Blog 14

There have been numerous times throughout this semester that I seriously questioned myself as to why I wanted to become a school counselor.  Yes, I knew that I wanted to in some way or another work with children, and I definitely enjoyed being in a school environment. This article definitely gave me the push that I am pursuing a career I had always dreamed of having.  In addition, many individuals in my school counseling cohort, also known as friends, have motivated me to stay in the program because they see the potential I have to be a school counselor.

                Reading over in section in the article (Dahir, Burnham, & Stone, 2009) also served as a confirmation that becoming a school counselor was the profession I had always dreamed of becoming.  Many of the sections definitely hit on past experiences that I can apply to becoming an effective school counselor.  One of the biggest topics that was brought up in the article multiple times was that school counselors must be able to collect, analyze, and present data.  It made me know that the education I received at the graduate school I attended previously would not go to waste.

                At my old graduate school, a whole academic year was devoted to learning how to collect and analyze data.  Projects ranged from learning how to use SPSS to learning the concept of syntax and implementing programmatic codes in SAS to analyze data.  I also learned that computing statistics was not where the data stopped, I had to be able to understand the results of the data I analyzed.  I also gained experience being a teaching assistant and laboratory manager.  My responsibilities ranged anywhere from training students in experiment protocol  and guidance on pursuing a graduate education to teaching students about research and statistical methods.  Working with undergraduate students definitely emphasized the fact that I wanted to work with students in some manner.

                In addition to working with undergraduates, I also was able to work as an advocate for LGBT graduate students on campus at my prior graduate school.  I was able to successfully present the need for an LGBT resource on campus for graduate students to the graduate student union and it was approved.  On top of having Prism recognized on campus as an LGBT graduate group, I was also able to successfully have funds allocated to the group by the university.

Dahir, C.A., Burnham, J.J., & Stone, C. (2009) Listen to the voices: School counselors and               comprehensive school counseling programs.  Professional School Counseling, 12(3), 182-192.