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One of the latest Facebook memes and shares is a series of photos poised together to represent what one thinks someone does in their hobby or occupation. I’ve seen a few for creative professions. I have only seen one for Marriage, Family, and Therapy. So, I decided to make a positive one for school counselors. Allow me to explain each of the images:
What My Friends Think I Do: Here we have Twilight Sparkle, the grad school pony, in the center of humiliation from grade school students. At least from my own experience and from peers outside of graduate school, any profession dealing with school kids may seem like an awkward situation. (Source: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)
What My Mom Thinks I Do: I originally wanted to put a scene from “Precious” on there (no available screen shots) or Lucy’s therapist stand. The MFT version had Lucy already, so I went with Emma from Glee. Emma is the quirky school counselor from Glee. She has a very primp and proper attitude. She presents herself very squeaky clean and hardly gets her hands dirty. She is often seen behind her desk. (Source: Glee)
What the Government Thinks I Do: I think all school professionals can relate to being underestimated by the government either on the state of federal level. Budget cuts are a telling piece of evidence why we may not feel supported by those we vote in office.
What Society Thinks: This was a tough one to decide on. I used Mr. Mackey from South Park because his catch phrase is a huge part of our pop culture (“Drugs are bad, mmkay”). At least from my experience, society does not quite get what school counselors really do and what they are.
What I think I Do: Okay, this was another tough one to figure out a photo of. I wanted a superheroine from my generation. I tried looking for photos of Wonder Woman, but the photos I found were oversexualized art of the Amazonian. I picked Sailor Moon because not only she is a super heroine, she’s also a very caring friend and goes out of her way to help others.
What I Really Do: Typically, these memes end on a negative note. I’ve seen photos used on this slot that portrayed depression, alcohol use, solitaire, etc. I really do believe that counselors are the nurturing center. Our professional is often under looked and underrated. I wanted to end this meme on a positive note that there are awesome counselors out there and up and coming counselors finishing their degree.
I think this would be a fun professional development exercise or a school counseling graduate program group activity. It really incites a lot of conversation of how counselors are viewed from different perspectives.
