Blog 1

Blog 1 "Joe Fox: It wasn't... personal. Kathleen Kelly: What is that supposed to mean? I am so sick of that. All that means is that it wasn't personal to you. But it was personal to me. It's *personal* to a lot of people. And what's so wrong with being personal, anyway? Joe Fox: Uh, nothing. Kathleen Kelly: Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal." You've Got Mail (1998) Furr and Carroll define a critical incident as a "positive or negative experience recognized by [a] student as significant because of its influence on the student's development as a counselor" (2003). In their study, they then categorize the critical incidents that students describe into specific "meaning units," which are the individual stories students tell about the ways in which their personal lives impact their experiences in the school counseling program. The opposite is also described, as students share how they may have changed certain aspects of their personal lives as a direct result of theories, techniques, or strategies they have learned in their coursework or experiences. The examples the authors share are especially telling as students indicate how they have ended relationships or made other significant changes in their lives because they have been forced to examine their own choices in the course of counseling others. As participants increased their knowledge of self, they may have changed the way in which they interacted with others and some individuals found that their significant others did not always welcome these changes, leading to increased conflict. My experience in the program so far has certainly been a unique experience for me, and I've had to grapple with my own concerns about balancing these intersections of my personal, professional, and academic lives. When I started my first "real" job at the University of Delaware, I thought that being professional meant that I had to keep the details of my personal life private most of the time. I think this was naive, and I was often exhausted by the end of the work day as I attempted to maintain a professional persona that was a slightly different version of the myself I showed to my friends and family. When I became more comfortable and allowed myself to be more authentic at work, I think that the quality of both my personal and professional lives improved. On the other hand, a job is called "work" for a reason; you are there to perform tasks and achieve certain things and you may may be more effective if you view your work from the perspective of attempting to achieve larger long-term organizational goals and removing yourself from the equation. I don't think we would be human though if we did.