Drew Roesch
I currently work as a School Counselor at my Alma Mater, Absegami High School, in Galloway Township, NJ. I received my Master’s Degree in School Counseling at West Chester University. I am one of five School Counselors in my Guidance Department. As a High School Counselor, I work with students in all four grades and wear many “hats.” The main three areas I assist students in are their academics (i.e. scheduling, study skills, organization, etc.), getting them ready for their post-secondary endeavors (i.e. career, college, military, trade schools, etc.), and with their social-emotional needs (i.e. mental health struggles, peer conflicts, and much more). Of these three main domains I work in, I am most passionate about the social-emotional domain because I believe while mental health awareness is growing, it is still not worked on or taught enough with young students.
In addition, I am the JV baseball coach and an assistant girls’ basketball coach at my school which has made my job even more fulfilling. While in my role as a School Counselor I may not be in a role to teach to students every day as a normal teacher would, being a coach allows me to be more of a “teacher” and work with the same students daily.
The Ursinus College Education Department did a great job of preparing me to move onto my graduate program at West Chester University and set the groundwork to become a School Counselor. First and foremost, the Education Department taught me various skills to become a lifelong learner, which you need to be when working in education, such as learning how to keep an open-mind and how to critically think during a time of conflict. The department, also, taught me to look at education differently from the old model of teachers transmitting knowledge to their students to teachers being a guiding model during a student’s learning process. Moreover, the Department taught me the difference between equity and equality, opened my eyes to the various areas that make up special education, the basics of educational psychology-which I greatly enjoy, and so much more.
