As we work with students on the college/university application process, many of us in the counseling sector ask students to complete a worksheet or questionnaire of some sort that gets them to dig at their past and their experiences as a way to see their future. This worksheet is often called “the brag sheet,” reflecting the desire to get students to identify those parts of their attributes, experiences, ambitions, attitude, etc that can help to inform the concept of “fit” with a university and certainly that the student will want to highlight in the application. For me, the experience with this activity is often the most formative component of the process, getting students to reflect and to see where they are at the moment, among other things, as being in flux, growing, and developing toward something bigger and greater. There is a trajectory to be found and examined and evaluated.
In light of this, some of the recent work I have been doing has led me to realize that there is no reason why this potentially transformative experience should be limited just to our students! In fact, what I’ve recently been reflecting on is that some of the questions we ask of our students are precisely the questions that we as counseling professionals should be asking ourselves.
As such, here are an assortment of questions that might be helpful!
What sorts of students are particularly well-suited to receive your counseling programming? Are there any attributes that particularly align with what you offer students? Do you know why this is the case?
For what sorts of students does your programming miss the mark? Why? And what could you do to access more students?
What do you see to be your strengths as a counselor? When are you at your very best? (I’ve often spoken of this as your “base case,” those specific, concrete situations when you are at your very best as a counselor. Is it one-on-one with a student working on identifying a list of universities to research? Is it presenting to parents? Is it writing letters of recommendation?) How can you capitalize on your strengths more often in your day-to-day?
What are the areas of your counseling practice where you could stand to grow and learn the most? Is it content? Is it a skillset? Is it a category of student or situation? What plans or commitments can you put in place to grow in this area?
What are the strengths of your school? What sorts of students are particularly well-served by it? How about the opposite: for what sorts of students is your school not ideally suited? Are there things that you can push or advocate for in order to be more inclusive as an institution?
What are your university biases as a counselor? Do you naturally envision or recommend certain institutions or types of places to students? How can you combat your bias?
Can you identify trusted professionals in your field from whom you can solicit ideas and feedback about your programming? Think about specific individuals and not crowdsourcing or hivemind opportunities like listservs or Facebook groups. To whom can you solicit professional feedback about what you do?