Educational Guidance Counsellor

As a high school student in New York in the 80’s, I got little help with my career planning or choosing or applying to university, even as one of the strongest students in my class, and most of my peers who graduated high school at that time would agree. “Oh that wretched guidance counsellor” I thought, some years later, as I wrestled with some fairly typical questions about what I was studying and where, and whether I had made the right choices so far, and why I hadn’t received any direction from that person… You might be thinking now, “Oh, so she chose this career because she wanted to do a better job of helping students…blah blah”. Well, no, not actually. In fact, while this sentiment may be true of my thinking now, I didn’t enter this field for that reason.  Like many, I have found my way by process of elimination, trial and error, and bits of self-discovery along the journey.

I thought that, having earned my university degree, I might want to be a Psychologist….maybe a neuropsychologist or a School Psychologist, I considered the practical aspects, the work environments, and most importantly what kinds of things I really actually enjoyed doing. Clearly to me, on top of the list, was the sense of being able to guide someone and have a positive impact, to mentor, to teach, to support and counsel. That can take a lot of forms. At this stage in my career, my college and university degrees in Psychology and Counselling Psychology and my experiences in teaching, writing, college counselling, advising, admissions and administration in educational settings combine to prepare me for work as an independent consultant. I take on this new challenge with enthusiasm and actually, some gratitude. Having the opportunity to influence the direction of someone’s life at this stage can bring a lot of joy and hope, and what a great way to invest one’s energies and time.

So, as I start out as an independent educational consultant, after 20 years of working within institutions, I extend an invitation to you to connect with me. And please, don’t be too upset with your guidance counsellor for not “figuring things out for you”. With a student-counsellor ratio in the 300’s to 1 or greater, and their range of responsibilities, there is only so much depth they can be expected to offer in terms of one-on-one university planning or scholarship search assistance. And, while they are there for support, you must learn to be your own self-advocate. Be resilient. Identify what you need, and ask for it. If you don’t get it, then seek help elsewhere. And take pride when you achieve success with the help of those you have chosen to be your supporters.