My name is Luisa Fernanda Zapata and I am excited to say that I am a candidate to receive my Master of Arts and Education in K-12 School Counseling from Seattle University in June 2014. I was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia and came to the United States at the age of 16. It took one Latino school counselor during my sophomore year in high school to realize that this was the path I wanted to follow for the rest of my life. He inspired me to live every day of my life to become the person I envisioned to be. He empowered me to take challenging classes, to join the leadership class, to become visible at the school, to continue my education after high school and to reach my highest potential. This is exactly what I want to do for all of my students. I want to take down the barriers and beliefs that keep students from being successful in life.
During the past three years, I have had the opportunity to work intensively on the skills and knowledge required to become an effective school counselor. I have not only learned this in theory, but also in practice. I completed my practicum at Campbell Hill Elementary in the Renton School district, and a full year internship at Mariner High School in the Mukilteo School District. Having the opportunity to work with such diverse populations, as well as using my bilingual skills to better serve the Latino population, showed me that advocacy is a must if we want our students to succeed. My biggest desire is to keep working in collaboration with school staff and parents to reach the highest education every student, without exception, deserves.
This web-based professional portfolio contains all the documentation that exhibits the different competencies required to become a school counselor in the State of Washington. I hope you enjoy this website as much as I have enjoyed the experience of being a school counselor and student.
Thank you,
Luisa F. Zapata
During the past three years, I have had the opportunity to work intensively on the skills and knowledge required to become an effective school counselor. I have not only learned this in theory, but also in practice. I completed my practicum at Campbell Hill Elementary in the Renton School district, and a full year internship at Mariner High School in the Mukilteo School District. Having the opportunity to work with such diverse populations, as well as using my bilingual skills to better serve the Latino population, showed me that advocacy is a must if we want our students to succeed. My biggest desire is to keep working in collaboration with school staff and parents to reach the highest education every student, without exception, deserves.
This web-based professional portfolio contains all the documentation that exhibits the different competencies required to become a school counselor in the State of Washington. I hope you enjoy this website as much as I have enjoyed the experience of being a school counselor and student.
Thank you,
Luisa F. Zapata