Jessica Diaz

If there is anything all of us graduate students have in come, it is that we live on a budget. Some of us have a measly assistantship stipend that gets us through, some us live on Ramen noodles and PB&J sandwiches while some of us borrow the money we need to live comfortably but with the looming worry of paying it all back after graduation. Whatever your situation, something tells me that dishing out money for a professional conference isn’t high on your priority list… but maybe it should be.

Here are some tips for getting to those conferences on a budget:

Choosing a conference:
This isn’t as easy as it sounds and just choosing a conference based on how much they charge for registration isn’t your best bet. Choose your conference based on your interests, your future goals, and your financial budget. Decide what type of conference you want. Are you looking to network and have a broad range of topic areas to explore, head to a national conference. If you have a focused interest like supervision in counseling or family therapy, find a focused conference. The key here is to get the most bang for your buck.

Financial help:
So you have decided on a conference that you will benefit from most, now how to pay for it? There are a lot of ways you can other people and organizations to help.
1. Apply to present a paper, sessions, of learning institution – most conferences offer financial perks for those who are presenting. These range from free registration, payment of membership dues for the organization, to free lunches and dinners at the conference.
2. Your graduate program will often offer small funds for students who are presenting at conferences. If this is the case, ask if your program will match financial assistance from other sources. For example, if ACA pays for your registration fee, (let’s say it is $100), although you don’t actually see the money you can let your school know that your grant is for $100 and some schools will match it.
3. GRANTS – This is an underutilized source for those who qualify. Many grant opportunities exist for students who are presenting at conferences. They know we are students and need the extra help so many organization set money aside for this purpose. Ask your program faculty. They get emails about this stuff and are just waiting for you to ask.
4. Register early – most conferences offer incentives in the form of discounted registration rates if you register early. Usually the longer you wait the more expensive it gets so it doesn’t pay to procrastinate.

Travel Expenses:
Transportation – As for airfare, the earlier you book the better. Usually anything less then 14 days out is going to cost you. Register for free fare tracker services on flight search engines like Kayak.com. They will alert you as soon as a fight to your selected city goes on sale. You can also pay with your arrival and departure days. This does require some planning ahead. Decide what portions of the conference you can’t miss and which portions aren’t as necessary. Arriving a day early or leaving the day before the closing of the conference might reduce fares. Or of course DRIVE!! If it is less than 6 hours away, definitely go for it, especially if you can get some friends to travel with you.
The Hotel – Find a roommate for the trip. Send an email out to your classmates and see if anyone else is thinking about going. Believe me, you will find many students are on the fence about going because of cost and if you can share a room to split the costs, you will most likely get some students willing to make the trip.
Food – This one is pretty important! The great thing about conferences is that often times some meals will be provided. Whether it is a snack lunch or a catered banquet, ask around. At the bigger national conferences, there are always groups who are having catered get togethers at different times during the conference. Ask around and get invited. If they have boxed lunches, ask if they have extra, they usually do, and take one for the road.

So, the long and the short of it is, go to conferences. Sometimes you luck out and the conference is in your hometown. If that is the case you have no excuse. The benefits definitely outweigh the cost. Believe me, in the long run that business card you got during a conference may be the key to your next job, a lifelong colleague and friend, or a mentor. I hope you take my advice and see what options are out there for you.

If you have any more ideas, please post!!

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and was a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.

Jessica Diaz

For many graduate students around the country, the beginning of a new semester means new responsibilities and experiences. For those of you who are starting your internship and/or practicum hours, here are a few tips.

1. Ask a lot of questions
This sounds like a no brainer but believe me, some students approach internship and practicum from the standpoint that their supervisors are going to cover everything important. When it comes to your site and university supervisors, they want you to be as proactive as possible. Become very familiar with your internship/practicum manuals before your first day. Most site supervisors have as many questions as you do. If you can be 100% familiar with your responsibilities and requirements, it will make for a good start. And most importantly, don’t assume anything. For example, some students assume that if their site supervisor isn’t there, they can’t be there. This isn’t necessarily true in many cases. Find out for sure.

