My name is Katie Adler and currently I am a first year student in the MED program for school counseling/certificate in college admissions counseling. I graduated from Wheaton College in May, with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in education. When I started my undergraduate career, I always knew I wanted to go into education, in what facet however I wasn’t sure. By minoring in education I was able to get a taste of the multiple different roles, whether it was a teacher, special education aid, or school counselor. Quickly I realized that what I loved most was actually the one-on-one individualized time I had with students and the ability to help them better understand their true potentials. From this realization, along with the knowledge that my psychology degree gave me, I decided that school counseling would be the perfect fit.

After finally deciding on the concentration that I believe fits all my passions for education, I started to look at programs. The first thing that caught my eye about Suffolk’s program is the fact that you can also receive a certificate in college admissions counseling. To me, college planning is such a prevalent part of the high school plan, and because of that I really think it will be useful to have that specific knowledge when figuring out the best way to help students explore their options. I’m looking forward to completing these courses over the summer.

So far in the program, however, I have had the opportunity to complete 40 hours of pre-practicum observations. Through these observations, I was able to shadow school counselors first hand and get a glimpse of what modern day school counseling actually entails. The most surprising outcome, from participating in these observations, was that not one school was the same. Each school had their own program and or curriculum that they implemented and all had different methods to help students in the educational setting. I also saw a big difference between the counseling goals at the middle school level and at the high school level; putting the question in my head, what type of atmosphere would I feel most comfortable in? I will have the opportunity to do 35 more hours of observations next semester, and I feel that this experience will really give me a great idea of what kind of school, whether it be middle school, high school, urban, or suburban, would make me happiest to counsel in.

Along with completing these observation hours, I will be looking for an internship for my second year in the program, where I will complete my practicum. I think that being able to feel out each school and decide which one fits you best is a great way to get you to make the most out of your internship experience. Although this has only been my first semester in the program, it has been a great experience so far and I am looking forward to what comes next.