay

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The choices we make early in life have an enormous impact on our future. I have always known that I wanted to directly impact people’s lives and my personal experiences have set me on the school-counseling path. In the future, I would love to influence another generation of students to soar for their dreams.

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

It was during my senior year of college that I decided I wanted to become a school counselor. Up until my senior year in college at Penn State I did not know where I wanted to take my career but I knew I wanted to work in a school setting and I knew that I wanted to work with kids. When it came time to choose an internship site for my last semester, I chose an alternative school called Buxmont Academy in Bethlehem where I would be shadowing two of their school counselors as well as engaging with the students themselves. I got to work with these children on a more personal level, gaining an understanding of their emotions, experiences, and difficulties, as most of these children came from broken homes, and drug and alcohol related settings. I am interested in becoming a school counselor because I want to help. When I become a counselor I want to make a difference in a child’s life whether that be by simply giving them support that they might not have in their lives or helping them make changes to better themselves and their futures. A counselor has such an important role in helping to shape young children and that is something that I want to be a part of.

As I started my college career at Tuskegee University, where I double majored in psychology and English. I was passionate about creating social awareness and helping people, but I was unsure what career I was interested in after graduation. I thought about attending graduate school for Counseling Psychology, but I just was not sure about it. I spoke to a professor in the Counselor Education program at Georgia State University and discussed my interests with her. She suggested I look for a program accredited by Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) School Counseling. I enrolled in the School Counseling program at Clark Atlanta

It takes a special person to become a school counselor and in doing so it is important to take those life skills, knowledge, dispositions, and background experiences to help along the way. In the counseling field there are some guidelines and theories that will help, but nothing that prepares you for what may happen at any moment or any time during the day. It is clear that life definitely throws some unexpected curve balls and that is the same for situations in the field of school counseling. You never know what situation you will run into and in order to dodge those curve balls it is those life experiences that often time influence the direction in which we take both personally and professionally. It is important to compile all the knowledge and experiences that we have gained throughout life and apply them in a way that will help others to be successful. It is key to reflect on the past and those skills that I have that will lead me to become an effective professional school counselors.

Up to two to three years of work experience, internships and professional counselor outlook is a must. Internships are said to be the most important part on the path to becoming any sort of counselor. During these internships students are required to participate in assigned community group sessions, private-tutor individual sessions, present and organize group lessons, participate in student achievement activities and excel in mock/exit level interviews. By doing all this you will hopefully gain confidence in real a real life setting with a mentor constantly guiding you to the point that you no longer need them. Moreover it gives you a real life perspective of whether this career is for you or not while opening your eyes to your own abilities. And lastly after partaking in about two to three years under supervision, this gets you ready for the licensing exam (The National Counselor Examination or the “NCE”) which is a 200 question application based test that includes the entire curriculum and is timed for 4 hours exactly. The curriculum will test as following counseling issues, processes, assessments and diagnostics, professional development and consultation, professional practice, human growth and development, relationship work, group work, social and cultural diversity, research and evaluation, and ethics.

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According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, it is evident that these counselors are able to work in public or private school settings. They are also able to work in settings other than schools, such as in career centers. Another attractive feature is that it requires a master’s degree. I feel that pursuing a master’s degree would open many doors for my professional career. One thing I learned about this occupation is that school counselors do not typically work in the summer when school is out of session.

Statement of Interest: School Counseling My main career objective is to help children and adolescents throughout my entire career. I want to promote a healthy environment for children to learn and become well rounded. A degree in school counseling would allow me to work with children and adolescents in a hands on way and introduce them to activities, volunteerism, colleges, and to help them find their own passions. I have job shadowed a few different career paths that I have had interest in throughout my college career (school counselor, social worker, and nonprofit advocate), and I fell in love with the idea of working in a school as a counselor when I job shadowed at Portland High School in Tennessee.

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Career progression is the aim for most workers, but career development is not something most of us think regularly. But without proper understanding of what we want from our career and how we can achieve our goals quicker, we can quickly end up dissatisfied with our jobs.

The career services professional supports the educational mission of a college by assisting students to develop, evaluate, and pursue career aspirations with the goal of securing employment. Career services professionals accomplish these goals with a range of programs, counseling and services designed to help students make the connection between the academic environment and the workplace.