Get A Direction Counseling Center

I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my new website for the Get A Direction Counseling Center! 🎊

Clients and anyone unfamiliar with my services can easily learn more using the site's new and improved features.

I'm also looking forward to adding articles aimed at helping parents better guide and understand their confused teens and college students, so stay tuned for future updates.

Visit the new website here 👇

Get a Direction College & Career Counseling, LLC Choosing a college major—simplified.Picking a college major doesn’t have to feel confusing, scary, or hopeless. Help your overwhelmed student find an answer. Welcome to Get a Direction College & Career CounselingIs your high school or college student feeling confused, anxious, and overwhelmed ab...

Some great information and the seminar is today - online!

Free College Application Process Webinar- June 2020 Changes to the college application process and how to use them to benefit you during these changing times.

https://www.ami.org. Here's a career field you might want to consider if you like art and science.

Forward-Thinking: Hiring a Medical Illustrator Medical illustrators around the world noticed the backwards brain in the full-page ad announcing a $50 million dollar gift to the University of Southern California (USC) Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute.

Excellent read for anxious high school students who are worried about not being able to get into a top-tier school based on their class rank. Some of my high school clients are spending their time in quarantine to figure out what they want to major in at college and how to know which colleges to apply to. I am offering my How to Pick a College Major Counseling Services through Zoom appointments during this quarantine. I am also recommending that students and their parents read this book to ease some of the concerns they have about not getting in to the "right" school.

Doing some research this morning into various career fields and how to best explain to high school and college students what people in certain career fields do. I came across a funny article titled "Engineers Explained" and thought some of my engineering friends might enjoy how engineers are explained in this article from Neal McBurnett, UC Boulder.

"To the engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories: (1) things that need to be fixed, and (2) things the will need to be fixed after you've had a few minutes to play with them. Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems. Normal people don't understand this concept; they believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Engineers believe that if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet."

"The fastest way to get an engineer to solve a problem is to declare that the problem is unsolvable. No engineer can walk away from an unsolvable problem until it is solved. No illness or distraction is sufficient to get the engineer off the case. These types of challenges quickly become personal - a battle between the engineer and the laws of nature!"

Great example of a teenager using his natural aptitudes to help others by providing information at a time when people are looking for information. This young man has been coding since he was eleven and creating his own websites and video games for fun. He is only seventeen and used online articles and videos to teach himself how to create programs and run websites. The site that he recently created to track coronavirus data is the world's most popular website for real-time updates about the disease.

Jewish Teen Running World's Most Popular Coronavirus Website An Aish.com interview with 17-year-old whiz kid Avi Schiffman, the brains behind a popular website tracking Covid-19.

So many interesting careers out there these days. When someone asks what can I do with a linguistics degree - here's one option. https://www.languagetrainers.com/blog/2018/09/03/using-forensic-linguistics-fighting-crime-unabomber/

Using Forensic Linguistics to Solve Mysteries and Fight Crime - Language Trainers USA Blog Language is a broad topic that relates to many different aspects of our lives. It has the...

A simple question we maybe need to ask ourselves when making decisions about career/life choices is — "Do you wanna?" This is a great article addressing the importance of that question when weighing options and praying for wisdom.

Becoming Who We Are (shalem.org)
by Rose Mary Dougherty (from the Shalem Archives, 1996)

Several months ago I had what I have come to call “my recurring dream.” I’ve had the same dream periodically over the past ten years. In the dream I am young and I am going to several personal wisdom figures, asking them if they think I should enter religious life (which I did some thirty years ago).

In retrospect, the dream has always seemed the herald of some change in my life, some invitation to be issued, a decision to be made. The “entering religious life” always has to do with my going for God very intentionally.

The dream several months ago was a little different. I was still wondering if I should enter religious life. I was approaching the same people for answers, but as I came to each of them, I knew it wasn’t right to ask them. Then I saw a little boy, three or four years old, with large brown eyes. I asked him my question, “Do you think I should enter religious life?” He looked at me with piercing, puzzled eyes. Finally he said, “Do you wanna?”

