Interview - Counseling Student

Name: Nancy Brandes
School: DePaul University, Chicago
Degree: MA Educational Counseling

Back to School for a Degree in School Counseling

With an undergraduate degree in marketing, Nancy Brandes never anticipated finding her calling in counseling several years after graduation.

Nancy Brandes is like many people who graduate from college knowing exactly what they want to do, only to discover themselves years later doing something completely different.

Living in Chicago, where the pace is fast and the competition tough, Nancy Brandes found that surviving in a big city was more a priority than fulfilling her dreams in marketing. Nancy landed a series of "survival jobs" before settling into an unrelated career in financial securities.

"Don't ask me how I got into securities. It was the first decent-paying job I had since college and I just didn't question it."

Making a Change

Sometimes we make changes in our lives and sometimes changes come to us without warning. Such was the case with Nancy, whose job was eliminated in 2005. Nancy took the layoff as an opportunity to re-evaluate what she wanted in a career.

With a desire to be of service to people and positively affect their lives, Nancy decided to get her master's degree in counseling.

Choosing a Counseling Master's Program and School

DePaul University in Chicago was Nancy's top choice of counseling schools. After compiling her transcripts, references and seven pages detailing her motivation toward a counseling career, she was accepted.

She chose DePaul for all the right reasons:

• Location - "They're right in the city, where I want to be."
• Reputation - "They have an excellent reputation in the Chicago area. I also had a friend who went there and loved it."
• Programming - "The counseling program at DePaul meets the requirements set by the American School Counseling Association."

Nancy loves the courses she's taking at DePaul. Among her favorites are:

• Intro to Counseling
• Career Counseling
• Contextual Dimensions of School Counseling
• Counseling Theories

She is bonding with her classmates and making long-term connections. In Counseling Theories, Nancy and her classmates have had to role-play, presenting one another with simulated counseling problems. They then literally counsel one another according to the various listening, questioning and evaluating techniques learned in class.

DePaul offers several counseling degrees:

• Master of Human Services - with a concentration in school counseling
• MA in Education - requires a thesis and an oral exam prior to completion
• MA in Education - same as the above without the thesis requirements

Paying for Counseling Graduate Schools

In addition to student loans and government financial aid, Nancy is involved in a work/study program at DePaul.

"I work in the Academic Resource Center, updating their website. Being a school employee means I get my tuition paid for. It's a way for me to go to school and work at the same time."

Working in the Academic Resource Center has helped Nancy further define her goals in counseling as well. She is leaning toward a specialty in school counseling and hopes to find an internship either in DePaul's student affairs office, or at a local high school.

Completion Time of a Counseling Degree

Nancy will work for three years before becoming a professional counselor. The first two years are dedicated to earning her master's degree, and the following year she will begin working as a practitioner. During her first year of practice, she will be supervised by a licensed counselor. She will also be documenting 300 hours of service in order to qualify for the counseling licensing exam.

"It's a job for helping people." Whether she's working at the college level, high school, or helping adults learn new job skills, Nancy has chosen this profession so that she can make a positive difference in people's lives.