Counselors are a big part of many students’ lives. When they need to talk, the counselors are there for them. They often coordinate the school’s big events like a dance or a fundraiser. They help with schedules and other necessities for students. Counselors do so much for so many people and ask for nothing in return. 

National School Counseling Week 2020, “School Counselors: Helping Build Better Humans,” was celebrated from Feb. 3–7, 2020, to focus public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week, sponsored by the American School Counselor Association, highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. National School Counseling Week is always celebrated the first full week in February.

Lots of people have stories of how their school counselor helped them. Just like these people, I have one too. When I was younger, I had really bad anxiety and stress. Because of this large inconvenience, I spent too much of my time in the counselor’s office trying to work it out and find coping mechanisms. My anxiety would still be as bad as it was then if it weren’t for my elementary school counselor Mrs. Morales. Stories like mine with even the slightest of happy endings are a big portion thanks to people’s own school counselors. 

Counselors are important in school especially in a middle school environment like a middle school or high school. 20% of U.S teens have a mental health problem they are dealing with. When they go to school, their counselors are there to help them or just to talk about things that may be hard for them to talk to others about. So their presence in schools of all kinds and grades is very important to keep the students there confident in themselves and their lives.

So since it’s school counselors week, I wrote this personal column to thank not just Dobie counselors, but also counselors from other schools. Their commitment to students is truly amazing and they deserve to be appreciated every day. They are so important in schools.