God's lioness: How do you like your new job?

Saturday, May 4, 2013

How do you like your new job?

Heavenly Father,
Thank you for blessing me with such wonderful and caring colleagues. You know who to bring into our lives & when. Glory and praise to you always, Lord! In Jesus' name. Amen.
I ask myself sometimes, "Is school counseling what I thought it would be?"
Yes.
And no.
My brother told me he didn't think my job was worth the pay (but when do we ever think we're paid enough for what we do?!) because he saw me 'getting squeezed from the top as well as from the bottom.'

Meaning, of course, that I 'have to' deal with administration (i.e. my principal, 'the top'), and staff (i.e. teachers, 'the bottom').
One of the many functions of being a capable school counselor, is to create a bridge between positions loftier than mine, and positions secondary to mine, all of which demand things from me.
Sometimes those demands are completely opposite each other, and sometimes they are the same components, but they all wanted their stuff yesterday. LOL

Because of the 'upper' and 'lower' stresses of my job, I am hugely grateful for the amazing support of my assistant principal and our testing coordinator; if it weren't for their friendship, as well as a loving, merciful & mentoring attitude, I would be flying haphazardly, learning moment-to-moment how to navigate the elevated expanses and the baser domains.
My God-send of an AP always reminds me/us, "We are family."

Then there are the students.
The real and only reason I became a school counselor was for them.
The students make the tug-of-war between administration, staff and me, worth it.
As long as I keep my eye on the student's benefit, all else aligns itself, and the world is an adventuresome place.

SO, to answer the question I started this blog with, "Yes, the job is what I thought it would be - I do get to counsel with students one-on-one and in small groups, and yes, we talk about academics, but we also talk about family and friends; topics Í didn't have time to explore in a classroom setting. I also appreciate being in the classrooms and discussing various themes whole group. I pray I am doing my best by them too- encouraging them and giving them positive feedback, as well as reality checks.
And no, it isn't what I thought it would be, only because I didn't really understand the magnitude and depth of the Principal's power over a guidance program. Who knew?!"