Sheila Barnhart-Ramirez
Interlude Counselor
Yorktown High School
Arlington, Va. I Am ASCA

Why are you an ASCA member? I joined ASCA early in my career primarily as a way to stay current on issues and policies that affect our profession, as well as to take advantage of professional development opportunities. As a member for many years, I have also found it helpful to network and collaborate with colleagues through the open forum and have benefitted from the wealth of resources that helped me to achieve RAMP^® for my school. 

What inspires you about being a school counselor? I am most inspired by the students whom teachers would often describe as “challenging.” Time and time again, as I get to know them and learn their backstory, I am amazed at the hardships so many have endured and the resilience they demonstrate. Everyone does the best they can with the tools they have, and I have worked with countless kids who have been successful despite (or in some cases maybe even because of) their circumstances and experiences.

What’s an uncommon fact you know? As a fierce advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, I wholeheartedly believe that the concept of gender is not black and white and that the idea of male and female is more complex than most people comprehend. For instance, statistically speaking, there are more people born intersex than there are natural-born redheads in the U.S. 

What words do you live by? Maya Angelou’s quote: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

What would you be doing if you weren’t a school counselor? My dream job was always to work for the FBI as a forensic psychologist, but on the exceptionally rough days I joke that I would just like to be a mail carrier, driving around by myself and listening to podcasts. 

When and why did you know you wanted to be a school counselor? When I enrolled in grad school, I fully intended to become a high school counselor because of my own not-so-successful experience transitioning to college. Although I graduated in the top 5% of my high school class, I was completely unprepared for college and learned everything the hard way through countless mistakes. 

What brings you joy? Coffee in bed on a weekend morning when I have nowhere to go.

What do you do to decompress/eliminate stress/refuel for the next day? Hot yoga – I wish I could make myself go every day.

How would you describe your job to a 5 year old? I am a person who is always on your side, and you can come to about anything, whether you are happy, sad, angry, scared or any feeling in between. I will do whatever I can to help you feel good about yourself, solve your problems, make friends and be the best student – and person – you can be.

You have your own late-night talk show – who would you invite as your first guest?Brene’ Brown – her research is so powerful and transformative, yet authentic and relatable. I could listen to her talk for hours.