College Placement Consulting

The work load at school is probably picking up by now and studying is beginning to take up a lot more of your free time. Maybe you are beginning to miss your family a bit more now that the first few weeks are over. Your roommate’s quirks that you thought were funny at first may be driving you crazy now and you don’t think you can take much more of it. All of these are very normal issues to be having now that school has been in session for a while and it isn’t all fun and games anymore. There is a resource available to you that can help you deal with these and many other topics. School counseling centers offer great services and resources that are usually free to students. I went to my school counseling center for the first time my junior year because I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed, and it one of the best decisions I’ve made in my college career.

I had no idea what to expect and I was very nervous that someone I knew would see me walking into the center.  When I walked in and saw how many people were in the waiting room and I was greeted by a super nice secretary some of my worries went away. The rest of my worries dissolved when I actually talked to a counselor and felt completely refreshed as I walked out of the center. It was so nice to have someone to talk to about whatever was on my mind at the time. I made arrangements to go back to the center every few weeks and I always find myself looking forward to my appointments. They can help with so many things; Career counseling, body image counseling, help with substance abuse and depression, just to name a few, but they are also there to listen when you just need someone to talk to . I became such an advocate for the counseling center than I decided to partake in counseling for peer groups as well. Every week I attended with 7 other girls and we sat in a room for an hour and a half and just talked. There were two counselors present in the group as well but they really did very little talking.  We could talk about anything, and it was absolutely fascinating once we all realized that some of our problems were surprisingly similar. It always helped when I heard that other people were facing the same issues that I was; knowing that you are not alone is always therapeutic. We would give our perspectives and advice and the support that we showed for one another was always comforting. I can say with confidence that this group counseling became one of the highlights of my week. Just having that time set aside to focus on me and reflect on what is going on in my life instead of just ignoring my feelings and emotions by studying in all of my spare time.

 I urge all of you to consider visiting your school’s counseling center if you ever just want to have someone to talk to. They are trained to help with so many of the issues that college students face and they can be extremely helpful in suggesting resources that may make your life easier. Once you graduate you will be paying big bucks for services like this so why not take advantage of them while you can do so for free. There are few opportunities in life, such as this, that really are risk free so give it a try. You will either love it or never go back. Either way, it can’t hurt.