Consult Your Councilors by Ryan

Consult Your Councilors by Ryan - November 2014 Scholarship Essay

The one thing that most high school students utilize very rarely is their councilors. I highly regret not taking advantage of that resource as much as possible. Councilors have many of the answers that students will seek throughout high school. As you enter high school, your councilor is perfect for answers on organizational questions and general assistance. When you begin to enter your later years, they are excellent for researching colleges and getting college help, because, as all seniors will tell you, the college preparation process can be incredibly overwhelming. The partnership with your councilor is integral to your success as a high school student, and to your preparedness for college.

During your first two years of high school, you will need councilor help. Freshman year is a completely new environment. Nothing is the same as middle school. The schedules change, the friends shift, and everything you thought you knew about school proves faulty. On your first day of school, it is all but guaranteed that you will have incredible amounts of nerves. A quick visit with your councilor can help make you feel ten times better about the upcoming year. However, due to the fact that every other incoming freshman will have many questions very similar to yours, I would suggest scheduling another appointment at a later time so that you can ask any questions you have, without other students pressuring you to finish. Also, do not forget to continually check in with your councilor about any opportunities that may influence your college portfolio for later in school.

Sophomore and junior year get exponentially harder and make freshman year seem like kindergarten. Most students need their councilor during these years because most students have not had to struggle through as many rigorous classes as they will now be required to. Councilors are no longer used for confidence and stifling nerves. Students now communicate with their councilor to discover organizational tactics and study habits to help them conquer their harder classes. Councilors can also help to find you a tutor, usually another student who is excelling, or has excelled, at your topic.

Senior year is when councilors become absolutely essential to success. There are so many different things that can affect the rest of your life drastically. None of these things will occur, however, if a relationship with your councilor is not built in the first three years of your schooling. Senior year is not the time to first meet your councilor. That connection must be made in, preferably, the first couple of months in your freshman year.

To truly excel in high school, a close relationship must be established with your councilor. Even if you find yourself without said relationship in the later years of your high school experience, you must try to meet with your councilor on a more regular basis. They can make your trip through high school and into college much smoother and easier than it could ever be if you try to tackle the challenge alone.