Grad25

My TAship is unusual in that I am not fully responsible for a course, I just help the professor primarily with one course. However, TAs at my school do not receive a stipend that covers tuition, it's more like a small scholarship. Basically we do it more for the experience and less for the money, although the extra money does help. For financial reasons I also work outside of my TAship. This along with keeping up with coursework and an internship proved to be quite stressful last semester (I should also mention that it was my first internship experience in grad school, so it was a whole new ball game for me). Anyway, I fell behind on some of my responsibilities with my TAship last semester, although in the end I did get all the necessities done. At the end of this semester I'd like to feel that I have been successful, but I am just really disillusioned by how last semester went. Any thoughts, advice, or similar experiences are welcomed.

Hmm...thanks for the thoughts. I agree, my expectations have been too high and I need to adjust them. Which in and of itself could solve the problem potentially. I guess I see a mentor as someone you meet with on a regular basis...like maybe once a month, I don't know. But if I don't express those expectations, then that's my problem, not hers. And yes, I guess I equated the two--research experience and mentorship, which are separate. I guess i saw that as a piece of the mentorship, when it wasn't even a definite thing.

Thanks for your response! I am not sure how to go about taking a leave of absence, but I will look into it. That might be something to think about for this fall, and I was already looking into getting an off-campus job anyway (having solid income not associated with the school would help make the transition smoother). If I do get an off-campus job, maybe I can try to work in a school system. I do think that going straight into a program where I was previously denied has been harder than I thought it would be. It leaves a lot of questions in my mind and probably plays into me feeling "unsupported" as well. I did try to find out a little bit about why I wasn't accepted the first time around, but they were not open to talking about it. I even asked my "mentor" and she said she couldn't talk about it... I think my anxious personality plays into it some, but the thing about the counseling field is no one is ever going to be "perfect"....maybe others just hide their issues better than I do... Good advice about talking to some school counselors about their jobs, I have talked to a few, but it seems to be different depending upon the age group and school system you are working with. And I agree with you on the mentorship thing. I need to find someone else. It's just annoying to be let down by someone who you thought was on your side. It would have been really good to have a mentor in academics I think, but I can't force the relationship to work. Thanks again for taking the time to reply!

Just need to vent here, and maybe get some advice/thoughts from people who have been in this position, and what you did about it. Last year I applied to the mental health counseling program at my undergrad institution, where typically you can go straight from the undergrad into the masters program. Unfortunately, between bad timing and not the greatest interview, I was denied admission. Being denied admission was disheartening, especially since I had done undergrad work in that same program, so of course it was easy to take it personally. I ended up staying around another semester, switching to a different track for my undergrad degree. After I was denied admission, I was fortunate enough to have a professor offer to mentor me. This professor offered to help me with furthering education and career opportunities. The professor even mentioned the possibility of me helping with research. Unfortunately this did not pan out. Since the mentorship began, we have only met a couple of times and I have received no response to my inquiries about participating in research. In the midst of all this, I reapplied to the same grad program, but under a different track. I really enjoy working with children and I could see school counseling being a better fit for my personality and skills. I was accepted this time around which was exciting. However, ever since I began my coursework (I am 7 weeks in) I have wondered if I am following the right track and being true to myself. I don't have any experience in a school system, so until I begin my internship, I won't know if it's something I am really going to enjoy. I also feel very alone and unsupported in my program. The strained relationship with my "mentor" has really been hard on me. I have asked the prof about helping with research, which I thought would be a great opportunity to build my resume, but haven’t received a response. But it’s not just this prof. I e-mailed the head of the department more than once asking if we could set up a meeting to discuss the option of pursuing the a dual degree so I can be licensed as a mental health counselor, along with school counseling. Now I understand that it's summer and the prof is busy, but the prof could at least respond saying "let's talk about this in the fall" or something like that. Anyway, right now I am really hating my program. I had a paper due last recently and I couldn't even get it written. Fortunately I have done well on everything else so far in the class, but if I don't get at least some points for this paper I am going to really hurt my grade (our grading scale is really high, we can't miss many points and still get an "A"). I am under so much stress. I feel like I can't enjoy life or take time to take care of myself properly anymore. I have issues with anxiety, which are playing into this, but I have begun seeing a counselor again so I'm doing what I need to do there. I just feel defeated, and I've barely even started. Maybe getting a masters degree isn't for me? I always thought it was. I even want (wanted?) to get a PhD.

Have you looked into counseling programs? Just a thought. I originally applied for MFT/LPC but am currently pursuing school counseling. It sounds like you might like a practical masters degree instead of a PhD. Nothing wrong with taking some time off...I sort of wish I had. I am just starting my Masters in School Counseling and feeling pretty uncertain about it currently. Grad school isn't really the place to be uncertain about what direction you want to go. It can make focusing and getting stuff done quite difficult!

A little background. I applied to my undergrad institution for the Marriage and Family (MFT)/Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) degree last fall, but they only accepted two applicants, neither from our school having completed the counseling undergrad program--very unfortunate. They don't give much feedback on how you can improve your application--also unfortunate. I guess they expect you to figure it out yourself. Anyway, I did a little soul-searching and decided to apply for the school counseling track of the same program this spring and was accepted. I like kids and think school counseling could be a good fit, however I have some concerns. One of those concerns is how limited my options will be for PhD work. Anyone else studying to become a school counselor? Why do you like this particular field as opposed to other types of counseling, and what are the options for furthering education after Masters work?