I awoke from the dream smiling and at peace. It was all so simple. For years in my dream (and probably more often in real life than I care to admit) I had wanted someone else to tell me what to do, to give their answers to my questions. This little child was the only one who had asked in this dream, “Do you wanna?” In asking this, he had called me back to myself, had invited me to listen to my heart.

For some of us, listening to our hearts, to our “wanna’s,” can seem like a selfish thing. It implies ignoring the needs around us and just doing what we want. I have come to believe, however, that listening to our hearts, to our “wanna’s,” brings us to the core of our being, where we are most authentically ourselves. In that place, we can hear God’s prayer within us. We can sort through all the needs and expectations around us and choose, among all the things we might do, what fits with whom we are in God.

Some of us have been taught to make our life decisions by answering the question, “What would Jesus do if Jesus were here?” Jesus would do what Jesus would do. We must do what we must do.

Jesus demonstrated this truth: When the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to ask him a favor, he asked: “What do you want?” When Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me,” Jesus didn’t presume to know what he wanted. Instead, he asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” When a few disciples began to follow him, he looked them squarely in the eye and questioned: “What do you want?” When he was with them, he invited his followers to listen to their hearts. When he was about to leave them, he promised them the Spirit of Truth who would “guide them to all truth.” The same Spirit of truth and authenticity that animated Jesus animates us. We need only listen.

This listening is not easy. It requires a trust that there is within our hearts an inner wisdom that we only need to seek. The point of being in the company of a guru, a wisdom figure or even a spiritual director is not to be given that person’s truth but rather to be led inside to our own.

The danger of reading the lives of the saints or being excessively inspired by holy people is that we can tend to mistake their path for ours. We may try to emulate them without reference to our own inner calling. We may take on spiritual practices that have no bearing on our life in God. In effect, we may relinquish authenticity, our true greatness in God, for the sake of a false self, an image we have created of whom we should become. Perhaps that is something of what Thomas Merton meant when he said: “Many would-be saints never become saints for the same reason that many poets never become great poets. They are too busy trying to write the poetry of other poets.”

If Thomas Merton is right, and I think he is, what is it that would-be saints can learn from other saints? What can we learn from gurus and wisdom figures? Perhaps what we can learn is that they are single-minded. They have discovered and lived the truth of the gospel imperative, “Those who will save their lives will lose them, but those who lose their lives will find them.” They have been willing to relinquish everything, all images of themselves and expectations of others, even all dreams of ever becoming great, for the sake of finding themselves in God. They are great simply because they are ever becoming themselves.

Yet the greatness of the saints lies not in their doing; their greatness lies in their response to LOVE which ever beckons them and empowers them to love. In the end, their greatness lies in their willingness to relinquish all for the sake of LOVE, to be united with LOVE. In this oneness they come to an all pervasive love—for themselves, for the world, for all creation.

Perhaps the invitation of the saints to us is the invitation to LOVE. The “how-to’s” of our response must be ours, however. There are generic means available to us—tried and true practices that others have found valuable—but we must test these for ourselves. Nobody else can respond to the uniqueness of our invitation.

The “wanna’s” of our lives have much to tell us. They give us glimpses into who we are and what is really important to us. When we can listen deeply enough to these, beneath the enticements to success, or fame, or greatness, we will hear the voice of LOVE, Inner Wisdom, questioning us: “What do you want, what do you really want?” As we live our response to this question, we are empowered to become who we really are.

Rose Mary (1939-2019) was Shalem's Senior Fellow for Spiritual Guidance, ministered in the area of spirituality for over 30 years and was well known as a spiritual teacher and guide. She authored two books on group spiritual direction and one on discernment and founded Companioning the Dying, an experiential learning program for compassionate companioning.

New one year Master's degree at UT. Sounds really interesting.
https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/Master-of-Science-in-Health-Care-Transformation/Academics

Academics | Texas McCombs MSHCT | McCombs School of Business Meet the Texas MSHCT faculty and take a look at the program coursework.

