Columbia Counseling Psychology
Lucy Liu | Columbia University | Ohio State University Education
听听Lucy聊她的故事：Lucy’s PinUp Webinar
To be an untraditional educator
Lucy has dreamt about becoming a teacher since her childhood. But she wanted to develop a profession beyond a normal teacher in the field of education.
“I used to think about becoming a school administrator in order to select and manage teachers. But through my observation and my internship experience, I realized that it’s not my ideal job. Still I wanted to directly stay with students. ”
“When I was paired to a school counselor during my undergraduate project, I found this direction a new inspiration. And when I got to know the differences between a counselor and other roles in school, I felt meaningful and passionate for further exploration as a school counselor.”
Gap year back in hometown
After graduation with a bachelor degree, Lucy decided to take a gap year back in China. She wanted to get exposed more to Chinese education industry, to build direct connections with Chinese children and parents.
“I struggled a bit when thinking about whether to apply directly to graduate school or taking gap years for more experiences. But I guess I made an absolutely right decision. Thanks to Seth’s suggestion and the support from my friends, I managed to go back to my hometown and gain valuable practical experience from teaching. This is important for me to decide my next step leading to graduate study.”
Children’s voices are to be heard
Back in China, Lucy tried to start up a course, discussing philosophy topics with children. Through this experience, she realized that children’s voices are to be heard.
“We talked about topics including ‘what is love?’ ‘ what is betraying?’... Children have the same ability of reasoning and thinking as adults. And also I aspire to listen to children’s thoughts and feelings, to understand their perspectives. That’s why I wanted to get into the field of school counseling.”
Who am I?
Doing educational work helps Lucy to update observations on herself. And during essay development under the guidance of mentor Dylan, she focused on answering the question of ‘who am I’.
“I was asked to reflect on my past and my roles in different stages. I used to see myself as a social role with various duties. But in this process of thinking and writing, Dylan pushed me to focus on the value and expectation I consider for myself. This is really critical in order to work out my career motivation and goal, for the application and even in the long run. ”
听听Lucy聊她的故事：Lucy’s PinUp Webinar
成为非传统意义上的教育工作者
Lucy从小就梦想着要当老师。但她希望自己在教育领域的事业不止步于一名普通教师。 “我曾想过要当学校里的行政人员，这样可以筛选和管理老师，但通过我的观察和我的实习经历，我意识到这并不是我理想的工作。我还是更希望直接和学生接触。” “本科时我和一个学校咨询师配对实习，我发现（咨询）这个方向对我很有启发性。当我了解到咨询师和其他校园角色的不同之处，我有了对这个方向进一步探索的热情和意义感。”
回到家乡的间隔年
本科毕业后，Lucy决定回中国Gap一年。她希望能更多地接触到中国教育产业现状，直接和中国的孩子及家长建立关系。 “我当时很纠结，在考虑直接申请研究生还是gap一年增加经验。但我觉得我做了一个十分正确的决定。感谢Seth的建议和我朋友的帮助，我能回国收获宝贵的教学实践经验。这段经历对我决定接下来的研究生学习有着十分重要的作用。”
孩子的声音需要被听见
回国后，Lucy创立了儿童哲学课程，与孩子探讨哲学话题。这项经历让她意识到，孩子的声音需要被听到。 “我们谈论的话题包含‘什么是爱’，‘什么是背叛’ 等等。孩子们有着和大人一样的思辨力。我也十分渴望倾听孩子们的想法和感受，去理解他们看问题的视角。这也是为什么我想要进入校园咨询师这个领域。”
我是谁？
教育工作帮助Lucy更新了对自己的观察。在文书写作阶段，在导师Dylan的引导下，她专注于回答“我是谁”这个问题。 “我被要求去反思我的过去经历和我在不同时期扮演的不同角色。曾经我总是把自己解读为一个拥有许多职责的社会角色。但在这段思考与写作的过程中，Dylan督促我专注于自己对自己的价值判断和未来期待。这对于搞清楚自己未来的职业发展动机和目标挺重要的，为了申请，也为了更长远的发展。”