School Counselor Personal Statement

Even from the time when I was a high school student, I wanted to work with students. As I went through my life experiences and college, I found myself wanted to counsel adolescents. School counseling always seemed like a great place to start. When I began working with teens, I found myself learning how important it was for them to have someone who was willing to “fight” for them. If there is anything I have taken from my work experience so far, is the importance of putting your feelings aside and take risks for your clients. Especially, for those clients who cannot do it for themselves. As a school counselor I would think that this outlook of mine would not change and in fact, the willingness to lead and advocate for my students will grow.
I have always had the attitude that a good leader leads by example and puts the best interest of others first. I think about how this would translate in a school setting. As a school counselor; I would be in a unique situation. Not only would I have school professionals and administrators observing me, but I also have your students watching how I handle things. As a leader, I must recognize that advocacy will play a big part in my role. In this case, as a school counselor, it will be my responsibility to ensure that my student’s get the most out of their academic experience. Having the privilege of already working with adolescents dealing with mental health issues, I already see that this may be something that I will have to address as a school counselor. I have already seen first-hand that school settings are not equipped to handle students mental health needs, and sometimes administrators have the attitude of “this is not the appropriate place to address these issues.” However, as DeKruyf, Auger, and Trice-Black (2013, p. 274), pointed out, schools that provide mental health services to their students find that they have greater success in their academics. As a leader in the counseling profession, it will be my responsibility to advocate and bring awareness to school professionals as well as implement programs to help student’s who dealing with those issues. For schools who haven’t yet addressed students mental health; I know that this will be a challenge to implement but also worth the risk. Something that I hadn’t put much thought into was when DeKruyf et al. (2013, p. 275), mentioned how for some students, the only access to mental health services might be through their schools. When I think about the diverse population of students in my area alone, I can only agree with them. Some cultures are still opposed to counseling, which may be a barrier for