Her Story
About Keisha
I started my career working in social services doing mental health therapy. Before grad school, I worked with Lutheran Services of Georgia assisting Katrina evacuees with employment opportunities and resources. When adults weren't taking advantage of the resources, we partnered with Communities in Schools and revamped the program to create a summer academic program for the youth of Katrina evacuees who were underperforming academically. This summer-intensive program brought in social resources to help the kids adjust after losing their homes and everything they knew, focusing on bringing up math and English scores. The program was a success, and from there I wanted to move forward into working more on the academic side of counseling. I started a Master's in education program in school counseling at Cambridge College that September and completed the advanced program in a year and a half instead of the normal 3 years. While in grad school, I did substitute teaching until I secured a full-time position after graduation. I've been in the field for 10 years now, and I've been a school counselor at Royal Palm Beach Community High School in Florida for 3 years. I'm currently looking to advance my career into educational leadership.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Keisha
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would advise her not to for financial reasons, and for, if she's gonna stay in the U.S. The U.S. doesn't value education, you're gonna put out a lot more than you put in. I would talk to them about going about still being able to service children and service in education, but in a more lucrative way. Maybe becoming a licensed professional counselor, so you can have your own practice, or doing speech pathology, where you can still have your own practice. But I would not encourage someone to go into school counseling now. It's just not a good time. I like to be very upfront with people. I don't want people to feel like they're coerced into something. We used to service the community and still not feel so drained, and still, we have to still survive and take care of ourselves and our families.
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