My avenue towards counseling was not the typical path. Sure, growing up one of the many occupations I said I would be was a Psychologist, but I also said I would be a ballerina and an astronaut. Therefore, I am not sure what validity can be attributed to a childhood dream. But the real dream that led me to counseling was theatre. I have a background in theatre and have performed since the age of three. My training in theatre taught me about empathy and truly how to walk in someone else’s shoes. These core skills lie at the heart of counseling. I loved and still do love performing, but I often found that what I enjoyed the most about performing was how I impacted audience members. How perhaps, one individual came into the theater that night upset and left smiling. Because of my desire to help others, simply performing seemed empty. I wanted an opportunity to change lives. In undergrad I began a project where I went into a nontraditional elementary school where we used performance for therapeutic purposes. This was the beginning of what led me into drama therapy. From then, drama therapy led me to counseling.
Now I can tell you about my five years experience counseling with various populations, but I imagine you all can read about that information from my cv. What I feel is most important to express is my passion for changing lives. My personal penchant towards counseling not only reflects this desire to help others, but also the ability to make a connection with another individual. I love meeting new people, hearing their stories, and working with them to change their lives for the better. Now I am inclined to want to achieve the greatest good. For me, my impetus for teaching is about creating change at an exponential level. In counseling I may be helping 10 individuals per week. At the educational level, if a teacher has 60 students and those students have 10 clients then that educator has changed touched 600 lives. This concept is amazing. I feel honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this profession.
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