Spotlight On: Lindsey Waters, Associate Director of College Counseling

 

Mrs. Waters joined the College Counseling team in 2015 following eight years of working in the Office of Admission at Furman University, her alma mater. In addition to receiving her BA in While working at Furman she earned her Master’s Degree in Counselor Education, Student Affairs from Clemson University. Mrs. Waters currently serves on the Counselor Advisory Board for Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio.

A: I really loved my undergraduate experience and I liked the idea of staying in a college environment. My plan was to stay in a university setting and transition into working in student programming. After a few years, I realized how much I loved working with students during their college process and I really appreciated the close community of college admission professionals in the southeast. I never really planned to move to the high school side, but when an opportunity became available at CCES, I knew I was interested! My husband Andy is a CCES graduate and I’ve always known it was a special place. I LOVE being a college counselor!

 

A: Because we are able to start connecting with students in 9th grade (and sometimes even before that) we get a lot of opportunities to help students understand that the college process is a PROCESS. Through our college counseling programming, students start to develop a better understanding of who they are and what types of institutions might be good fits for them. I often tell students that they will be asking themselves many questions through the process. First, “how do I figure out where I want to apply?” Then, “how do I best represent myself on an application?” Next, “where will I be admitted?” Finally, “how do I decide where to go?” But they don’t need to ask themselves all of these questions at once! College counselors are there helping students, and parents, every step of the way. I think this long and personal process really prepares them for life in college and beyond. We cannot expect to answer all of life’s big questions at once, but we can take things one-step at a time, and rely on people in our corner to help us through it!

 

A: We are really fortunate that all three college counselors have spent our entire careers working in the college admission field and we all have experience on the college side, so we have always been very connected to a network of college admission professionals. We love welcoming admission counselors from over 80 colleges when they visit CCES each year and take advantage of this time to hear updates about what is happening at their institutions. We also work hard to stay connected through professional development opportunities, such as presenting at conferences, planning college fairs, or touring college campuses. These connections mean that we are familiar with opportunities available for the diverse array of students at CCES and that we feel very comfortable contacting colleges on behalf of our students.

 

A: Mr. Sides and I teach an elective course for seniors, The Pursuit of Happiness, and last week we talked about The Paradox of Choice. This is basically the concept that having a lot of options sounds good in theory, but in reality, making a choice really stresses us out. Our students learned that the best way to approach this is to think about specific and relevant criteria and then to make well-informed decisions based on that. Students should think about why they want to go to college, and what characteristics about a college are most important to them. (We help them with this!) Then, they should conduct their own research and plan college visits to figure out what colleges could be the best fit for them. (We also help with this!)

 

 

What is one of your hidden talents? I have seen a lot of movies and consistently quote famous (or obscure) movie dialogue. It’s not a very helpful talent unless it comes up in a trivia game!

What would students be surprised to find out about you? In addition to my “regular” job, I teach Jazzercise fitness classes several times a week!

How do you spend your summer breaks? At work: We plan for the upcoming school year, meet with incoming 9th grade families, check in with my seniors, and facilitate essay writing workshops!  Outside of work: I love taking advantage of summer hours. Before work, I get up to exercise and then read and drink a pot of tea. It’s a great way to start the day!

What can you cook to perfection? Avocado toast with poached eggs

If you could travel back in time and visit your younger self, what grade would you go back to and why? I would love to go back to my senior year in high school in Florida. I have the best memories of spirit weeks, my time on the cross-country team, living by the beach, and hanging out with the best group of girlfriends. We still get together at least once a year, but I’d love to do it all over again!