From the Chair: School Counseling Is a Contact Sport

Welcome back for the 2018-2019 school year! I am honored and delighted to serve as the chair of VSCA’s Board of Directors as we embark on our first year under the new leadership structure of policy governance.

At the beginning of each school year, I always relive my first day as a new school counselor. Despite my education, training and preparation to do the very opposite, I found myself sitting in my office, waiting for students in need of my help to appear at my door so that I could bestow upon them my counseling genius. As you can guess, it was a long and lonely morning, and I quickly realized what many before me already knew: school counseling is not a spectator sport. In fact, school counseling is often a tough, messy, full-contact sport that can bring you joy immediately followed by pain immediately followed by joy again, often before the first bell of the day has even sounded. It was upon this realization that I knew I was in the right profession.

Many years have followed since that first day, and during that time I have had the opportunity to meet countless effective and impactful school counselors throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia. All of these school counselors have one thing in common: they get in the game. They wake up in the morning, hit the reset button and approach each day as if it is a new opportunity to make things better for students than they were the day before. They constantly check themselves by asking, “Is this what’s best for kids, or what’s easiest for adults?” and they always do the former. They do not wait for an invitation to the table; they walk in and claim their seat. Better yet, they get their own table (preferably kidney-shaped) and invite others to come join them. Because they understand that, when it comes to school counseling, like all contact sports, passion is the name of the game.

And who knows more about passion than Oprah Winfrey (insert fangirl moment here), who once said, “Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” This year, I encourage you to join me in reigniting that passion and getting back to what you love about our profession. Use this passion as a driving force to bring your school counseling program to the next level. Use this passion to be bold. To be brave. To be anything but invisible.

With that said, I would be remiss in not mentioning the uncertain and challenging times we find ourselves facing today. As school counselors, we have the ability to assist students in finding peace in the turmoil that surrounds them and the responsibility to use our strategic position in education to make meaningful change for all children. I believe that with passion, all of this is possible. And I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get in the game.

Contact Liz Parker, VSCA board chair, at vscapresident@gmail.com.