Milestones

My road in life took a while to figure out.
Went to college to study Business Management
Went to work for an International Shipping and Logistics Company
Started volunteering for an Educational Non-Profit
After 12 years of corporate work I quit my job because I realized it was not what I really wanted
I moved to the U.S. from my home country Turkey.
I decided to attend Grad school to pursue a degree in Counseling
I studied Clinical Counseling along with School Counseling
Did several internships and volunteer work at Mental Health Clinics. Found calling at School work

Career

High School Counselor

I guide my students through personal and academic hurdles they face

Career Roadmap

Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Non-Profit Organizations
Helping People

Day to Day

At my job, every day is different. I spend some of my days going over paperwork (transcripts, test scores, deadlines) to make sure my students are on track for graduation. On other days I meet with students who are having a difficult time emotionally due to anxiety, depression or general lack of motivation. Sometimes all I talk about is colleges and careers. There is a lot of human interaction on a daily basis: with parents, students, teachers, administrators, even law enforcement.

Advice for Getting Started

Here's the first step for high school students

To assess their desire and commitment to helping people. To ask themselves if they can put away their biases and judgments and personal beliefs aside to help people.

Recommended Education

My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:

Hurdles

The Noise I Shed

From Myself:

"I wanted to change my career 5 years into my corporate career but everyone around me said "Are you crazy, how can you throw away your career?", "You're too old to go back to school", "You will never make as much money as you're making now!""

Challenges I Overcame

First-Generation Immigrant
Adoption and Single Parenthood