Election Stress

People are in very different places related to their views and feelings about the election. Some people hold strong opinions about one candidate or another and others don’t care at all and are just relieved that the commercials and pop up ads are going to end soon.  Life as a teenager is already stressful and the election is just one more component that can be adding to the stress in the lives of many students.

I am not sure if we will wake up tomorrow knowing the outcome of the election or if things will still be too close to call, but I do anticipate that there will be LOTS of people on TV and social media stirring up drama, emotions and stress.  Remember, political talk has dominated social media and the news for months leading up to today and so it is normal to expect that this will continue in the months following the election as well.  It is helpful to remember that ratings and clicks matter to those working in the news media and while they are trying to inform us about the news, they are also trying to boost their ratings at the same time.  As a result, it is important to be careful to prevent yourself from getting sucked down into a dark place by watching too much news or by engaging in unproductive, unhealthy interactions.  Worrying can give you something to do, but often it isn't helping you.  So once you acknowledge that your anxiety is there for a reason, it is important to shift your focus to things within your control.

How can you do this?  By staying present.  Feel what you are feeling – whatever that might be and allow those feelings to have the space in your body and mind.  Express those feelings in ways that are safe, healthy and productive.  Actively work to embrace and spread joy as a way to counter the negativity born from the negative political battles.  You control what you contribute to society, which can be as simple as saying hi to your neighbor or holding open the door for a stranger.  You also control what you do to help yourself.  Below are some notes from the Crisis Text Line on ways that you can help yourself during this stressful time.

 Acknowledge and accept your feelings. It is completely normal to feel stressed or disappointed. Recognize and accept these feelings and allow yourself to process everything. If you’re sad, be sad. 

Talk to others. Remember that you’re not the only person feeling this way. Try not to isolate yourself and open up to someone you trust. 

Write it down. If you don’t feel like talking, write it down. Pouring your feelings out on paper is a good way to unravel your thoughts. If you don’t have access to pen and paper, there are great journaling apps. Most phones also have a “notes” feature you could use. 

Unplug from the news and social media. Put some space between yourself and the election coverage to prevent an overload of emotions. It’s understandable to want to be in the know, but set a timer for how long you’ll indulge in the media. Invest your spare time into self-care instead.

Practice self-care. Self-care is extremely important in all aspects of life. This could mean curling up with your favorite book, watching your favorite shows, exercising, or taking a nice, long, bath. It can be anything as long as it is an activity that disconnects your thoughts from current events.

Regarding self-care, I will add to that suggestion to at least do the easy things – move your body, stretch and take some deep breaths.  It sounds simple, but it makes a difference.

Over time, as you work to understand and adjust to the stress and the election outcomes, I would like to remind you that this is more of an “AND” situation – not an “or” situation.  You can be disappointed about the outcome AND still have hope that better days will be ahead.  You can be relieved by the outcome AND still recognize that others are not feeling that same way.  You can be frustrated by the opposing beliefs that someone else around you holds AND still choose to be accepting of them as people.  We all have individual responsibilities and steps to take to make the world a better place – so please, in the weeks ahead, do nice things for yourself and the people in your life including those who share your perspective and those who do not. 

Before I end, I want to share that part of what I love about my job as a school counselor is that I get to know so many of you well.  I love your passion, your intellect, your interests, your excitement, and the fact that NONE of you are exactly like anyone else.  You each have your own unique outlook and perspective.  You each have value that you contribute in ways that only you can.  In my heart, in my office, and in our school, you are respected and appreciated for all of the diverse backgrounds, ideas and outlooks that you hold.   My greatest wish is that each of you will know that YOU ALL MATTER HERE!

Socratic Society

On Friday morning, 25 students were inducted into the Socratic Society. Staff members are given the opportunity to recognize students for excellence in one or more of the core Socratic values of Scholarship, Integrity, Personal Effort, Compassion, or Lifelong Learning. Students are only eligible to be selected for this honor one time during their high school career.

A special congratulations to "my" students who were among those recognized this month! (Alphabetically): Mahmoud Ahmad, Ali Becht, Grayson Benjamin, Georgia Brinegar, Mackenzie Cain, Alyssa Carson, Palmer Cavicchia, Kaleb Colegrove, and Diana Contreras.

Halloween & Reminders

My nephew, Brady, dressed up as a red panda along with their dog (Wonder Woman), my dog Mia (M&M), and Lexi (a princess) from earlier this month.
 

Happy Halloween!  Construction & flexibility has been a major theme for the year and therefore it only seemed appropriate that they selected construction as the staff's halloween costume theme.

Here are some important reminders for seniors as we head wrap up the week...

