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!