Diana Pitaru

For the past month, I caught myself being anxious, breathing fast, and lacking the appetite to eat. I slowed myself down, took deep breaths, and tried to clear my mind in order to make sense of what is going on. Why the anxiousness? After all, this was the last week of my term and I am expecting As in all my classes; the group for student counselors of North Texas that my friend and I started is also going well. I can say with confidence that everything has been peachy in my life –and no, I am not being sarcastic.

My Romanian culture defines me. My morals and ethical inclinations are deeply rooted in my native culture, the education I received from my parents, and my past and current experiences. I was raised in an agnostic family where religion played no part, yet the values of truthfulness, reliability, and self-respect were central to my upbringing. Some of my mother’s words still ring true: “Don’t do business with family and friends”, “when you make a promise, stick to it no matter how hard it may be, otherwise you will break people’s trust”, and “don’t do something to others that you wouldn’t like to be done to you”.

It came from behind to surprise me. STOP! I caught myself in time, otherwise I would have probably panicked… yes, I caught myself. It’s probably one of the few times I’ve been catching myself before getting overwhelmed by life. Deep breaths, long deep breaths… How else can you stop yourself otherwise?

I used to be my worst enemy; a sleepless critic that would watch my every move and ruthlessly beat me down into my own submission. I can’t imagine what my critic would have done during this past week. We got news from my husband’s family that his father is having severe complications following an open heart surgery. We packed in no time and flew back to California to help. I knew my role: I was there to support my husband emotionally and help him cope with whatever was about to happen. I also knew that this trip will not only bring worries about my husband and his father, but a whole lot of other issues associated with his family (his mother in particular). I expected certain issues to re-emerge and I had no plans to address them.

Ever since I started my master’s in counseling I became aware of how important support is in our profession. Not too long ago I wrote an article about the lack of mentoring opportunities for our counseling students; I brought up the fact that students need direction and help from seasoned counselors who know the ins and outs of our profession. At the time, I didn’t know where I could start but as the time passed by, with help from peers, an idea blossomed.