"Why do you want to be a counselor?"

Mr. M, the interviewer at a university that I recently met up with, asked me "Why did you choose counseling? Why didn't you pick social work, research, or clinical work?"

Three months before this, I was sitting with my aunt asking her about the interviews that I was about to embark on , about the questions they were going to ask and what they wanted to hear. She gave me a list of questions and for the most part... I didn't have a clue how to answer them. Some of the questions were, 1) Why do you want to attend this university? 2) What do you want to do in the field of counseling? and 3) why did you choose to pursue counseling? After all the hard work that I did in my undergraduate, you would think that I would have a grasp on why I wanted to do what I wanted to do! I had always found the answers to a test in the lectures of my professors and in the minds of authors... I never had to think about why I chose psychology for my major. I just did. I had to start thinking of a way to answer these questions and not embarrass myself in the process.

When it came time for my interview, I knew how to answer 2 of the 3 questions: #1 "Well, this school is known for its credentials and it has a great reputation for it's counseling program. I have big dreams and I think that if I were to be accepted then this program would not only help me achieve those dreams but go far beyond those dreams."

2) "Definitely community counseling with teens and adults.

And 3)... the dreaded #3. I didn't know how to answer this question until the time came for me to answer this at my interview. You would think that this question is simple and that everyone has a well thought out reason why they choose a master's program...

Back to where we started. Mr. M asking me the dreaded question that I had been thinking about months.
This is what came out of my mouth: "When I was 7 I had had several strokes, and growing up in a small town, I always thought of myself as different. I walk funny. My hand would pull my hair. I was in special ed from the time I was in 5th grade up until 9th grade. I thought that everybody saw me as different."

Mr. M stopped me. "You mean, unique."

I looked at him with a smile and said, "No. I saw myself as different... like somehow, I was less human than everybody else in my school, in my small town. I wasn't what I would have called 'normal.' I felt as though every time I stepped in a room that people noticed me for all the wrong reasons. That they couldn't see who I really was because my shell was in the way. Then... Then I moved 2 and half hours away from that small town and went to the University of Central Arkansas. I quickly realized that people were too busy with their own lives to notice that I walk with a limp, that my hand doesn't work, that I might need a little more time to complete a task. It wasn't until I moved away that I began to see myself as Presley Darby. That I am a unique individual and not "different". That I can bring to the world a different point-of-view and that's a good thing. So to answer your question, Mr. M... The reason I want to be a counselor instead of a social worker, researcher or do anything else is because I want to help others see that they are more than what meets the eye. That they are unique individuals. That it is okay to not be okay. That they are who they are and that they have something to bring to the table."

I left everything out there in the open. I was honest with Mr. M and myself. I think somewhere in midst of Mr. Scole's class, college tests, studying, and being a lost college student... I forgot why I chose psychology as my major in the first place. It wasn't until I was put under pressure that I could finally let myself remember that, "oh yeah, I was a 'different' kid at one time," and that's why I want to be a counselor.

I know several people who are in college and/or about to graduate and if I could offer any advice to you (no matter if you are going for further education or not) would be to strip everything down to the basics. Why do you think that you would be good at this profession? Why did you choose this company/master's program? What skills do you have that others may not? What makes you... you? Be honest with yourself. There's no textbook out there that knows all the answers to who YOU are. Trust me... I looked for one with my name on it. Be confident and go after what you want. Nobody else is going to go after your dreams for you.