A Dream Realized
This has been a long time coming. I have recently experienced something that I never thought was truly going to happen for me. I finally landed my dream job. An Elementary School Counselor. Now, for a lot of you, you may be wondering, “Really, that’s your dream job?” And I can say with my heart so very full, that YES, this is a DREAM JOB. But, before we get into the good stuff, let me lay some background to help you truly understand where I am coming from.
Starting from a young age, I always remember feeling very unsure and anxious. About what, you ask? Well, basically everything. Myself, my clothes, how I talked, how my parents looked, dressed, talked, our house, our car. Basically everything. You name it, I was embarrassed about it. Now, to give my family some credit, they are a totally normal, average, wonderful-all American family. Nothing really to be embarrassed about.
From time to time, these feelings can be very common in some kids, adolescents, I know for sure! But, as the years continued and those anxious, uncertain feeling never dissipated, I started to realize that my situation might be a little different than others. Painfully shy, most of my high school years were very lonely with only one or two friends; eating lunch in the hallway by myself, or outside just walking around and sometimes, sadly in the bathroom stall. It probably goes without saying, but a lively social life was never going to be in my young future. And for boys, I am sure you can guess (if you checked out the photos of me way back when posted below) that was a no-go situation as well. So, as the years passed, I continued to work with my anxiety and depression on my own, in my own way, quietly and under the radar. I never thought to tell my parents, because honestly, they were amazing and loving and I felt guilty for even feeling bad about anything in my life. I could never understand why, even though I had a loving family and supportive parents, I was so unhappy with myself. To be honest, I did experiment a few times with different cries for help, such as suicide letters and cutting, but I never truly crossed that line and just kept floating along in life.
Let’s fast forward to my second year in college when I had my breaking point. I was attending Texas A&M and studying Psychology. Now, the catalyst to my break is not important; what is important is what resulted from it. I finally realized that what I lived from day to day was not okay. It was not normal. And, finally, I needed help. Through the Psychology program, I knew that current students were offered free counseling services with a professional counselor and all I had to do was go and set up an appointment. I still remember that first counseling session and the feeling of unprecedented relief after I left her office. I had never told anyone what I had unloaded with her, and to have her listen and offer words of help and encouragement was mind blowing. I was sure that she was going to say I was just like every other student and I would be just fine. On the contrary. She helped me to realize that I indeed was suffering from constant dips into depression and social anxiety and my emotional state was not at a manageable level for anyone. After that day, I can’t tell you how my life changed. It truly was a gift from God. With her once weekly sessions, and a mild dose of anti-depressants, I started to live my life on an even level, day after day, week after week. I was able to manage my ups and downs in life reasonably and rationally and started to truly love myself and my life. This is also the time, I realized I wanted to help others, as she had helped me. I continued on to get my BS in Psychology, then a degree in Elementary Education and finally my master’s in Educational Counseling. I started my career teaching, as in Texas it is required to do so before you can become a school counselor. And now after many years of working in the scholastic field, I have finally started on my true path in Educational Counseling.
If you have been following along, at all this year, you know that 2020 has truly been one for the record books, especially in the world of education. With a world wide pandemic, we truly are living a year that will be documented in history books. But, even with all this uncertainty in the world and in the scholastic field, I know that I am so lucky to be working in a school and as a school counselor. I know that I can and will make a difference in someone’s life and that will forever make this year one of the best years of my life.
Links to Purchase Items: Below I have added some items from Amazon that I have purchased for my counseling office that the kids love.