President's Letter: Recharging to Give Back

I hope you all had a joyful holiday season with family and friends and took some time to recharge. The demands placed upon you as school counselors are immense, especially considering all the challenges that we have faced over the past year and a half. As we embark into the second semester of school, it’s ever important that you all take the time for self-care. Take the time to breathe and let in the quiet. Find things you enjoy doing outside of school and try to do them. Remember your colleagues, reach out, support one another. Take in the opportunities for professional development that can help recharge your mind and your spirit.

You are appreciated for the work you do in our schools, in our communities and for the children and families in our state. It’s easy to forget that the work that you do, the demands you meet and accomplish, the students and teachers and families that you help, all need for you to not pour from an empty cup. So, take a minute in the morning or afternoon or evening to breathe, to take a walk outside, to read a book, to exercise, to do whatever it is that centers you and allows you to give just a little back to yourself. If you do, you and those that you work with will benefit.

Have a fabulous second semester and know that ALSCA is here to support you.

Contact Amy Upton, Ph.D., ALSCA president and assistant professor at the University of South Alabama, at alscaboard@gmail.com.