- Friday, November 1st, is a common early application deadline for many colleges.  You have until 11:59pm to submit your applications, but do NOT wait until the last second.  Inevitably there could be computer glitches and errors due to lots of people trying to submit at the last possible moment.

- Remember, you MUST request your transcript through the transcript request form in addition to inviting me on Common App to submit your school forms.  The transcript request form is on the Counselor Website - www.wkhscounselors.com - hover over the college/ career tab and then it is one of the drop down options.  You MUST do this BEFORE the end of the school day for me to be able to upload your transcript on time.

- You can submit your application before your teacher or counselor pieces are uploaded.  

And finally, to all of the students out collecting canned goods through the Trick or Canning effort, thank you for your leadership in our school and community!

College Visits

Visiting college campuses - near and far, big and small (and somewhere in between), urban, suburban and rural, will help you to start to develop a sense for what you can find at all colleges and what will fit best for you.  For most of my students over the years, what they have quickly realized after about 3 college visits is what they do NOT like as much and they can then use that information to help narrow down their interests and perhaps find other similar schools to explore.

What should you ask on a college visit?  

You will want to ask questions as you tour the school. (We have a lengthy list of question ideas for you on the Counselor website.)  After each visit, review the list to see if there are any other questions you might want to add. Remember, you are visiting campuses to get a feeling for the atmosphere of each place – something you can’t get from a brochure or website.

When can you make your visit?
Anytime!  Students often schedule visits to colleges on times when it fits with their parents schedule.  You are allowed to miss school for college visits - it is an excused absence, but please be sure to still have your parents contact the attendance office.

While you can make visits at any time, I encourage you to try to select days when you know you will have a positive experience.  There are many colleges that will host a major specific day and those days often include lots of unique experiences in that field of study including meeting professors, talking to students, seeing their projects, etc.  You also want to maximize the positive experience of going on the visit by not creating problems with your high school schedule and commitments.  For example, if you know that you have a game and therefore have to be in school for at least half the day, then that is probably not the best day to try to squeeze in a college visit.  You also know that there tend to be a lot of tests, quizzes and projects on the last day of the semester, so I encourage you to avoid that day as well.

Other great days for all students to make college visits would be the days that we have off in Worthington, but the colleges will likely still be in session.  For example, next week, Tuesday, November 5th, students are off because it is election day, but college campuses will still be in session making it a great day to visit.

How should I set up the visit?
The student should be the one who communicates with the college - not the parent!  Remember, you are the one who is going to college - not your mom or dad.  You are trying to show the college that you are mature, responsible and ready for the college opportunities and that begins with having the ability to communicate effectively with the admissions office.

Some colleges have online visit registration options and others only take reservations by phone.  You will definitely want to sign up for the visits in advance!

Should I attend on a "major specific" day?
As I mentioned in an earlier question, there are many colleges that will host special recruitment days for students looking at a particular major.  For example, there may be an engineering day, a nursing day, a communications day, etc.  These are GREAT opportunities for students to consider visiting the campus - not only for those of you who have made up your mind that you are interested in a particular field, but also for those students who think they might like to study that field.  So, for example, if I think I might want to study something connected to business, but don't know any more than that going to the college's business day can be a great learning opportunity for me to gain insight into the different aspects available within that major and that college.  If you attend you might walk away excited about a particular opportunity or section of business or you may leave realizing you thought it seemed terrible and that would still give you the information to help you know that this is not the best job field for your future.

What else should I keep in mind?
- Pay attention to the details around you to learn all that there is to know about the college.

- Remember, a lot of outside factors can influence the quality of the visit positively or negatively. For example, the weather… if it is a gorgeous sunny day with perfect temperatures you may think it is the most beautiful school and if it cold, rainy, or dreary you may think it is miserable, but try to remember that the weather changes from day to day and judge the school without being overly influenced by the weather. (Please also remember that if you are traveling to areas in different climates than Ohio that weather may truly be an appropriate factor to consider, so I am not making a blanket statement to always ignore the weather.)

- Tour guides also form a huge impression of the school that you visit. Most colleges know that and will try to find outgoing, positive, energetic students to take you through the campus. Ideally the guides will try to get to know something about you or your interests to help point those aspects of the school out to you, but the reality is the students serving as tour guides are not always great and, let’s be honest here, we all have bad days so even some of the good tour guides can have off days where they won’t be impressive on the visit. I know it can be hard, but try to separate the guide from the school.

- If you can spare the time – stop and sit on a bench and just “people watch.” Are these people that you can imagine being your friends in the future? Remember, you are hoping that in the near future that you will be able to make friends with them and others like them on campus. Think about how you are feeling on the campus – can you imagine yourself being there and being both happy and successful at this school?

I cannot wait to hear about your experiences exploring college campuses!

