Finding Your Superpower
By Samantha Ahler | December 2018
I am at WSCA Conference 2018, and I am more than halfway through my first official year as a high school counselor. If only someone had told me how much energy I would be lacking at this point. With an ever-growing list of counselor duties and the ACT date fast approaching, I force myself to take some time for continuing my counselor education. The conference theme this year is “Agents of Change,” sparking reflection on what I wish to learn and how I would create a change in my professional environment.
Being a new school counselor, I value learning more about how my district compares to others when enacting Academic Career Plans (ACPs) for student success. The pre-conference workshop presented a variety of information on ACPs and how to prepare students for their path after high school. My takeaway was specifics for where my district needs to improve in ACP implementation. After the session, I didn’t feel quite so alone when it came to the area in which my district is lacking. From my discussions with other counselors, a lot of districts seem to struggle to engage families in the ACP process. Family involvement wasn’t really the problem; family engagement was a whole other obstacle and the question of the hour. I left puzzled on how to mold the concept into helpful strategies for my school environment. This session added to the mental list of questions that seems to be never ending.
The afternoon was more or less my “change in the phone booth” moment. You know, that moment where a regular person goes into the phone booth, swirls around, and walks out a superhero? I felt as if my energy level was lifted. I experienced the “Afternoon on the Hill” with so many of my colleagues, ranging from those who are still learning to professionals who have been counselors for some time. One of my goals is to advocate more for my profession and my students. This was a fantastic opportunity to do so. In personal meetings with a senator and representative from my area, which, let me tell you, scared me half to death, I discussed the school counseling profession. I couldn’t believe the positive response I received from both meetings. These meetings not only provided a boost to keep advocating for my profession, but also ignited an idea of how to add an advocacy component to our student ACPs. Students are the upcoming voice; why not help build a platform? (Shown above are participants in the 2017 WSCA Afternoon on the Hill.) Learn more about our 2019 Afternoon on the Hill
Overall, the conference gave me a lot of great ideas for my professional program. As school counselors, we enact change on a daily basis. Whether on a district, school-specific, or student-centered level, there are constant moving parts when interacting with others. No matter the area you lean into –academic, career or social/emotional aspects of counseling – the conference is a time for developing skills and assisting in the growth of our professional programs. In turn, we better our students, schools and, ultimately, our communities by finding our superpowers, our strengths, and being those agents of change.
Learn about the 2019 WSCA Conference
Being a new school counselor, I value learning more about how my district compares to others when enacting Academic Career Plans (ACPs) for student success. The pre-conference workshop presented a variety of information on ACPs and how to prepare students for their path after high school. My takeaway was specifics for where my district needs to improve in ACP implementation. After the session, I didn’t feel quite so alone when it came to the area in which my district is lacking. From my discussions with other counselors, a lot of districts seem to struggle to engage families in the ACP process. Family involvement wasn’t really the problem; family engagement was a whole other obstacle and the question of the hour. I left puzzled on how to mold the concept into helpful strategies for my school environment. This session added to the mental list of questions that seems to be never ending.
The afternoon was more or less my “change in the phone booth” moment. You know, that moment where a regular person goes into the phone booth, swirls around, and walks out a superhero? I felt as if my energy level was lifted. I experienced the “Afternoon on the Hill” with so many of my colleagues, ranging from those who are still learning to professionals who have been counselors for some time. One of my goals is to advocate more for my profession and my students. This was a fantastic opportunity to do so. In personal meetings with a senator and representative from my area, which, let me tell you, scared me half to death, I discussed the school counseling profession. I couldn’t believe the positive response I received from both meetings. These meetings not only provided a boost to keep advocating for my profession, but also ignited an idea of how to add an advocacy component to our student ACPs. Students are the upcoming voice; why not help build a platform? (Shown above are participants in the 2017 WSCA Afternoon on the Hill.) Learn more about our 2019 Afternoon on the HillOverall, the conference gave me a lot of great ideas for my professional program. As school counselors, we enact change on a daily basis. Whether on a district, school-specific, or student-centered level, there are constant moving parts when interacting with others. No matter the area you lean into –academic, career or social/emotional aspects of counseling – the conference is a time for developing skills and assisting in the growth of our professional programs. In turn, we better our students, schools and, ultimately, our communities by finding our superpowers, our strengths, and being those agents of change.
Learn about the 2019 WSCA Conference