As a college counselor, I have the good fortune to travel to campuses all over the world.  I develop relationships with colleagues at colleges and other high schools throughout this country.  And, best of all, I have the privilege of guiding my students toward their futures.  College is just one more step toward their own destinations of lifelong learning. The search for their colleges is a journey of self-discovery.  I teach them to articulate who they are now and who they want to become.  I challenge them to expand their horizons and move beyond their comfort zones.  I ease their anxieties as deadlines approach.  I comfort them when denial letters arrive. And, I celebrate when their dreams are realized.  

In the summer before I started this graduate program, my husband and four-year-old son joined me for a 30 campus tour of California colleges.  We took this picture of our son at Stanford, where my father-in-law earned his Master's.  I don't know if my son will ever want to attend that fine institution. If he does, there's currently a 95% chance that they'll turn him down anyway. Given what I do for a living, people are surprised that I do not worry about my own children's college destinations.  I believe that only they should determine that, based on who they are at the time. Wherever life takes them, my biggest hope for their academic futures is that they always carry that same joy of discovery you see in my boy here.  I wish the same for all of my students.