In the spring of 2015, I completed my practicum experience at Urban Science Academy in West Roxbury, MA. The experience was the perfect stepping stone I needed to feel confident in my current internship experience. During the months I was there, I was able to have a small caseload of students with a variety of different academic needs. During our meetings together, we worked on academic goal setting and academic improvement plans. Our time each week allowed the students a space to express their academic concerns and seek help in resolving them. My cohort members and I were also able to present lessons on interviewing skills and the college search process to a class of college-bound students. On the days we were not presenting, we were able to observe the class and gain valuable knowledge about the current challenges facing today’s college-bound students.

Working at Urban Science Academy with others in my school counseling cohort also gave me the opportunity to collaborate and learn from my fellow classmates. We all came into the program with different skills, interests, and experiences, which really allowed each of us to learn from one another at Urban Science. It also created a strong, lasting bond between us as a group. We still seek advice and feedback from one another now that we are all at our different internship sites. Having our professor on site each week was also an incredibly helpful component of practicum. Her advice and support allowed us to face challenges head on and provided us with useful feedback about our group sessions and lesson plans. Working at an urban school in Boston also allowed me to see firsthand the challenges facing the students. I began to see how I can be a social justice advocate to make sure all the students I work with have the opportunities they deserve. Reading about it in a book is one thing, but to see it myself opens up a new perspective and is part of what made practicum so valuable.