Involvement with ISCA as a Graduate Student

Being a member of ISCA as a graduate student representative and as a participant in other ISCA committees such as Advocacy and Membership has been invaluable for me. The work has given me so much joy because I am able to better understand what has been going on in the field through other school counselors’ experiences. I can see firsthand issues that Illinois school counselors face on a daily basis and this has made me eager to create change for the profession. Being part of the ISCA Advocacy Committee has given me the opportunity to get involved and advocate for graduate students and for the future of school counseling as a profession. My participation in the committees and the board allows me to learn from what other school counselors and ISCA have done to advocate for the profession and support all school counselors in the state. Much of this experience is not gained in the classroom and has come from my ISCA involvement and in my internship placement.

Currently, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has more than 30 open positions for school counselors. There are not enough professionals to fill these positions. ISCA’s Advocacy Committee has been brainstorming ideas to change this reality and believes every school and every student has the right to have a school counselor. To change this scenario, the committee believes that the first step is to advocate for a pipeline that will support people in becoming school counselors. I have personally witnessed school counseling graduate students dropping from the program because the state of Illinois does not provide a stipend for student interns, leaving us to figure out household finances on our own. One of our goals is to have a stipend for school counselor interns so that finances are not a burden. We also understand that the field needs more cultural diversity to better serve and mirror students from all populations.

ISCA has been very supportive in taking steps to ensure that all graduate students feel heard and welcomed. As graduate student representatives, Mia Andersen and I have been working together with ISCA to make connections between graduate students across the state of Illinois. We both gained so much knowledge throughout the meetings that we became eager to create change. The board suggested that we create our own Graduate Student Committee because of our motivation. Soon enough, we formed the Graduate Student Committee, on which we serve as co-chairs. Our goal is to ensure all graduate students are getting the support needed, because we understand it is not easy to be a graduate student. This group will not only allow graduate students to make connections, but also to build meaningful relationships to promote a strong and successful career. In this committee we plan to align ISCA’s Governance and Policy Procedures, find ways to collect perspectives of graduate student experiences, provide professional development and mentorship to support graduate students and, overall, be intentional with everything we do.

Despite still being a student, I was given the trust and opportunity to start my work from early on, and I am grateful for that.

Suellen Beijos is a school counseling graduate student at DePaul University and a school counseling intern at Hibbard Elementary School in Chicago.