Why I Want to Be a School Counselor

Masters Degree in School Counseling at Barry University

The Catholic intellectual tradition that Barry University embraces is the main reason I have selected the college as I pursue my Masters degree in School Counseling. That tradition has been cultivated for centuries with remarkable results -- results that have helped the world to flourish. It is only with the breakdown of this tradition in the social sphere that we have witnessed the disastrous crumbling of institutional bodies, the evisceration of social justice, and the abomination of desolation in our schools. Today's young people deserve a better and brighter future, and through Barry University I hope to attain the skills necessary to help guide them on their path.

It is the mission of Barry University to also assist its students in the path of reflection and spiritual enlightenment -- essential elements for intellectual growth and aspects of the education offered by the college of which I seek to take full advantage. Not every college offers such a profound and unified, consistent with tradition and cohesive embodiment of the ideals towards which the rising star in all of us wishes to climb. In Barry University, I see a direct line from where I am to where I want to be -- namely, professional, proficient, helpful, deep, reflective, sincere, spiritual, wise, engaging, and socially active. I thus look forward to learning in the spirit of the Adrian Dominican Sisters and submersing myself in the religious and intellectual climate that they fostered at Barry.

My professional plans upon completion of my degree are to work as a school counselor at an inner city public school in Miami. I consider Miami my home and as such I have a deep interest in it as a community of families, individuals seeking education, and the need for counseling the young in our schools. The inner city of Miami presents a number of challenges for a counselor which can only be met through the proper training and know-how gathered from a program like that offered by Barry University.

The inner city schools of Miami deserve our attention and our guidance and I want to be there for them just as I had guides and counselors in my youth helping me on my way. It is about returning the favor, growing as an individual, and helping to build the community through social action rooted in spiritual directives and the all-important Catholic intellectual tradition that gives our activities the proper bearing and framework for successful completion and positive outcome.