Image of God This video traces the idea of humans as co-rulers alongside God, who are commissioned to develop the world and its resources and take it into new horizons. H...

Be careful about how you are spending the money you borrow for a college education. While a student loan should only be used for expenses for getting your education, some students use the money for Spring Break trips, entertainment and other expenses that are not education related. The U.S. Department of Education has an Office of Inspector General Hotline, where anyone who suspects fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, or violations of laws and regulations involving ED funds or program by recipients of student financial assistance can report such suspected activity.

I have talked to college students who don't realize the money they are borrowing will need to be paid back, and are angry when they get out of college with a "bill" for over $100,000. Many of these students don't take a part-time job or work during the summer to help pay for their college in order to reduce the amount of money they will need to borrow. The ones who have told me about spending money on entertainment or Spring Break trips don't seem to realize they may be committing fraud. To some students It seems like "free" money at the time with no strings attached.

Here is a link to an article outlining how to keep your student loan amount from skyrocketing and how to legally and ethically use the money you receive through student loans. https://www.credible.com/blog/student-loans/student-loans-living-expenses/

What Can Student Loans Be Used For? | Credible Can you use student loans for housing and living expenses? Find out exactly what you can use student loans on — and what you shouldn't.

Dr. Kendall Young, an experienced college admissions counselor, is offering a seminar to help Parents of high school juniors get a head start on the college admissions process. Her seminar is March 27, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at La Cantera Resort. Here's a link to more information. I highly recommend Dr. Young and think this seminar will help parents get the answers they need about college admissions.
https://curatedcollege.lpages.co/5-step-application-process-event/

5 Step Application Process Event The sooner you get started on the college application process, the better. It is far more than a checklist of items that need to be completed. If done correctly, the college application process will set you up for a huge return on your investment in college and direct your steps toward living your b...

I love keeping up with new college majors and career field options. Here's one that has been around for awhile, but just in case you missed it..... https://medicine.tamhsc.edu/enmed/

EnMed Engineering Medicine (EnMed) is an innovative engineering medical school option created by Texas A&M University and Houston Methodist Hospital to educate a new kind of physician who will create transformational technology for health care.

Just read and wrote a review for a new book by Dr. Kendall Young titled Curated College. Dr. Young is the Lead Guidance Counselor at Kerrville, Tivy High School. I had the good fortune to meet and become friends with Dr. Young a few years ago after I was the guest speaker for the Tivy PTO.
She has a wealth of experience, and in her book she shares excellent tips on how to navigate through the college admissions process. I ordered the Kindle edition through Amazon and would highly recommend parents of high school students read Curated College.

Thought this link might be helpful for high school students who are considering applying to the Naval Academy.

https://www.usna.edu/Admissions/BGO.php

Area Coordinators The Area Coordinators page for the Admissions Site on the USNA Website. This page was last updated on Fri Mar 01 00:12:25 EST 2019.

Great free SAT prep course developed by Khan Academy in partnership with College Board and the creators of the SAT. https://www.khanacademy.org/test-prep/sat/new-sat-tips-planning/about-official-sat-practice-khan-academy/v/walk-through-sat-practice-platform

Overview of Official SAT Practice Get an overview of Official SAT Practice on Khan Academy, which we created in partnership with College Board, the creators of the SAT.

Sharing good news!
He was accepted to The University of Texas at Austin in Environmental Engineering!

