Counselors are known for fixing issues, helping you choose your classes, and creating your schedule, ywt have you ever thought about the other jobs they do and the impact they have on students and the school?

Mrs. Adriane Whipple, who has been a counselor at Paint Branch for 13 years, is one of these people. She is a graduate of Norfolk State University, where she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work, and Bowie State University, where she earned a Master’s in Education. Mrs. Whipple knows what it takes to help kids make it through high school and to the next level, however, this knowledge came from a lot of hard work and experience. Mrs. Whipple recalls her first year as a counselor as one that was “stressful and rewarding.”

During her early years as a counselor, she remembers the advice she was given by her coworkers, which was to be organized and do what she could to get to know her students.

With every job there are ups and downs, but for Mrs. Whipple ok helps her deal with these is her favorite part of the job which is watching children’s growth, “Assisting those in need is rewarding,” she says. “Sometimes you don’t know your impact until a student graduates and comes back to tell you how they’ve changed.”

As for the challenges, she states, “The most difficult or challenging part is staying on top of paperwork while attending to young adults.”

There are parts of a counselor’s job that people don’t realize, though. Mrs. Whipple, thinking deeply, says that sometimes it seems that  “students don’t know how invested counselors are in them. [They don’t see] that they care for students and do more than just schedules.”

Dealing with a lack of work ethic and not seeking assistance are problems commonly found in students with bad grades or who are struggling. Counselors meet with them periodically, help them prioritize, and attempt  to motivate them to become interested in their future. Working with students, as well as their teachers and parents, is something that Mrs. Whipple feels is an important part of helping them be successful.