Hayley Wilson

Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Licensed Professional Counselor of Mental Health. Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. Licensed Professional Counselor. Linguistic lore states that the Inuit culture has numerous words for “snow” and it seems that Americans have numerous words for “counselor”. Even I’ll admit, sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming when I tell people what I will be once I’ve completed my Master’s degree.

I can remember the very day I began drinking coffee. It was the second day of my freshmen orientation for college and the campus bookstore had a Starbucks kiosk next to the cash registers. After perusing overpriced collegiate paraphernalia, which I would later buy in bulk, I wandered over to the kiosk and decided that what I needed most at that moment was a nice, hot, big, or “Grande” in barista, cup of coffee. My father, a lifelong coffee drinker, exclaimed upon entering the bookstore, “Since when do you drink coffee?” Little did we both know that we were witness to one of my greatest love affairs.

When I was younger, I often found my career aspirations in movies and television. After watching the television show ER, I wanted to become an emergency room doctor. Similarly, watching the movie Dr. Dolittle inspired me to go to veterinary school. In high school I even toyed with the idea of becoming an actress, proclaiming that as an actress, I could be anything I wanted to be. Thankfully, my drama teacher pointed out there was a reason I had no speaking parts for four straight years.

I will be the first one to admit that I am an avid Facebook user. Not a day goes by where I don’t log in and check status updates or photo uploads, or simply flit from page to page, like an overeager butterfly. While most of my friends say they don’t use Facebook nearly as much as I do, their hourly comments tell another story. And I should know, I’m commenting too.

“I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it.” – Alice in Wonderland. As a counselor-in-training I often find myself applying the lessons learned in my most recent class to my life. I will sit and listen to my friends bemoan their troubles for hours and when all has been said my initial response is usually, “Well, did you talk to him/her about it?” More often than not the answer is a flat, “No.” The excuses for why we can never approach one another and simply communicate our issues are endless but the end result is always the same. Nothing is said, nothing is done, and nothing changes.