We met and talked with counseling interns Jamie Murphy, Diana Gutierrez, and Chloe Pines on their roles. As interns, they are mainly tasked with ensuring that students are placed in the right classes, transcripts, and presenting to students and parents on topics regarding academics and mental health.

Q: What are some of your past experiences in counseling prior to this internship? 

Pines: “I was a Psychology minor in my undergrad. Then I applied to Azusa Pacific grad school for the Educational Counseling program. This is my second year, and every second year counseling student has to do an internship.”

Gutierrez: “About five years ago, I went to UCI for my bachelor’s in school psychology and social behavior. After that, I worked at South Lake Middle School. While being a special-ed assistant, I started noticing the school counselor and her role in everything, and I really enjoyed watching how they impacted students’ lives.” 

Murphy: “I have two kids. One has just started college, and one is in eighth grade. I have been really involved in their schools, lives and friends. I also held an internship at Beacon Park where I worked with middle school students and had a lot of good experiences with them.”

Q: Why Portola?

Pines: “This program is amazing. You have wellness counselors, project coordinators and Ms. Rengifo for college and career …The fact that you have four full-time counselors is incredible, because a lot of schools only have one.”

Gutierrez: “I reached out to [Shari Markowitz] asking if I can intern in a high school setting because in my program you need two different levels and about 300 hours for interning. Compared to other schools, I thought Portola High School would be a great opportunity.” 

Murphy: “For our counseling program, we need to do internships at two different levels… I wanted to do high school because I think it’s a great time where you guys are learning a lot of good things and dealing with difficult problems.”

Q: What are some goals you want to achieve upon completion of this internship? 

Pines: “Prior to this, counseling students learn just the basics of counseling… but actually doing it and seeing what counselors do day-to-day is really different… I’m excited because I’m learning about how they all manage what they need to do and how they help each other.” 

Gutierrez: “My biggest goal is to get to know the students in a way where you get to let them speak, get to let them express the way they feel and just to make them feel wanted and valued. I ultimately want to understand where the students are coming from.” 

Murphy: “I want to have a complete understanding of counseling at the high school level, everything that entails from the beginning of the year to the end for all different grades. I want to have a better understanding of how the counseling department uses technology and where students are coming from in terms of dealing with friend or their stress and worries.”

For school advice or extra assistance, the new members of the counseling team can be found in the counseling office during school hours.