KELLY  N. CLEMENTE''S PORTFOLIO

My Path to a Career in  School Counseling...

 

Becoming a professional school counselor is more than a goal; it is God’s calling for my life. He has walked with me through every emotional and physical battle, and He is preparing me to be a light for those in darkness. As a current counseling student at Regent University, I strive to be a bright light for students who need academic, social, and/or emotional support.

 

I believe that my three greatest attributes are: fortitude through adversity, empathy toward those who suffer, and passion for helping younger generations. I feel that these attributes are exemplified through my personal experience as a birthmother and my professional experiences as a community leader, in-school mentor, education advocate, and psychoeducational collaborator.

 

Please allow me to first explain how my experience as a birthmother has helped equip me for the world of professional counseling. When I became pregnant at 18, I was faced with the hardest decision of my life. I immediately felt that abortion was not an option; however, I also felt unprepared to raise a child. After months of prayer and long conversations with a Christian social worker, I made the decision to place my son with an amazing couple whom I now consider part of my extended family. To bring hope to other women faced with unplanned pregnancy, I began sharing my adoption story.

 

Sharing my story with teens and young women encouraged me to apply for the Ferguson Fellowship for Social Entrepreneurship. After being accepted for the fellowship and being given a $1,500 grant, I founded the CNU Student Speakers Bureau (CNUSSB). CNUSSB is a grassroots organization made up of CNU students who are dedicated to positively impacting Newport News’ youth through sharing past personal hardships and promoting healthy alternatives. Through this organization, I recruited and matched inspirational student speakers with groups of local elementary, middle, and high school students in need of their insights. CNUSSB performed talks on the following topics: bullying, relational abuse, stereotyping, and the benefits of attending college. Founding and leading CNUSSB dramatically increased my confidence, social skills, and public speaking ability.

 

During my junior year of undergrad, I spent a semester as the Director of Public Relations for the Hero-2-Hero Mentorship Initiative, an organization through which I also mentored two middle school students. One mentee was an at-risk student; the other was a gifted student. When I first met the at-risk student, she was failing multiple classes and was skipping school regularly. After a full school year of weekly meetings, I gained her trust and began to see progress. With my help, and the help of her parents and teachers, she successfully completed middle school. When I first met the gifted mentee, she was extremely shy and introverted. Although I did not perceive much academic progress, I did feel that I was able to assist her with sharpening her social skills. Through my experience as a mentor, I realized that I am comfortable working with students from a wide variety of academic and cultural backgrounds.

 

With this realization in mind, I spent my last semester at CNU as a Marketing Intern for TeachersBox, LLC. The mission of TeachersBox is to help students of all ages and backgrounds reach academic and professional excellence. As a TeachersBox intern, I provided free scholarship information to high school students through the company website, attended academic conferences, and participated in direct marketing to spread awareness about the Great Virginia College Tour.

 

After working as an administrative assistant for a year, I was accepted into the school counseling program at Regent University. In the Fall of 2014,  my life as a graduate student began. I thought that I was going to school to help people, but I soon realized that I had a lot of work to do on myself before I could truly help anyone else. Regent University's School of Counseling and Psychology challenged me to grow spiritually, mentally, psychologically, and academically. Now that I have graduated, I look forward to serving students with the same grace, confidence, humility, and empathy that has been modeled to me by my incredibly talented professors and supervisors.