Personal View of Professional Effectiveness: Aspect of My Professional Self

Personal View of Professional Effectiveness: Aspect of My Professional Self

Anna Romero

Brandman University
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Introduction

I had always wanted a career where I could work with children, I just never really knew

what I wanted to do. In high school I found a passion for music and the theatre arts. I thought to

myself maybe I can be a drama or music teacher one day. Which led me to the decision to major

in musical theatre after high school. I did not know what University to attend either, I just knew

that I wanted to go to college. Once enrolled at the university, I had to choose between majoring

in theatre arts or music in order to get an emphasis in musical theatre. I chose theatre arts. It was

not until the third year of college that I realized that in order to become a drama teacher, I also

had to major in English. By that time, it was already too late because I was almost done with

school and I could not afford more than four years of school. I will admit, I never had guidance

when it came to choose my career. My high school counselor was not the greatest counselor as I

never felt she ever helped me. The only times I ever saw her was when she handed my schedule.

I basically had to figure the whole going college thing on my own. My parents had no idea how

to help me even if they wanted to because they never attended college themselves. The person

who helped me the most was the career center specialist. I am grateful for her help till this day. I

am going to be completely honest; I didn't always know that I wanted to be a school counselor. It

was not until about four years ago after realizing that the path with twists and turns in my life

would lead me to wanting to become a school counselor. Due to the bad experiences and lack of

support I had from my school counselors and the feeling of being lost all the time led me to the

decision of becoming a school counselor. I do not want any child to feel lost like I did growing

up. I want to be able to support my students in any way I can in order for them to succeed.

Influences
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The lack of guidance I had growing up inspired me to become a professional school

counselor. I always knew that I wanted to get my masters but never knew in what area. I am just

happy that I finally realized that I have a chance to help children by becoming a school

counselor. I am still passionate about theatre and my theatre background will help me be able to

help children in a creative way. I recently had influences of becoming a school counselor from

reaching out to school counselors and interviewing them in person or by phone. I like to hear

their stories as to what inspired them to become a professional school counselor. The school

counselor I interviewed told me that her passion for helping students is what has influenced her

professional “self”. She has been a high school counselor for more than 20 years and says that

her profession has been a rewarding career. She also had a similar experience as I did, she did

not know what she wanted to study after high school. She got a degree in sociology and then

decided to get her masters in school counseling. Her story has influenced me and she told me that

what has helped her be a good school counselor is her people and listening skills. She also told

me that although her job has been challenging, It has also been fun and rewarding. Something I

have been looking forward to in my future career.

What It Means to Become a School Counselor

Thanks to the courses I have been taking at Brandman University, I have been able to get

an inside view of what it is like working with children today. I currently do not work at a school,

so it has been some time for me stepping into primary and secondary schools. I will admit things

have changed since I have been to a school. Children need more help today more than ever and I

am ready to be there to help them in any way I can. When I step into a primary or secondary

school, I feel like I belong there and that I am meant to be there. To me becoming a school

counselor means being that person at school that students can come to when they need support
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and guidance. I will gladly offer that support and guidance students need and even consult with

their parents and school staff regarding the varied needs of students. A school counselor also

needs to be able to collaborate with teachers, administrators and other school

counselors/psychologists in order to help their students succeed. Today the role of a school

counselor is more than just the person who sits in their office and hands out schedules. A school

counselor assists students of all ages by listening to their concerns about academic, emotional or

social problems. They also help students process their problems and plan goals and action. They

are there to mediate conflict between students or students and school staff.

Characteristics of a School Counselor

I have learned that in order to be a successful school counselor, one needs to have

positive personal characteristics so that they are able to work with students, teachers, and

administrators. The most important personal characteristics of a school counselor are that they

have to be friendly, inviting, loyal, trustworthy, cheerful, understanding, open- minded, sincere,

good listener and dependable to name a few. No student will want to talk to someone who is

closed off, distant, or rude. It is important for school counselors to also be charismatic so that

they can help students with their confidence which will help enhance the communication

between the student and school counselor. School counselors need to be able to recognize their

positive personal characteristics so that they know what they can offer to their students in order

to help them succeed.

Significant Competencies

The significant competencies I must possess to be an effective and excellent school

counselor are responsibility, communication, organization skills, problem solving, and

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teamwork. As a school counselor I have to be able to take on a certain level of responsibility as I

will be in charge of student’s schedules, meetings, preparing students for their graduation and

college. Responsible school counselors are comfortable making decisions or taking ownership of

their work. I will also need to have good communication skills so that I am able to convey

information in a way that is confident, professional, and easy for my students to understand.

Organization skills will help prioritize my workload and time management as a school counselor.

The role of a school counselor is a busy one so having organizations skills is helpful in achieving

successful results. I need to be able to problem solve so when a problem does come up, I am able

to remain calm under pressure, and find a way to resolve the problem by either researching or

identifying the source of the problem. Lastly, I need to be able to collaborate and work well with

others. I need to value other school counselors and school staff’s ideas and be able to work well

as a team so that our work is more effective.

