It is mid-June and the academic year has just begun. The city wears a festive look as students are back after their vacations and commence the year with excitement, hopes and anxieties. As they adjust to a new class, studies and friends… a few students find a trusted companion in the form of a counsellor. Most of the schools have an in-house counsellor, who plays a pivotal role in reaching out to students.
While students use their vacation time to join a summer camp or pursue a hobby and have fun, counsellors utilise the break time to relax and rejuvenate to brace up for fresh challenges. It has been 12 years since Myriam has been going for Vipassana. After a 20-day Vipassana session in May, she is back with renewed energy. As a consultant counsellor, she empathises, listens and communicates effectively so that children and teenagers find their own solutions. The constant interactions may be stressful, agrees Myriam. “In fact Vipassana is just one bit of my relaxing time. Every day I make it a point to unwind. I meditate, pray, take a walk or relax with my friends. I also discuss issues among our network of counsellors. I draw a line between my personal and professional time. Unless it is an emergency, people at home, do not call and disturb me,” she states.
The counsellors’ schedule is packed with workshops and sessions and making students comfortable to confide in them. Asra Mubeen, a special educator and counsellor with Meridian School in Madhapur, points out it is important that counsellors too unwind regularly. “The issues revolve around peer pressure, studies, media exposure, using inappropriate words or adolescent issues involving boyfriends and girlfriends. We have to make sure the sessions are not preachy. And, this interaction can weigh you down,” she observes. Asra loosens up over pleasure reading and watching movies and talking to her sister who is also a therapist.
In Mythili Balaji’s list of to-do things, a summer break always finds a place. “I like to relax and go back to prepare for the year of commitments,” says this student advisor at Oakridge International School. A mother of two, she enjoys a calm environment. “Every year, it is an evolving process and a lot of retrospection, co-ordination and planning are needed to face the challenges,” she says. Talking about her role, she says, “New students look for a comfort zone and there is a lot of emotional turmoil happening as it is a new place and people, we help in ice breaking activities. With the old students, there could be an emotional problem or behavioural counselling. We discuss different issues, other than studies, like bullying,” she points out.
Sharing without inhibitions Aarti Tatineni has been a familiar face for students of Jubilee Hills Public School, who come to talk to her without any inhibitions. “It takes a while before students start confiding. Once they know that we do not tell their friends or teachers, they open up. But the students also know that we will breach confidentiality when it is about suicide or if they face any harm,” she says and adds, “All these issues are emotionally draining and one tends to carry these things home.” Aarti says she counts on yoga to help her segregate issues. “Even an LKG student who is going to an UKG faces a transition and has to be engaged in distraction activities. Sometimes, when we see a student go through a crisis or is facing a problem whose solution is a long process, it may affect us but we need to calm things around,” she says.
