Perceived Roles

       In my time as a high school student, I perceived guidance counselors to be school staff members that gave advise to students regarding personal or discipline issues. Therefore, I felt I never had a need to apporach a counselor, as I had no discipline issues and when I wanted personal advise I would speak to my friends of adults I felt I could trust. Seeking "professional" help provided by the school would more than likely made me feel officially troubled. Later I found that guidance counselors were primarily gave academic advise, such as establishing student schedules, and shaping their academic careers based of the student's personal interests and class availability. I have also experienced a bit of frustration with our school's counseling office, as I felt like a dumping ground for students who simply needed a class to report to and others who just trandfered from another school. I hold my rpogram in the high esteem it has maintianed over the years, and I fully intentd on promoting and even furthering that status. I felt as though for someone to place a student haphazardly into the program was doing me and the student a diservice. I know they are doing their job as someone who has to fit them in where they can get in, but the frustration was still there. In conclusion, I guess my perception of guidance counselors has been cast in a nonfavorable light. I am hoping that after completing this module and interview, that my perception and understanding of the roles of guidance counsleors will be enlighted.