Personal Narrative: A Career In Counseling

I conducted an interview with Giselle Ramirez because she is the Transfer Career Center Coordinator/Counselor for Moorpark College. Because I am the counselor assistant for Pierce College Transfer Center, I am interested in becoming a Transfer Center counselor; thus, the interview gave me a lot of insight on the leadership style a counselor should have if interested in working in a community college setting. The interview was thirty minutes long and it took place in her office. Therefore, Mrs. Ramirez provided me with insight on her educational path, her leadership style and her roles as a leader. To begin with, Giselle Ramirez never thought she would be a counselor since she was not a great student in high school. Her parents did not believe she could
Ramirez is a first-generation student it was important that she proved her father wrong. The machismo in her family was very strong that her father did not believe a woman can receive a degree, regardless, she graduated with an associate’s degree from Moorpark College. Later, she attended California State Northridge for two years and she received her bachelors in sociology. Because she knew how competitive working for community colleges is, she decided to get experience in the counseling field by working in various departments in Student Services. She worked in the Financial Aid Office, Matriculation, and EOP& S. Next, she was accepted in CSUN’s Counseling Program and after 3 years she graduated from the program. She worked for eight years as an adjunct counselor, but was later laid off from the budget cuts in 2010. This was a challenging time for her since she had just married her husband who is a Marine. Regardless, she continued to apply for counseling positions eventually in 2012 she was hired as full-time ten-year track counselor at Ventura College for the Career Center. Then, she became the Veteran Counselor for Moorpark College and of July of 2017 she is the Career Transfer Center