Master's Degree... what?!

It's true.  For some reason I've decided to go back to school to become a School Counselor.  Exciting?! Crazy?! Scary?!  Yes, all the above.  I've been playing around with the idea for about 6 months now; it all stems from one night when I came home from work:

I had spent the whole afternoon "counseling" teens that were in my program at the Boys & Girls Club.  Usually it's the normal dramatic problems between 13 year olds, but this situation was a little more intense:  2 teens who had gone "a little too far" and the girl was afraid she was pregnant;  she was terrified to tell her mom and since the couple was fighting at the time, the boy was threatening to tell everyone and blah blah blah.  It was drama, yes-- but it caused me to really dig deep in my "well of knowledge" to know the right questions to ask and offer the best advice I could think of.  I was sitting behind a desk and the teens were on either side of me, and I really did feel like a counselor.  I felt valuable and significant in helping these teens overcome this serious situation they'd found themselves in.  And that's basically how it all started.

I came home and told Cassity of my "counseling" experience and how much I really liked helping them and talking to them.  And her response was, "You should be a school counselor!  You'd be perfect!"  I just kind of laughed it off, but then it was like, "What?  Are you serious?"  And the thought never left me.

A big part of my job as Teen Program Director at the Club is helping the teens progress academically. We strongly emphasize graduation readiness, ACT/SAT pre-paredness, opportunities for higher education, etc.  We talk about grades, encourage (sometimes force) them to do homework, help them with projects, and celebrate in their successes.  I love that aspect of my job, along-side all the fun day-to-day play stuff.  But as I have worked on getting to know the school principals, counselors, and teachers more... it's helped me think more on the idea of actually being a counselor myself.  I like that idea. 

I have friends who have also pursued a Master's in School Counseling.  Utah State, University of Phoenix, University of Utah, BYU.  Plenty of options and plenty of things for me to look into.  It was kind of a process.  But when it came down to it, this is what I wanted:

1)  To keep working at the Club while going to school. (No full-time graduate program)
2)  I wanted to at least have some face-to-face interaction in classes.  (No online school)
3) I didn't want to have to take a ton of pre-requisite classes that my bachelor degree doesn't already cover.
4)  Some even didn't require the GRE to get started.  (Yes please).

So after letting a lot of time pass, I decided I needed to do SOMETHING this summer or I would miss my opportunity.   I just kind of threw myself into it and didn't look back.  University of Phoenix was the most accessible; has a campus really close to my work; and the application process was quick and really not too complicated.  Had I chosen Utah State (which sounded good to me), there were at least 8 classes I'd have to take before even taking the GRE to apply for the program.  I decided to just avoid that whole mess and jump right to it.  So... here I go!

Here's a little bit about me:  I'm not a huge academic scholar.  Surprise?  :)  I only took one honor's class in high school.  I never took any AP classes or even really knew about them.  I really didn't like school at all.  I loved college much more than high school but that's probably because it was a lot of "play time" and never-ending sleepovers with great friends.  I managed to go to my classes and luckily chose a major that I LOVED:  Recreation Management and Youth Leadership.  Yeah, go ahead and laugh.  It was a good  program-- I learned a lot and got to do tons of fun things in my classes.  I graduated with a good GPA, but never even took a single math class in college.  Isn't that crazy?  Somehow the path I chose had the option of foreign language or math.  SPANISH, please!  So the last math class I ever took was my junior year in high school.  That is RIDICULOUS... but I've made it THIS far and I'm still alive.  :)

So.  That's why it's kind of funny and crazy to me that I've decided to pursue a Master's degree... almost 10 years later.  I never would have pictured myself on this path, but I like the thought of it now.  School Counseling... and hopefully I'll be the counselor that everyone hopes they get to have. :)  I have plenty of experience meeting one on one with teens of all kinds... scary ones, shy ones, cocky ones, jerk ones, happy ones, pretty ones, insecure ones, popular ones, nice ones... I like them all. 

So here goes nothin'!  Class starts September 20th.