My Worldview

My worldview is that I see things in a positive way and I always see the best in people.

The problem with my worldview is that I can lose sight of reality. Sometimes the world is not

positive and bad things happen and there are bad people out there. There is nothing wrong with

being positive and I actually want to convey a positive outlook on my students, but I also need to

be a realist and let them know that reality can be harsh and it takes strength to persevere through

all the negativity. An example would be when I help a friend get a job at my work. I was positive

that he was fit for the position and highly recommended him not know that he would quit

without notice within less than two weeks of getting hired. Being positive all the time can affect

my performance as a school counselor, I just must remind myself to be a realist and be able to

view situations as they are.

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Strengths and Limitations

The strengths I bring to the profession is that I am a good listener. I like to listen to

people’s stories without judging and interrupting and processing the information given to me. I

like to listen first and then ask questions later. Sometimes students just want someone that will

take the time to listen to them. I will be there to listen no matter how big or small their problems

will be. Another strength I have is that I am an organized person. I like to maintain my items and

area organized because it helps me concentrate and focus. It is important to keep my workload

organized as it will help me keep up with my responsibilities. I am also a friendly person which

makes me more approachable. I can benefit from friendliness because it can help me gain my

students' trust which will then lead them to open up to me. A limitation I have is the lack of

experience I currently have. I do not work at a school site or school district, so I lack experience

in that area. I also lack real life experience as I have yet worked with students or have shadowed

professional school counselors. My lack of experience can cause some fear in me as I do not

want to fail my students once I do get hired as a school counselor. A way I can mitigate my lack

of experience is by taking the time to shadow a school counselor, do research, and practice

during my role plays for class in order to gain some knowledge and experience.

Home Court Advantage

As a school counselor, I do want to help Latino students succeed because I can

understand some of their struggles. I want to be able to provide Latino students and their parents

with all the necessary resources they need in order to be able to attend college, four year

university, or trade school after high school. My parents wanted me to go to college but did not
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know how to help me since they never went to college themselves. I also want to help students

who enjoy the arts and give them the proper resources and information to pursue a career in the

arts. I want to support students to not give up on their dreams and their talents. Although I can

relate more to Latino students and students want to pursue a career in the arts, I want to be a

school counselor to be able to help all students. I will treat all my students equally and do my

best to avoid biases or put them aside. It is important to make sure that all students have a voice

and that I will be there to help them.

Image

The kind of image I want to project as a school counselor is a responsible, trustworthy,

compassionate, and fun person. I want to be involved in school activities as well as create

resources and programs that students can utilize to better their academics and future goals. I

think it is important to be involved as much as possible because students are at an age where they

are developing and figuring out what they want to do and I want to be there when they have

questions or direct them to the right people or programs who can help them. The kind of image I

want my counseling program to have is one where students are able to come to me with any

problems big or small, they may have. I want them to know that they can vent to me and whether

the problem is big or small I will treat all their situations the same. I want them to feel like they

are in a safe environment with me and that together we will resolve their problems. I want to be

able to motivate and influence all my students to want to succeed and have a promising future.

Staying Committed

I plan to stay committed to professional excellence by reminding myself why I decided to

become a school counselor in the first place. My goal is to help students and the profession of a

school counselor helps students of all ages and act as an advocate for their well-being. There will
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be times that the workload will be overwhelming, and some days will be better than others. I

have to remember that my profession is a rewarding one and that I worked hard to get to be

where I am at. I will practice self-care and try not to overwork myself. I will ask for help and

make sure to take breaks when I need them. I will set goals for myself both large and small as

setting goals will help me lead to success. Lastly, I will constantly congratulate myself for all the

hard work I have put in helping my students. By thinking positive, I am constantly encouraging

myself to stay committed to professional excellence.

Licensed Counselor

My responses compared to the responses of the professional school counselor I

interviewed are similar yet different. We both feel passionate about the importance of the role of

a school counselor, but she is actually experiencing the role of the school counselor. She has

more than twenty years of experience, so she describes what it is like to be a school counselor

today. My responses to the questions on this paper is based on the passion I feel and what I have

learned from my classes and people I have interviewed. We both feel that students today need

more help than ever especially in their social/emotional being. Although the role of the school

counselor is helping students with their academics and career preparedness, the social/emotional

developments have expanded, and students are dealing with things that we might not be dealing

with as adults. We both agree that students need guidance and support and that helping students

with their potential should be the number one goal for a school counselor. We both agree that the

days of school counselors just handing out pamphlets and class schedules are over as now we

help students deal with their issues of bullying, relationship troubles, low self-esteem, suicide,

eating disorders, poor academic performance and so on. School counselors also help students

with college applications, jobs, and resources to financial aid and scholarships. School
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counselors are important members of the education team and it is their job to help students

succeed and become the future of our society.

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References

Schantz, A (2020).