My Guidance Counselor by Denise

My Guidance Counselor by Denise - June 2019 Scholarship Essay

My guidance Counselor, Ms. Shanley, has helped me through so much over the past few years. I met her before she was my counselor when she was a student teacher at my high school and when her internship was over she came back and became my guidance counselor for my junior and senior years of school. She is immensely thoughtful and caring, she makes a point to know all her kids names and to talk to them whenever she can, and I admire her for that.
Senior year is stressful for everyone, and I was no different. As someone who is independent and loves to do things on their own I thought I could push through and be productive without help but that wasn’t the case. Between all the applications I had to fill out, the portfolio I needed to curate, the class work I had to complete and my busy work schedule I was left frazzled and stressed beyond belief. I ended up not making any progress on my applications because the thought of all I needed to do overwhelmed me.
I had gone to Ms. Shanley's office to talk about my progress in my applications and had a breakdown from all the stress. She gave me the space to vent and talk about what was bothering me in my personal life and related to school. She then talked me down and helped me put the tasks into perspective. We listed what needed to be done and the order in which everything needed to be completed. She reminded me to breathe and to not try and do everything at once or else nothing will get done.
When I look back that seems like a conclusion I could come to on my own but at the time I didn’t know how to slow down until Ms. Shanley taught me to stop and breathe. With her help and guidance I was able to complete my application and FAFSA on time, navigate my acceptance and financial aid packages, and choose my school. I am immensely thankful for everything she’s done for me and I will continue to remember her advice when I struggle in the future.