Awhile back my co-counselor/director of the department said that she wanted to switch case loads for next year.  Currently I’m the 11th and 12th grade counselor at my school, and she does 9th and 10th; so we would switch.  At first, I was kinda bummed and annoyed because I don’t do change well.  Plus, I like working with the 11th and 12th graders; I like helping them get into the college of their dreams and work on helping them graduate and transition into life after high school.  So I was not overly pleased to do 9th and 10th.

But after awhile, I sat with it, and did some planning and stuff in my head for it, so while I’m maybe not still as excited as some might be, I’m set on doing it; I’m planning programs and interventions and all kinds of stuff for next year.

Then I come in on Monday; the first day back after Spring Break.  And my co-counselor drops more news on me:  She’s accepted another position at another school and won’t be here next year.

Let me first say; I love my co-counselor.  We actually went to grad school together; we get along really well, we have similar counseling philosophies and practices; so it works so well.  We are literally like a well-oiled machine.  AND SHE’S DESTROYING IT!!

It’s a good opportunity and I’m really happy for her, it’ll be great.  But have I mentioned I don’t like change?

So, I pouted a bit initially.  Had like a little puppy dog face thing working.  Not like it was going to change anything, but it made me feel a little better.

Then she mentioned, “well you do have first stab at Director if you want it”.  Uh no.  Totally don’t.  Really.  I don’t.  I had about 10 people try to convince me why I did, and, seriously.  I promise, I don’t.  It’s not that I mind everything about it, but there are some things that she has to do that I don’t want to do in any way.  Like she has a lot to do with the admissions department, and the department budget and overseeing curriculum and I just don’t want that.  I’d rather be with the kids.  I told her and our President that.

In the end, our president decided to just make two school counselor positions and she will handle the overseeing of the department.  She has asked me to take on a few tasks that my director did, like attending a couple of meetings, handing our weekly newsletter and stuff, which is all fine. She’s also referring to me as the “senior member” of the department, which is also fine.

Ever since meeting with the President yesterday to work some stuff out, suddenly I feel better about my co-counselor leaving.  I still would rather her stay, but I’m in a mode where I’m ready for all the stuff to just transition over, I’ll be “Senior” member with the incoming freshman and sophomores, helping out whoever the new member of the team is, and, I guess, kind of creating a new normal.  I just hope whoever it is is someone that I will mesh well with and someone that can be a formidable colleague like my current colleague is.

So, as much as I hate change, I’m almost kind of looking forward to all the new changes and different things that will be happening in the next year, which is not normal for me. Normally, I would just try to go into a corner and hide until it’s over in the hopes that it doesn’t actually happen.  I just hope that everything goes pretty smoothly and that there aren’t too many bumps in the road.