Leadership Letter: We Are Your People!

How are you? We ask and answer this question several times a day as we walk the halls of our schools. How do we usually respond to this question? “Good, how are you?” So, I am asking again, How are you REALLY doing? How is your year so far? With terms like burnout and languishing inundating headlines, it is difficult to think that we are all doing awesome out there.

How is my year, you ask? It’s a mixed bag. I personally started off with the optimism of a first-year grad student, ready to face the year with my personalized planner, smart goals and new ideas. While I am still optimistic, I have not accomplished many of the things that I was hoping to by this point in the year, and I am struggling to keep up with the demands of my student needs. Luckily, right as I was reaching overload, I had the opportunity to attend a conference in San Antonio for several days. I had a few realizations while at this conference. The first: I need to make space to remember the dreams I had when I entered this profession. The daily, busy grind does not typically allow the mind to wander to these contemplative places. I don’t know about you, but I NEED this kind of time. Second, being around people that have similar passions and struggles is healthy and restorative. We should take the time – no, we NEED to take the time to come together with our professional peers to achieve some of that restoration. I was able to just come as I was (which was a hot mess ready to take a sick day to regroup) and I came away feeling more ready to take on the rigors of my job again. And that from a conference where I didn’t really know anyone else. I thought to myself as I descended back into the Cody airport, I can’t wait until the WySCA conference.

Come as you are to our state conference! Are you rockin’ this year and ready for new inspiration? Are you doing well, but losing steam? Are you barely making it and need divine intervention? We are your people. We understand the highs and lows of this career. We may not be able to change the specifics of your professional life, but we can certainly listen, encourage, brainstorm and connect you to resources. Come to the Casper Ramkota February 8 and 9 to Dream Wild with other school counselors. Let us celebrate you! Celebrate your success, your failures, your future plans and dreams. We have an amazing two-day event planned and it is different from anything we have done in the past. We have a full day of training the first day with Lynn Lyons, nationally recognized speaker, author, therapist and podcaster, and the first evening we will offer a sip and paint opportunity where we can get to know each other better while we let the creative juices flow. Day two we have a special welcome planned and then a full day of breakout sessions. Get the details here. See you soon!

Contact Erin Curtis, WySCA conference chair, at conference@wyomingschoolcounselor.org.