In the Fall of 2021 I embarked on the tenure track journey. Completing year one in the process was both exciting and daunting. I had been with the district for thirteen years as a part-time adjunct counselor and I felt excited about the opportunity to share and reflect on the accomplishments of those presiding years. In 2018, when the first full-time Personal Counselor position became available I did not apply because I was caring for my terminally ill mother. Colleagues had inquired if I would be applying and I explained at the time that although the timing of the position becoming available was regrettable I was clear that my focus needed to be with my family at the time.
In the summer of 2021 when the Director of Student Support had approached me that a new full-time Personal Counselor position would be opening, I was beyond surprised. I had been with the district for over ten years before the first full-time position became available and I had never imagined that a second position would become available so soon.
My first day and week as a school-based mental health counselor was 9/11. I remember driving to the elementary school where I would be interning for that academic year, when I received a phone call that we were under attack. In that moment, I resolved to proceed to the school I had been assigned. Upon arrival I was met with crying and frightened staff and parents looking to me for comfort and support. Admittedly, I was scared and wondered if I had made the right decision to go into this field. The lessons learned on that day would prove invaluable in years to come.
I have been a practicing psychotherapist for 23 years and I became a full-time Personal Counselor at Skyline College during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Returning to campus in the Fall 2021 was reminiscent of the intensity I felt during my early years as a therapist, navigating 9/11 and it’s aftermath, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 2008 Recession and the incredible impact on our communities.
Since 2021 the Personal Counseling department continues to see record number of students and we have grown from two part-time adjunct counselors to nine clinicians from diverse backgrounds both ethnically and professionally. This occurred while the mental health field is experiencing an unprecedented time of provider shortages and increased need within the community.
In the Fall 2021, I celebrated the completion of year one of the tenure process with by dear big brother Ron who encouraged me to both apply for the position and to believe that I had so much more to give.
Five days after my final meeting with my initial tenure committee in 2021 my beloved brother would be murdered at a homeless encampment where he would routinely serve and feed the unhoused.
He was a true servant and champion for the forgotten and most marginalized in our communities.
In year two and three of my tenure process I would embark on the horrific journey as a family of a victim of crime and would travel numerous times to Los Angeles to endure a grueling murder trial of the man who killed my brother. Needless to say, that those years were some of the most difficult to endure and navigate.
In the Fall of 2023, after the completion of the trial. I was asked to speak to the Psychology 410 class on the topic of trauma. I thought long and hard about what I could present on this vast topic and decided to share my personal story of loss, grief and trauma as it related to the tragic death of my brother.
Like no other presentation I had led, this one, was truly personal. And I shared vulnerably with the class about the lessons I had learned about connections to others, resiliency, self-care and compassion.
In my career, I have presented on hundreds of topics and to hundreds of people but the response I got from this presentation was like no other. The passage …for when I am weak, then am I strong in the Bible truly came to life in that classroom that morning. Students shared vulnerably about their own losses, hurts and described finding hope and comfort in my story.
I left the classroom with a profound sense of community and a deeper understanding of what our Skyline students’ truly endure and overcome to be here and that together we are stronger.
I thank you all for your guidance and support during this process and I am grateful for everything I have learned through it.
