Marianna McMurdock | Photographer
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New counselor: Jennifer Smith

Marianna McMurdock | Photographer

MC welcomes a new counselor to the school this year: Jennifer Smith, who is taking on the U through Z’s.

Before coming to MC she was at King-Chavez Community High school, a charter school in downtown San Diego, as a school counselor and P.E. teacher.

Smith was inspired to choose this career path as a college student.

“I was a student athlete and I was working with my academic advisor,” Smith said. “I just thought it would be so much fun to work with kids one on one and just try to help them accomplish their dreams and goals.”

Even though she has only been at the school for a few weeks, Smith already has a sense of the familial attitude that Principal Magno is so fond of.

“I love MC, the staff and the students have been wonderful,” Smith said. “It’s definitely a school where you feel like family. It’s a rigorous and tough school but it’s also a school with that family atmosphere, which isn’t very easy to find.”

Smith made the decision to leave her previous job because of a desire to grow in her career.

“I felt like when it came to professional growth for me, this was a really great step in my career and that was a huge reason why I chose this job,” Smith said.

Smith clearly values her professional growth, and sees MC as place where she can do just that.

“I absolutely think that I will be able to grow professionally here and that’s why I chose this school,” Smith said. “I just felt like this would be a perfect place and opportunity to become the best school counselor I can be and grow and challenge myself.”

One of Smith’s favorite parts of her job is the work she gets to do with her students.

“I love working with the students one on one,” Smith said. “A lot happens in that one on one interaction, sometimes all someone needs is someone to just listen to them, or a student just needs a ‘you can do this,’ sometimes a student teaches you something that you didn’t know, and so that one on one interaction is really dynamic and really special.”

Her goals for her first school year at MC largely involve AVID and her seniors.

“I’m working with the AVID students and they’re a big part of it,” Smith said. “I have 40 seniors just from that group alone and I really want to see each and every one of those 40 go and achieve their dreams and go on to college.”

Smith also has personal goals for this year as well.

“I have a goal just to grow professionally, whether it is in every area, in the college area, the career counseling area, or learning more about the military options,” Smith said. “I want to get better, to grow and learn as much as I possibly can so I can just help all my students on my caseload as best as I can.”

MC receives Smith with open arms, and hopes that she continues to feel at home here, and achieves the growth she hopes for.

“I’m just happy to be here,” Smith said.

Written by Amanda Leslie

Amanda is a senior and the opinions editor for the MCSun. (Obviously the best section.) Her hobbies are sleeping and listening to music. She likes to pretend that she could be an FBI agent when she grows up.

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