Love it when parents of my high school clients share this kind of news with me! 😊

https://www.toptieradmissions.com/colleges-without-supplemental-essays-2/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=030ebc59d1-010319-COLLEGES-NO-SUPP-ESSAYS&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bcccf3c8ad-030ebc59d1-63653225&mc_cid=030ebc59d1&mc_eid=3521865583

Colleges Without Supplemental Essays - Top Tier Admissions If you find yourself late to the admissions game, you might be considering schools without supplemental essays. Whatever your reason, we’ve got you covered.

https://tifwe.org/tolkiens-christmas-joy-at-work/?utm_source=IFWE+Subscriptions&utm_campaign=8dae69b5f8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_5&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8ffd80135f-8dae69b5f8-127025895&mc_cid=8dae69b5f8&mc_eid=a9f62028c6

Tolkien’s Christmas Joy at Work J.R.R. Tolkien recognized the importance of discovering joy in the dazzle and frazzle of Christmastime.

https://www.getold.com/when-loving-what-you-do-leads-to-a-lifetime-of-learning?linkId=56465498

When Loving What You Do Leads to a Lifetime of Learning For some people reaching an age-related milestone can be a signal that it must be time to step down from a career, clock out one last time or find a new career path.

https://www.delltechnologies.com/en-us/perspectives/finding-the-next-rockstar-employee-how-ai-and-vr-are-changing-the-hiring-game/

Finding the Next Rockstar Employee: How AI and VR are Changing the Hiring Game - Dell Technologies The days of recruiters sifting through piles of resumes may soon be over as machine learning, AI, and VR make their way into the workplace, helping companies find the best available talent.

Good Afternoon, Mrs. Preble,

I visited with you this past summer and you helped me pinpoint my interests into pursing a career in business. As an update, I want to let you know that I was accepted into the University of Texas at Austin as well as the McCombs School of Business. Thank you for all the advice and strategies you gave me such as contacting professors and visiting with them (which I did). It really helped me as I went through my application process.

Sincerely,
James

One of the strategies I share with my college counseling clients is to read the bios of the professors who teach in the major they are planning to pursue at the college/university where the student is planning to attend. I encourage them to read about the professor's research and areas of specialization. When they identify a professor whose research interests are fascinating to the student, I then tell the student to email that professor stating they are interested in the professor's area of research and ask for an information interview to learn more about that professor's work. The note above is from one of my clients who followed this advice and was accepted into the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas!

Having a hard time getting your high schooler to complete their college applications? This article has some good tips for overcoming procrastination — helpful for both high school students and some of us older folks too 😬 https://www.toptieradmissions.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_campaign=e3f772b7eb-091118_How_To_Stop_Procrastinating&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bcccf3c8ad-e3f772b7eb-63662457&mc_cid=e3f772b7eb&mc_eid=83a0ee5f78

How To Stop Procrastinating - Top Tier Admissions Nike said it best: JUST DO IT. Read on to learn a bit more about the various ways to recognize and ultimately defeat those nasty procrastination habits.

I have been counseling with a few people who either never finished high school, as well as a number of adults who had to drop out of high school for various reasons. More and more community colleges and on-line programs are offering second chances to such folks and do everything they can to help young adults and older adults succeed in getting a high school diploma or GED.
https://www.thoughtco.com/second-chances-high-school-dropouts-3570196

How to Get Your Life Back on Track After Dropping Out of School Seventy-five percent of high school dropouts eventually finish. Here are four ways your high school dropout can earn his diploma or a GED.

The vast majority of the day at school is spent in activities that require you to use words to communicate what you are thinking, feeling or interpreting. With the exception of art, welding, engineering, and classes like journalism where you use photoshop or other design programs, most of the day is spent focusing on writing, conversing or speaking in front of the class. If you have a budding artist, engineer/architect, graphic designer or digital media designer in your home, their struggle to communicate what they are thinking or feeling in an environment that doesn't ask to them to communicate through art or design, can make them feel inferior to those students who love reading, writing and conversing. While they need to learn proficiency in communicating through writing and speaking, this is not the area where they are likely to excel. I have no scientific evidence to support this, but about 99% of the time, my college counseling clients who have dyslexia, fall into that category of students who communicate most effectively through design, shapes and colors. These students need to be encouraged by explaining that once they get to college, their course work in majors like engineering, architecture, graphic design, digital media marketing, computer science, website design, animation/film, etc. will require them to use the very skills that they don't get to use as often in high school classes.