Blog 2

The "Bullied to Death?" case study presented in the chapter instantly had me connected.  Cody, the high school student, instantly had me thinking about my own experiences as a high school student. Many of the individuals in this course are aware that I engaged in self-injurious behavior. One of my main motivations for pursuing another Master's degree was that I wanted to be an individual that is well aware of the students that get swept under the rug because of no obvious and identifiable behaviors.

I was the student that was bullied throughout high school when my sexual orientation was exposed to a number of students in my high school during my lunch period by my sister. The bullying ranged from students spreading rumors, covering my locker with negative phrases, to even my homeroom teacher telling me that if I spent more time reading the Bible I would understand the wrong decision I have made.

All of the headings presented in the chapter are topics that I know are of importance and something I am willing to work toward to become a well educated and effective school counselor. They were also components of this career that I feel a bit overwhelmed by, especially work within the community. This is solely because I  have only lived in this area for one year, and I'm not too familiar with the area but it is something I absolutely need to work on to become an successful school counselor.

After reading the McGannon, Carey, and Dimmitt (2005) article, I realized that although my first Master's degree was completed in a program that I could not see myself further pursuing, I'm appreciative of the year of statistics I was required to take. I also was a teaching assistant for an undergraduate course  focused on research and experimental methods. I definitely plan to utilize everything I learned at my old graduate school for my core competency project.

The Whiston and Sexton (1998) article gave me hope that all school counselors will work toward becoming more culturally competent. As a biracial student, I knew that I was different than most of the other students in my elementary, middle, and high school. Being a student that was different than everyone else just heightened my awareness that people are different rather than thinking I was surrounded by individuals that were just like me.

Dollarhide, C.T., & Saginak, K.A. (2012). Comprehensive school counseling programs (2nd Ed.). New York Pearson, Inc.

McGannon, W., Carey, J., & Dimmit, C. (2005). The current status of school counseling outcome                research. Center for School Counseling Outcome Research.

Whiston, S. C., & Sexton, T. L. (1998). A review of school counseling outcome research: Implications for practice. Journal Of Counseling & Development, 76(4), 412-426. doi:10.1002/j.1556-           6676.1998.tb02700.x.