For over a year, the Community High School (CHS) counselor’s office sat silent and untouched with a layer of dust covering the college posters, multicolored murals and photos plastering the walls. However, now after a full semester back in the building, it is once again scattered with miscellaneous schedules, covered by bits of notebook paper dejectedly clinging to the ground and filled with students filing in and out. This renewed liveliness reminds Brian Williams, CHS counselor, that human contact is how he works best.
“I missed Amy [McLoughlin] and the students dearly,” Williams said. “I feel like we do our best when we are near each other and near students.”
Because of these strong connections to students that they have, Williams and McLoughlin have been observing some major changes in the student body such as increased anxiety levels tied to the inconsistencies of these past two years. McLoughlin has specifically seen this in seniors around college applications.
“This year in particular, there have been levels of anxiety we haven’t really seen before surrounding the college process,” McLoughlin said.
Whether that is about deadlines, communication or confusion, she found that this past fall, seniors were not trusting the process as much as usual. There also seems to be an inner questioning of senior’s futures that has become prominent. More seniors are breaking away from paths previously drawn out for them—ones that students used to follow without thought.
“Many seniors are thinking or realizing that college isn’t the best next step right now so we have more students than usual looking at alternate options,” Williams said.
Although this is in large part due to the pandemic, he thinks that the tumultuous political climate this generation is growing up in has contributed, shifting many focuses towards finding a way to make change happen now. “I think that the pandemic exposed a lot of inequities and bad things that happen not only in our country, but around the world too,” Williams said. “So it’s really it’s an interesting time that you all are going through especially as you’re transitioning out of high school and deciding what to do next.”
Through everything that has happened in the second floor counseling office this first semester back, what has been keeping Williams and McLoughlin happy is appreciating the simple things: a morning coffee and an even better group of people. So next time you are in the second floor stairwell, be sure to stop by their offices, say hello and add your energy to the hustle and bustle that is this little counseling haven.