Q: Where are you now, and what are you doing?
A: Currently, Dr. Wathen is the school counseling department head at Middletown district. She has recently joined the National School Counselor Fellows Program. Those involved in this program spend their time exploring evidence-based research, review school and district policies, career readiness, etc. She has started a fellowship at San Diego State University and continues to work hard with her research.
Q: How did school prepare you for your career?
A: While Dr. Wathen started the School Counseling program elsewhere, she got her Ph.D. here at UConn. Through her courses, she discovered that, in addition to counseling, she also wanted to find research that could create change. While obtaining her Ph.D. in Learning, Leadership, and Education Policy, she found that she was thinking more about professional development as well as systems within her district. Dr. Wathen claimed that the biggest impact school had on her was the research aspect. Through her research, she feels that she has more confidence in disrupting systems and is able to find better material for current counselors.
Q: What are you most proud of from your school experience?
A: The teaching she was able to do; she very much enjoyed teaching at UConn and now there are school counselor leaders in the field she taught and she can now collaborate with. Dr. Wathen says that seeing her students not only succeeding, but going beyond and getting to work with her has been an absolute privilege.
Q: What do you know now that you wish you knew during your time at school?
A: Dr. Wathen faced some struggles during her time as a graduate student, including how long it took her to graduate as well as discovering how research isn’t as linear as you want it to be. However, she revealed that she wished she knew how important relationships were at the time. She described the Ph.D. process to be rather isolating; it took her some time to learn how to rely on her cohort mates.
Q: What is your biggest accomplishment in your career so far?
A: The people (both students and counselors) that Dr. Wathen has impacted has been the highlight of her career. She has thoroughly enjoyed seeing them achieve their goals and go beyond them as well. Additionally, she is also quite proud of the articles and book chapters that she wrote with Dr. Hines.
Q: What do you have planned for the future?
A: Dr. Wathen plans to continue research that will impact school counseling practices. Furthermore she would like to continue to teach in higher education and see where her current fellowship leads. Perhaps, long-time teaching in higher education or leading the department of education and research, but for now she will continue to strive for change!