On the Shoulders of Giants

Today I received an award as the Ohio High School Counselor of the Year.  I may be the one who is being honored and who had their name read, but I stand on the shoulders of giants. Let’s be honest, NONE of us live in isolation or achieve any element of success completely on our own.  We have always needed teachers to guide and mentor us, loved ones like family members and friends to support and encourage us, and someone to believe in us and take a chance on us. And I can assure you that everything I have achieved is because of the incredible people I have been fortunate enough to interact with in my life and in my career.

I briefly thought about who all I would want to specifically thank and my list was quickly over 50 names without even starting in on students and families.  Clearly that isn’t something anyone wants to sit and read, but I do want to recognize my department. The counselors who make up the unbelievable team I get to work with day in and day out are truly extraordinary human beings. They are there to support, answer questions, bounce ideas off of, give a project a try with, and they truly make things happen. Nothing that takes place in our school happens without a team effort and so I thank each of the school counselors who I have had as colleagues or mentors knowing they are at least as worthy of this recognition, if not even more so.

And most of all, I want to thank and recognize my students and their families. People who know me well know that I put my heart, soul, time, and energy into this job and that I refer to my students as being “my kids”. You are “mine” in that you are in my heart forever. It’s interesting, when you work as a high school counselor people would automatically assume we are the ones guiding you. But what I have found is that it is actually a job where I get paid to learn from you. I watch as you overcome struggles, explore who you are and who you’re going to be, and find the courage to try, to show up and care, and to be open, honest and vulnerable on the good days and the bad. I have been able to witness the BEST moments with you: as you achieved a goal you had been working so hard to reach, as you won state championships, got college acceptances, and as I handed you diplomas with hugs of pride. I have even been lucky enough to keep in touch with some former students after they have graduated to be able to see you working in your dream careers, finding and starting your lives with the ones you love, and having children of your own. But, of course, being a high school student/ young adult is not filled with just good days and I have had the honor of being present with students through some of the toughest moments too: grieving the death of people you love, struggling with mental health battles, fighting terrible diseases like cancer, questioning where you fit in this world and if your life mattered (it does!), navigating difficulties with friends or family members, and all the typical struggles of high school. Your courage and willingness to share your lives with me and to allow me to walk alongside you in your journey through high school is something I will forever be thankful for. I love this job and what I get to do each day only because I love you! 

There is no question that the best gift in life are the people who love us.  I am so blessed to have been gifted with so many people who love me so well and who I am given the chance to love in equal measure.  This starts with my family (the 11 of them who provide total steadiness in my life) and continues outward to all of you.  Since the news that I was going to receive this award was announced through and including today, I have received donuts, cookies, gift baskets, figurines and flowers. But above all I have received hugs of congratulations and unbelievably overwhelming words of encouragement, love and affirmation. 

I read a quote recently that said "all the words we say at funerals should be said on birthdays because we tend to leave too much love unspoken." I can assure you, my birthday came a week early and the love that is being spoken is heard and so greatly appreciated.  My heart is overflowing. Thank you all for the support and love as I received this award!

OSU Branch Campus

Have you considered attending an OSU branch campus in the future?  It is a great opportunity for students to have the benefits of being an OSU student right after high school with a better price tag and smaller class sizes.  One challenge of the branch campuses is that housing is limited so most students will commute to the branch or live in apartments in the surrouding area.  

As I mentioned, by attending a branch of OSU you are already a Buckeye.  If you want to transition to main campus after a year of full time classes, you can do that with grades of a C or better - no application needed.  (It is simply a form to change which campus you will be taking your classes.)

If you know that you are not going to be a strong enough candidate for direct admission onto the Columbus Campus, applying directly to the branch can be a beneficial option for many reasons.

1. You don't have to write the essay.

2. OSU has their own direct branch admissions application on their website.

3. There are scholarships set aside specificially for students who apply directly to the branch campus and attend there.

4. If you apply before December 1st, the application fee is waived.

The two closest branch campuses to WKHS are OSU Newark and OSU Marion.  If you haven't already investigated them as options for your future, now is a great time to look into the opportunities on both of those campus locations.

Cap & Gown Orders

Seniors, don't forget, the deadline to order your cap and gown at the discounted rate is October 31st.  You will go to Buckeye Scholastic's website in order to place your order.

Buckeye Scholastic has a ton of options that students can select of various specialty items such as announcements and frames.  I have had many students ask me what is REQUIRED to be ordered - that would be the Cap, Gown and Tassel package.  (No keepsake tassel required.)  So the total cost for that package is $37.90.

If you have a cap and gown that a sibling wore in the last few years that is the right size for you to wear, that is totally fine!  All you need to do is order the package that is the graduation tassel and stole.

It's so wild that it's time to be taking care of all of these official graduation related tasks!