My program is no joke.

I decided today to start to re-read the handbooks located on my college website related to the Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program that I applied admission and was conditionally accepted to. Listed on their website are the student handbook, a handbook for pre-practicum, practicum, internship 1, internship 2, and an ethics handbook. As I am reading through the handbooks I begin to realize that this program is no joke! Not that I ever thought it was a joke I just never really sat down and thought about it. Yes I thought about getting my degree and life after the degree but I can be honest here and say I never really “thought” about the program and what it would entail other than maintaining a 3.0 GPA.I was rather limited in my selection of programs because of our current lifestyle and I choose the one I did based on a few criteria.

I never thought about things like a candidacy interview and having to take a 4 hour comprehensive exam plus a national certification exam in my final semester. In the first semester I have to gear up for a week long intensive on campus (in June) and taking and submitting my GRE and/or MAT scores, recommendation letters and doing my candidacy interview. I have to admit that I am already nervous about all of the above. I really don’t enjoy taking any form of test unless it requires me to write a paper…that I am good at and I get nervous that someone won’t like me and this interview could end my counseling career before it even begins. If I don’t do well during my week on campus and the instructors do not think I am a good fit for becoming a counselor I am done. That is a lot of pressure within the first six months of a program!

However I know myself well enough to know that I am born to become a counselor. That it is what I have wanted to do for as long as I can remember and that I am more than willing to learn, take direction, and do whatever work I need to do if it will make me be a better and efficient counselor. So with these thoughts I am trying to be positive about the challenges lying ahead of me in the next year and I am going to study, be myself, and hope for the best. Wish me luck!