After finishing my undergraduate studies, I plan to begin a graduate program for counseling. I am applying for doctorate programs at IUPUI and the University of Indianapolis. What I need to decide, however, is what population I want to specialize in. Pictured to the right is a group of middle school girls I mentored while I was in high school. At the moment, I can see myself working with this population, but I am worried about being too emotionally attached to children. Adults would be easier from which to detach myself. I am also particularly interested in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It is a dream of mine to one day open up a center for exposure therapy for those with OCD. 

Another career that interests me is counseling for the Deaf. This would be especially difficult because of the language barrier, but I will continue taking courses in American Sign Language in pursuit of my minor. Perhaps one day I will be proficient enough in ASL to work with this population. Regardless of population, my internship and coursework experiences have helped solidify how important it is to me to work hands-on with people.

Since volunteering at local animal shelters, I have grown very fond of therapy animals. It is a bucket list item of mine to have a therapy dog or cat. When I picture myself 5 or 10 years down the road, I see myself bringing my therapy animal in to my office every day.