Day in the Life of A School Counselor: Student Emails

The school year has begun with a frenzy at my school!


We've had some transition in our team of 7 counselors, which has left us short handed 2 counselors in dealing with the 2600 students at our school. We've had several 10+ hour days to stay after school to meet with students who wanted schedule changes. Our school had 300+ more students enroll than expected which meant squeezing students into classes that were already bursting at the seams, all the while making sure student classroom capacities did not exceed teacher contract language. 


Phew...it's been a crazy first few weeks of school!

One of the challenges of a high school counselor is preparing students for the "real world", especially when it comes to appropriate emails. Sometimes I just have to giggle to myself as to how some of the emails I receive are written.

Here is an example of emails I received from a senior a few days into the school year:

From: xxxxx@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2015 8:11 AM
To: Lysabeth Luansing-Garcia
Subject: Credits
Hi it's xxx I have questions regarding my performing arts credit because I have taken photography And the media class when I was a freshmen And people have done that as well And it still is counting as a full year. So I was wondering if that was true because if it is I don't want to be taking art


Here was my response:

Good morning xxx,
When sending formal emails, you should include an appropriate greeting and closing, as well as proper grammar and sentence structure. Emails like the one you sent below may not be taken seriously when in college or the workforce. Also, be sure to include your full name and/or ID# to ensure the person who receives your email knows who you are. Please rewrite your email and resend. I will then consider your request.


Too bad the student didn't rewrite the email. I would've been glad to help her out. I guess my request was too much to ask for. 

Just another day in the life of a school counselor...