Susan Jennifer Polese

I was 22 years old working at my first graphic design job in Manhattan. The office staff was called into a conference in the morning, I can’t recall the purpose of the meeting but breakfast foods were spread out on the table and my coworkers and I sat eating and talking when the head honcho came in. A tall, towering man named Mr. Noren – he was the owner of the healthcare company that employed all of us. Amidst our chewing Mr. Noren entered took a seat and before addressing us formally his gaze landed on Adele, our demure receptionist who did an excellent job and always presented herself professionally. She was a few years older than I was and single. As I swallowed a bite of my blueberry muffin I noticed that Adele was half-way through eating a banana as Mr. Noren said loudly, “Hey Adele, you handle that banana like an old married woman.”

You may have guessed by those rudimentary (and overly formal) first sentences that I am learning Spanish with the Rosetta Stone software program. It is probably painfully obvious that I am presently on Level One, Unit One. Oh yes, it’s basic as basic can be. But we all need to start somewhere, no? (That last word, by the way, is the same in English and Spanish. I find that comforting, somehow).

Going through a master’s program in mental health counseling is a little like putting your mind on a cold, steel table and dissecting it in at least eleven different ways – and then leaving the room quickly because it is going to expand. The very essence of counselor education encourages the student to look at their lives, choices, families, and roles in society from many different perspectives. Each class offers a wealth of knowledge and fresh ways to consider yourself and your place in the world. It is at once wonderful and exhausting, intriguing and infuriating. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love it.

Why have we decided to follow the path to become counselors? We, as counselors-in-training, are often asked this question. At different times I’ve come up with various responses. Another apt question is: what are we going to do with our counseling education and subsequent career? I have realized over the past few months how important social advocacy is to me and that I intend it to be the cornerstone of my counseling pursuits.

The bestselling author Suzanne Collins penned the novel The Hunger Games which has been made into one of the highest grossing films of all time. In fact, it has become such a sensation that girl tweens are having Hunger Games themed birthday parties where guests come in costume as the characters from the novel and film. When I saw the movie many of the children in the audience were also dressed up. The actors who star in the film are all over the talk shows and rumors tell us that there will be three sequels.