I grew up in northern Maine along the Canadian border – not exactly a metropolitan area. Being from such a remote area, I had my work cut out for me trying to figure out where I was going to apply to college and what I was going to study. Resources were scarce and accurate information was difficult to come by 20 years ago. Take advantage of the assistance you can receive and ............
HAVE A HIGHLY SKILLED COLLEGE ADVISOR MENTORING YOUR STUDENT.
MY UNDERGRADUATE COLLEGES
I started out at the university in my hometown of Presque Isle. Later I transferred to the state university in Portland (USM), the biggest city in Maine. There I tried out for the NCAA Division III ice hockey team and I pledged a national fraternity. While I was there I met a person who was attending while participating in the National Student Exchange Program. After looking into it further, I decided that I would like to join as well. I wanted to attend the most culturally different university that I could find, so I left for Baton Rouge in the fall and enrolled at Louisiana State University. I learned a lot about myself and changed my major to philosophy.
I realized that I wanted to return to southern California after spending a couple summers in San Diego. I was admitted into California State University at Northridge (CSUN), near Los Angeles. While I was there my youngest brother moved to Georgia to attend a junior college to play baseball. So I transferred to the University of Tennessee to be closer to him and offer my support and encouragement. I finally earned my bachelor’s degree in 1997 and graduated in the same class as Peyton Manning (for all you college and professional football fans).
TIME OFF BETWEEN DEGREE PROGRAMS
After graduation I came home for the summer and was accepted into the International Work Abroad Program. I moved to New Zealand and lived in downtown Auckland. I backpacked the North and South Islands and did the world’s highest bungee jump (at the time) at 340 feet in Queenstown called thePipeline(see photo below). I then flew to Australia and traveled around the entire eastern half of the continent, going from Melbourne to Adelaide to Alice Springs to Cairns to Brisbane and down to Sydney. I climbed Ayres Rock in the middle of the Outback and visited the Sydney Opera House. After six months of living and traveling overseas I finally returned back home.
Up to this point, I had never considered a career in education. To see how I would like it I began subbing in the greater Portland, Maine area. I also started volunteering with a high school hockey program and the following year was hired as an assistant varsity coach. After a year of doing this, I knew that I wanted to work in a position that was more specialized and required a higher level of education. I shadowed with many guidance counselors during my open planning periods and determined that I wanted to go into secondary guidance. I made up my mind to move to the Sunshine State. Once living in Fort Lauderdale I took a job teaching at a school in Broward County and coaching one of their athletic teams.
GRADUATE SCHOOL
After looking into advanced degree programs, I learned that the classes I needed were offered right here at Florida Atlantic University. I moved to Boca Raton and earned my master’s degree in Educational Psychology with an A average. I completed the courses in school counseling at the same time and finished the STATE REQUIREMENTSafter three years of full-time study. I enrolled in two private colleges to take the last of the certification courses and to be placed for my practicum experience. I started thinking about how I wanted to put all of my past experiences to the most productive use. I have always had a special interest in colleges and their admissions practices.
I focused most of my research on topics related to going to college, such as choice of major, gender roles, diversity and race, motivation and goal setting, adolescent behavior, affirmative action, and career education. Ten of my graduate papers are available for your viewing by clicking on the Newsletter box found on the left side of this page. All of my documents are converted to .pdf format, so you will need Adobe Reader to view them. For those who do not have this viewer on their computers, you may download it for FREE by clicking on ADOBE READER. For more info about me, click on COUNSELOR'S PROFILE.
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ADVISOR
During my last year of graduate studies, I accepted a position as a college admissions advisor at a public high school in southern Florida. In this capacity, I was responsible for reviewing applications, recommending scholarships, booking recruiters, and making presentations to parents and students alike. I handled everything imaginable that was related to the college application process. I volunteered many extra hours unpaid just to be exposed to as many unique situations and possible scenarios as I could. As a result, I feel highly confident to be able to work with most any case brought before me. And for those rare occurrences where I might be unfamiliar, I have the resources readily available to find the answer(s).
