Career Development Reflection: School Counseling Path & Personality

Career Background and Professional Goals

I am currently a middle school math teacher who works with students who have emotional and behavioral disorders. To advance my career, I am pursuing a Master's degree in school counseling. My short-term goal is to become a high school guidance counselor, and my long-term goal is to start a full-service consulting group that helps underprivileged and underserved students access resources and tools for personal and professional development.

As a middle school math teacher, I began working with students with emotional and behavioral disorders because of my background in psychology and my interest in education. Teachers need an abundance of different skills and abilities — perhaps more than professionals in any other field. Communication skills help us speak to a class collectively while also reaching individual students. We also need to interact regularly with administrators, colleagues, and parents. In addition to communication skills, teachers need strong organizational and planning abilities to prepare and execute lesson plans. Teachers must be methodical in their work, but they must also adapt those lesson plans and remain flexible in their approach. Pressured to teach for standardized tests and assessments, teachers are often constrained and rarely feel they are reaching their full potential or helping students do the same. One of the reasons I am shifting to counseling is that I believe I can more fully empower others through that line of work.

I see my career as a counselor progressing in stages. First, I want to continue working in a school setting — specifically at the high school level, which is the exact time most students begin thinking more seriously about their futures. Many students are frightened about the future when they lack good guidance. Their parents may mean well and provide emotional support, but what students often need is a professional who takes into account their academic performance, personality, dreams, talents, and unique opportunities. It would be my role to investigate all of the resources available to students, including those for special populations. I also want to help students understand themselves better by using personality assessments rather than making assumptions based on body language or behavior alone. Especially in high school, teenagers can be guarded around adults and are also prone to change. I view the role of counselor as someone who sees each student for who they are and for who they want to become.

My long-range goals will be a continuation of my work as a high school guidance counselor. I may continue in the public school sector as a leader or policy analyst, but I would also consider starting my own guidance counseling company that provides consultation and services to schools, parents, and especially underserved and underprivileged students who might not otherwise know what opportunities exist or how to pursue them.

Personal History and Career Influences

My path of career development started in childhood, shaped by peers, parents, and teachers. From the time I was old enough to answer the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" I have always been drawn to teaching. Being a teacher means far more than regurgitating facts and figures. I knew that as a teacher I could influence the ways children think about themselves and the world. Beyond what we learn from friends and family, students are also exposed to their teachers' unique ways of solving problems, understanding the world, and constructing reality. Teachers can be mentors and, in some cases, lasting friends.

With parents of Bahamian descent, I learned the value of community and came to see teachers as an integral part of it. Our family held strong spiritual beliefs, and while some relatives were religious, our culture was more important to preserve than the formalities of ritual. As a community, we believed in compassion for others, selfless service, and the importance of personal growth and development. Being a good person was valued more highly than financial success, and pursuing a fulfilling career that helps others was considered more meaningful than salary or material wealth. As a middle-class family, we did not struggle, but we honored the role of education in advancing one's life. I graduated from Miami Northwestern Senior High and went on to earn a Bachelor's degree in psychology.

Even without family support, I believe I would have pursued the same path. The values of my culture and community, along with the role models I encountered in broader society, all helped solidify my decision to enter education. My personality is well suited for both teaching and counseling, and I do not have any significant psychological or emotional barriers to success in these fields. I cannot recall any specific events or transitions that markedly altered my career trajectory, other than the good fortune of having strong teachers throughout my life. One experience that may have further inspired my move into educational counseling was having a powerful mentor in college — someone instrumental in showing me the specific steps I needed to take to succeed. Research on personality and career development in adolescence shows that career exploration is associated with "goals and social supports," whereas career planning is more closely associated with self-efficacy, goals, and personality (Rogers, Creed, & Glendon, 2008, p. 132). Reflecting on how much my mentor helped me, I became more determined to pay it forward as a school counselor myself.