Counselors adjust to department changes

With the addition of a new senior counselor and a new sophomore counselor, and the junior counselor changing roles, only the freshman counselor is in the same position as last year. 

Change is not a foreign idea on campus this year, and the counseling department is another example of that.  

“Working with not only the students but the faculty and staff in the past from McGuinness was always so positive,” senior counselor and college advisor Dillon Walker said. “I think just working with them, and the positive atmosphere here is what drew me to want to work here.”

Walker previously worked as an admissions counselor at Oklahoma State University for nine years. He says being on that side of the college process prepared him to be able to answer college questions from a different perspective, and to help with schedule changes. 

“I wanted to do something that made a difference,” Walker said. “Working with you guys makes me feel like I’m making a difference because I know that you’re going to go out there and do something. If that’s graduate from college, which I hope that’s the case, and then go off and have these great careers hopefully, but I feel like I’m a little bit of that piece to you guys. I get to be a little part of that big picture for y’all.”

The other new face in the counseling department is sophomore counselor and 9th/10th grade health and wellness counselor Lauren Lubbers. 

“I was excited about the opportunity to combine my faith and my profession,” Lubbers said. “I’ve always wanted to work in a Catholic school, and my sisters attended McGuinness, so I just feel like I’m at home.”

Lubbers spent the last five years as a counselor at Edmond Public Schools.

“Public schools are a lot more diverse, so I think that it equips me to help a larger student body,” Lubbers said. 

She is excited to have the chance to incorporate her faith into her work. 

“I did miss being able to talk about God and my spiritual side, and my faith based beliefs, so it’s nice to be able to do that here as well,” Lubbers said. 

Also in a new position this year is former sophomore counselor, now junior counselor and 11th/12th grade health and wellness counselor Sarai Cerano. While she is not new to the counseling department, she is new to upperclassmen. 

“The fun part for me this year is getting to help with college guidance,” Cerano said. “It’s just really fun starting their research process.”

Along with helping juniors begin their college search, Cerano is helping the new counselors to get acclimated. 

“I knew what it was like to be a newbie last year, and I had really, really good teachers in the counselors who were here last year,” Cerano said. “I think I learned from that too, and then I’m just applying that to this year. So any questions they might have, they can always come to me.”

As the only counselor in the same position as last year, freshman counselor Courtney Gougler is doing her part to help everyone get adjusted. 

“I know when I first started, it was nice to have the other counselors to be able to ask questions and rely on, and now it’s my job to do that for them: answer their questions, be available for them, and help them when I can,” Gougler said. 

Gougler said her top priority is to be there for the students. 

“You want students who want to come and talk to you, and you want to be able to fight for them or help them when you can,” she said. “I think just being an advocate for them is important.”

The counselors are here to help the students when they are struggling, but they also want to hear the good, too. 

“All of us want to know you guys personally,” Walker said. “We don’t want it to just be schedule changes or college or someone you only come to when you have problems. We want to get to know you.”