Hello! My name is Emory Read and I am a graduate student in the Counselor Education program and I am in the School Counseling Track. This past October, I had the opportunity to attend the 2018 Virginia School Counselor Association Conference. I was able to network with other school counselors and learn valuable information that will help me as a future school counselor. They had wonderful keynote speakers who spoke about how school counselors can make an impact. There were also representatives from various colleges/universities, companies, and programs who had information to give that would be helpful to us in the school counseling profession.

It was amazing to experience this conference with my classmates and be around so many people who are passionate about making a difference in the lives of students. There were various breakout sessions that we could attend that ranged from learning about classroom management to learning how to use mindfulness/yoga in the classroom. I went to a session called “How do you want to change the world”, which stood out to me because the purpose of this session was to change the way that we talk to students about what they want to do in the future.

I would recommend going to a professional conference if you get the opportunity because not only are they a great experience, but it really makes you appreciate the profession that you are going into. I am already looking forward to the VSCA conference for next year!