Counseling Conference Confessions: Intern's First Time

Last Friday, the Maryland School Counselor Association held it's spring state conference in Greenbelt, Maryland.  I was lucky enough to get a graduate volunteer spot for the day.  I met other graduate students, school counselors from around the state, district officials and other individuals with vested interests in the school counseling field throughout the day.  I even met some of my blogging/Twitter inspirations, in the flesh.

I ran into some traffic on the hour-long drive from Baltimore... hey, it is Maryland, it seems like any amount of rain can seriously stop traffic.  Once I got to the conference center, I met the other graduate volunteers. I was excited to meet my fellow graduate students because we all came from different universities (University of Maryland and McDaniel College).  It was exciting to meet each other and learn about the similarities and differences amongst our programs.  We shared internship/practicum stories as well as job-seeking strategies.  Nothing fires me up more than being surrounded by driven, transformed counselors in training.

Graduate student volunteers- University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins and McDaniel College all represented.

We started our day by registering conference participants and handing out the necessary materials.  After, we attended a resource fair where I talked to venders/education professionals about the ASVAB and ASCA... and I got some swag--new Post-Its, anyone?!  During breakfast, we heard from Dr. Sylinda Gilchrist Banks, the Chair of the Board of Directors for the American School Counselor Association.  She presented about the importance of mattering for young people- a topic that I just presented on in my internship class last week.  It was great to hammer home the need for strong, congruent relationships.

After the breakfast session, we graduate volunteers each went to individual presentation rooms where we introduced speakers, signed-off on CEUs, and collected evaluations.  While working in the "Yellow Room," I learned about college/career counseling in middle schools, integrated counseling technology resources, and the importance of articulating the counselor's role in academic achievement.  In addition to the awesome info and swag- I met many school working school counselors who shared their wisdom and perspective.

New planner and some business cards.

I walked away with new insights, a new planner (pictured above), new mentors and a long list of emails to send!  I look forward to continuing my involvement in professional organizations as I grow in my counseling career.  If you want to learn more about the Maryland School Counselor Association (or see some photos from the conference) check out their Facebook page here.

Conference Anticipation: How one intern/graduate student/job-seeker prepares.

The Maryland School Counselor Association's annual conference is scheduled for this coming Friday.  In late February, I got an email calling for graduate student volunteers.  The conference organizers wanted four graduate volunteers to monitor the presentation rooms, hand out session evaluations, etc.  As a personal rule, I try to not miss any opportunities for professional engagement so I responded and was offered one of the volunteer spots.  I am particularly excited to attend the MSCA Conference because it will be great practice for the American School Counselor Association's National Conference in July where I will be speaking about my advocacy projects and internship experience as a member of a graduate student panel.

Description of my group's presentation at the ASCA National Conference- Scheduled for July 2nd (1:30pm-2:45pm)

With all these conferences coming up, there are a few ways for people like me, graduate students/interns/counseling-position-seekers to prepare.  Here is how I plan to network and present myself professionally:

1.  "Get a haircut, Hippie!"
Okay- I can grow a beautiful mane fit for horse or a Dothraki (I've been watching a lot of "Game of Thrones" lately...), but sometimes I just have to suck it up and keep that mop cropped, short, professional and neat.

Now, my hair wasn't this long... but I just felt the need to give some historical reference of how big my hair can get.  Sophomore year of high school.

The day after my haircut, I couldn't walk down a hallway at my internship without student/teacher/administrators telling me how much better my hair looked... Point:  Dylan, keep the hair professional.

2.  What to wear?
As a counseling conference newbie, I had no idea what to wear... do I go all the way and wear my suit or do a pair of khakis and a button up suffice?  I thought I needed a little back-up here and reached out to my professor who is the former director of counseling for a very large school district in the Southwest.  Here suggestion:

"Typically you would dress up a little more if you were presenting – dress slacks and a jacket.  Most conference attire is business casual – a nice pair of slacks and shirt.  The east coast conferences tend to have higher dress standards than the west coast.  You will be pretty safe if you wear dress slacks, but you may find that some conference attendees are in jeans.  You will see a wide array of clothing choices at ASCA J "

Thanks for the help, Professor!

3.  Be a card-carrying member.

I read other counseling blogs.  Whether it is a hobby or an obsession, I love learning more about the profession and picking up tips.  Danielle Schultz over at School Counselor Blog wrote a post about business cards.  In January, I followed her advice and ordered my own set of cards.  For a grand total of about $10, I got professional cards printed, which I now carry with me everywhere.  A simple card with my name, email, education, and a link to my LinkedIn helps me quickly and easily share who I am professionally.  

The cards are useless without a desire to network, talking to other professionals is a great opportunity to extend my connections.  If I can't talk to other professionals, handing out cards is next to impossible.  There are a lot of great counselors out there doing incredible things.  I hope to meet more of these individuals who can help me push myself in the future.  

Watch out conference attendees... I've got cards, a haircut, and a professional wardrobe and I am NOT afraid to use them.