Connect With School Counselors During COVID-19

Students should connect and engage with their counselors during this hard time--about anything! Here's why and how to reach out about important topics.

The last year has been a struggle for everyone—but especially students who are facing immeasurable loss at such a formative time in their lives. Luckily, you have an unyielding support system whether you realize it or not, and we’re not just talking about friends and family. Every high school has a school counseling center and a counselor who is there for anything a student may need (some students are lucky enough to have private counselors and consultants to help them!). So if you’re still having a hard time during the pandemic and haven’t connected with your school counselor (or private consultant) yet, here’s why you should and what you could reach out to them about. 

Connect about your college search

Right now, the college search may feel more overwhelming than ever with changes continuing to take place as a result of the pandemic. But counselors have been through college search seasons over and over again with many different types of students; effectively, they’ve seen it all. Ease some of the burden off your shoulders by utilizing their experience. It’s also likely that the idea of even going to college is discouraging right now. Your counselor is a great person to talk to who can help you see the light at the end of the tunnel and the success you can still find despite the odds. And if you’re really worried that your experience will be irreparably altered or that college may not be in the cards, they can help you figure out what your best alternative options are for delaying attendance. 

Related: The Ultimate Guide to the College Search: How to Find Your Perfect College Match

Connect about your obstacles

As much as we’d all like to believe we’re strong enough to overcome anything, it’s 100% okay to accept when you need help getting over a hurdle and to ask for it. Maybe you’re struggling with writing your college essays. Maybe you’re concerned about failing a class. Maybe you’re worried your standardized test scores won’t measure up to the schools you want to apply to. (Although, that may not be an issue anymore with how many schools are going test-optional). Whatever it is, your counselor can provide an additional perspective and ideas for ways to overcome the problem before a simple obstacle becomes a serious issue. Speaking of which…

Connect about your mental health

The anxiety and mental health struggle the pandemic has caused is nothing anyone should be dealing with alone—especially when we’re all facing the same feelings of hopelessness. Your school counselor is a great person to talk to before your mental health spirals to a place you can’t handle. That connection could be the difference between feeling a release from finally sharing some of your pent-up feelings and needing to seek outside mental health help if difficult feelings persist. Of course, your school counselor is not a replacement for a therapist if that’s something you and your family feel you need, but they’re an adult you can trust to have your best interests at heart. 

Related: The Importance of Mental Health in a COVID-19 World

Connect to stay engaged

Counselors have been struggling to keep their students engaged in school and learning, the college search, and just about everything over the past year. Disconnect is easy—it’s easier to do than facing the reality of what’s going on and the uncertain future. But not engaging in school right now will only set you up for failure in the future—whether things start to get better soon or not. If you want to attend college, it’s important to realize that less than stellar grades and teachers who can’t write letters of recommendation because they weren’t able to build a relationship with you aren’t going to do you any favors in the long run. Actively engaging in your education is only going to help you, even if it seems like the biggest task in the world right now.

Connect for the sake of connecting

We don’t have as many opportunities to connect with others as we used to since having to social distance—but we’re also not living in the Stone Age. The internet makes it so easy to connect with others even if it’s not in the fashion we’re used to. So just connect! Ask your counselor how they’re doing every now and again. Show them the kind and caring person you are by understanding we’re all going through this together. You may be losing a lot right now, but that’s why school counselors and so many others are doing everything they can to make this easier on you—because they truly care about you and your future success.

Related: Connecting With Colleges During the COVID-19 Outbreak

The pandemic won’t last forever, and there are some things we just can’t get back. But instead of disengaging from those who can help us, we should be reaching out a (virtual) hand to make a connection with those people. Keep your eyes focused on the joy your goals and passions bring—because they’re all still attainable, and your school counselors want to give you a boost to help you achieve them. 

If you’re looking for more advice and resources related to the pandemic, visit our COVID-19 student resources page. 

Like what you’re reading?

Join the CollegeXpress community! Create a free account and we’ll notify you about new articles, scholarship deadlines, and more.

Join Now

Tags:

About Kelli Dolan

Kelli Dolan

Kelli Dolan is the Senior Assistant Editor & Counselor Communications Coordinator for CollegeXpress. Her day-to-day includes editing and writing CollegeXpress articles, running the CollegeXpress Counselors social media platforms, and basically just doing all things CollegeXpress. When she’s not editing other people’s work, she's writing for fun, favoring fiction stories and poetry. You could also potentially find her reading, playing video games, or hanging out with her dog, Athena, and red bearded dragon, Freya.

 

Join our community of
over 5 million students!

CollegeXpress has everything you need to simplify your college search, get connected to schools, and find your perfect fit.

Join CollegeXpress
Sarah Armstrong

Sarah Armstrong

High School Class of 2022

I am a deaf student, and I had always dreamed of going to Gallaudet University. CollegeXpress helped me search though other qualified universities. They helped me know for sure that Gallaudet University was the right choice for me!

Nazira Abdelkhalek

Nazira Abdelkhalek

$2,000 Community Service Scholarship Winner, 2014

I am very honored to be this year’s recipient of the Multicultural Student Community Service Scholarship! This scholarship is vital to helping me achieve and fulfill my dreams, and gives me confidence and motivation as I begin my college career. The CollegeXpress website has been invaluable over the past year as I planned my educational and professional goals. I highly recommend it to all students as they begin to focus on their college and career interests. The website is a wonderful guide to schools and scholarships.

Sonny Harris

Sonny Harris

College Student

For the entire year before college, I spent a lot of time deeply considering what major I wanted to go into and how to fund my higher education. After a lot of research, I came across CollegeXpress, which helped me ultimately find a ton of scholarships for which I could apply—and some of which I received! If it weren’t for CollegeXpress, I may not have found those scholarships as they didn't appear on any other scholarship search forum. Additionally, I learned more about the options I had been considering for my major through CollegeXpress’s resources. In the end, I chose to major in Computer Science, as it seemed best suited to me and the careers in the field seemed enjoyable, and I've never been more excited to move into my future! Ultimately, I want to thank CollegeXpress for offering their services. I received enough financial aid in scholarships to fund my entire freshman year of college and even got some money refunded which I used to purchase a new laptop, and I bought all of the books I needed for the semester!

Asia Stockdale

Asia Stockdale

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress helped me overcome a huge hurdle. Because of the small town I live in, I felt like I would never achieve more. I felt like I could never go beyond because of costs. I feared I wouldn’t be able to find scholarships. I had no idea of where to start. With CollegeXpress, I easily found scholarships—they came to me. It was a helper, and I was instantly matched with opportunities to go above and beyond educationally.

Hailey Riddile

Hailey Riddile

High School Class of 2021

CollegeXpress has helped me find scholarships to apply for and look into more colleges. While there are many websites similar to CollegeXpress, every website is different, and I've found a lot of good insight on this website. Receiving emails from CollegeXpress about scholarships is extremely useful, and getting insight about colleges near, far, and anywhere in between helps me narrow down my choices to what I want, which is also super helpful. The articles are always really good reads, and I can't stress enough how helpful this website has been to me. Anything related to college is beneficial to me as a senior, and I have learned lots of useful things to help me on my college journey this year.

College Matches
X

Colleges You May Be Interested In

Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA

Grace College

Winona Lake, IN

Rowan University

Glassboro, NJ