The two careers I chose for my senior project are Registered Nurse and Mental Health, counselor. The pros of being an RN are a good salary and teamwork. The cons of being an RN are long work shifts, evaluating patient orders, and not always being able to give them the medications or requests that they want. The pros of being a Mental Health Counselor are a good salary, helping others with any sort of mental health issue, and coming up with solutions on how to help and better them. Becoming a Mental Health Counselor would be the best career for me.
Being a Mental Health Counselor would be the best career for me because of the soft skills that are needed to be a counselor. I have taken a speech class that has allowed me to have better communication skills. The speech class that I took has allowed me to step out of my comfort zone and communicate better in all kinds of situations. It is important to be able to communicate and comprehend what is going on in order to be a counselor. Being able to communicate well is not only helpful to those who are needing help, but also to yourself.
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In order to be a Mental Health Counselor, you need a 4-year bachelor’s degree in psychology, education, or a field that is similar. A year or two of a master’s degree program may also require a 1-year internship. The classes that I have taken to help me become a Mental Health Counselor are psychology, health, and health occupations. I am also currently taking parenting and child development which can help me be a better counselor for children or parents. The information that has been covered in these classes has taught me how people work and that not everyone is the same and handles things the same. I have developed a lot of patience and knowledge about how the human brain works which is beneficial for this job because you are working with people who you must be patient with and understand what they are going through. I have also developed a critical thinking skill that is beneficial for this job because you must think critically in almost all situations you are dealing with or helping others with.
I have always been interested in problem-solving and critical thinking and because those are two of the skills that are required in order to be a Mental Health Counselor, I think this career would be a good job for me. I love helping others and assisting them with their daily challenges. I’ve been through a decent number of traumatic events which means that I can empathize and relate to someone else's problems and problem-solve to overcome the event or events that are making them go to counseling.
A lot of people look for trust while speaking with their counselors and I feel like I am trustworthy. For one to get the required help that they need, they need to have trust in their counselor, so they feel safe. Everything that is said inside the counseling office is confidential and I think that is an important concept that those attending counseling should know. You want your problems and your story to be confidential.
Something that can get in the way of this job is people not being patient with you or trusting you. That can make your job a lot harder and you must come up with a new way to help them so they can trust you, but you also must be patient with them. I am going to overcome this obstacle by letting them open at their own pace, instead of feeling forced. Being a counselor is not an easy job and requires a variety of soft skills and hard skills. It’s a beneficial career and the steps that are needed in order to pursue this career can be tough and all-around challenging. I like challenges and absolutely love being able to be there for people, so I think being a mental health counselor is the right career for me.
After comparing the career of a mental health counselor and the career of a registered nurse, I have decided that counseling is the best career option for me. The reason I want to pursue a career in counseling is that counselors have a big impact and play an important role in helping others overcome their problems with suggestions and solutions. I have taken classes such as health occupations, health, speech, English, and sociology which are high school classes that most counselors recommend to students who want to have a degree or career in counseling. The big picture of my senior project was finding a career that I think I would do well in pursuing based on my skills and the steps I've already taken that can help me pursue this career.
If you enjoy problem-solving, critical thinking, and most importantly, helping others overcome challenges and problems, counseling might be a good career for you. It is important to think ahead and have a plan. This is important because if you don’t have a plan, things can get rocky and you’ll most likely feel lost on what to do and start to give up. Having a plan helps you map out how you want your life to be. Thinking ahead and having a plan has helped me determine if college is what I want to do after high school. This can help me long-term because I have a plan in mind that will help me determine my future.
My responsibility as I'm entering the “adult world” is to have a plan for myself so I'm not lost and just winging my life. Pursuing a career in counseling will complement my skills and assist me in making that transition. I'm going to stand out in this field by going the extra mile to help my clients and make them feel safe and unjudged. I hope to make my clients feel happy and safe and also find out the things bothering them so I can give them advice and suggestions to overcome them. I hope to make an impact on every client so they will recommend me to others and help them in the long run.
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