2. Come prepared with your schedule of available times
During your first meeting with your site supervisor, have a schedule of your available time planned out. As well as important dates that you know you can’t make it. For example, weddings you know you have to attend or even the day before your big paper is due. The benefits are two fold. You have your final schedule finalized much sooner, which means you can start working toward those hours faster. Your supervisor can be more accommodating to your requests. If they know in advance you won’t be able to make some day in the future, you could possibly come in early or an extra day to make up for it. Don’t wait until the last minute to tell your supervisor you can’t make it.

3. Make it your priority
It is no ones job but yours to get those hours completed. Remember that your site supervisor is usually volunteering his or her time and their 40-hour a week job is their priority. Noticing half way through the semester that you can’t get enough hours or tapes in is no excuse. If you need more time or counseling opportunity, advocate for yourself.

4. This is your best opportunity to learn, so take it
Use internship/practicum site as a way to cement your passion for your career choice. If you start your experience and are unsure of whether or not this is something you want to do long term, talk with your university supervisor about your feelings. Some students let their bad experiences cloud their decisions. Explore your options. If the site is not for you than talk about other career placements for those with a degree in your field. You will be surprised how many different avenues you can take once you get your degree.

5. Always come prepared
If part of your practicum/internship experience is recording counseling sessions, always have a digital recorder or tape recorder with you. I would suggest leaving it somewhere safe at your site.

6. Hours, hours, hours
Get your hours in early and often. If you have planned out your semester and you need every single day to complete your hours, you are leaving no room for unexpected events. Some students are forced to take an “Incomplete” for a internship class because they were unable to complete their hours because they got sick during the semester or their site had unexpected closings. Leave yourself some wiggle room. Even going in one extra hour a week will help account for the unexpected.

7. Document, document, document
This is a big one. Not only is it required for your internship/practicum, you will be surprised how important it will become even after graduation. The more detailed your logs the better. Remember, no identifying information though. I would recommend two logs, one with just a breakdown of your hours, the other with more detailed information. Make sure to keep up with your records and that they are accurate! You can use this information for licensure and certifications.

Enjoy yourself and learn as much as you can, go everywhere and accept any new learning opportunity they offer you. The more exposure you have the more certain you will be when you start your first job on your own. Good luck!

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and was a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.

Jessica Diaz

I clearly remember when my excitement for the first day of school developed. It was our yearly trips to the store for back to school supplies, the new book bag, the excitement of seeing all of your school friends, and even the stress of trying to read four summer reading books in two weeks that I loved. It was the prospect of starting over that I lived for and which has led me to strive to become a life long student.

On Monday morning as I drove out of my neighborhood I was greeted by the craziness of the first day of school. Yellow school buses, children in uniforms, and parents nervously trying to pass on their kids to their appropriate teacher while simultaneously attempting to make it to work on time. That was elementary school, now the stakes are higher. Now as graduate students, the beginning of a new semester is synonymous with stress, but for me a health balance of stress and excitement, but nevertheless stress. You purchase hundreds of dollars in textbooks, you have your tuition bill looming, and worst of all trying to figure out how you are going to balance classes, work, family, and manage to pay all of the bills life requires of you.

Here are a few ideas of how to manage stress and prepare for another semester.
1. Journaling: I know this sounds strange and out dated but it offers al the same benefits it did when you were a kid. It is an “all ears” place to vent your frustrations and celebrate successes. Not to mention the opportunity to look back and laugh at your years in graduate school. For those of you who are Mac users, your iCal is a great place to store notes on your day. It can even save your butt when you have noted when your professor said you could turn in that paper late and he “forgets.”

2. List Making: This technique is not only efficient but a great way to shut off your brain before bed. Have you ever had night when you just tossed and turned because you kept on going over in your head the ten million things you have to do tomorrow? Make it a habit to have a blank note pad by your bed and before bed list everything you need and want to accomplish tomorrow. This will also help you avoid forgetting really important things. Make it a habit. There is nothing more satisfying then scratching things off your list the following day.

3. Unplug Yourself: This means you Blackberry addict. You should have sometime during your day when you shut off all electronics and just be. Remind yourself that the world will not end if you are not connected. During this time, read a book for leisure (yes this is still possible while you are a student), take a nap, go for a walk, or just relax.

4. Exercise: This is the best advice that everyone ignores. We tell ourselves that we are just too busy to exercise but I promise you, ignoring it to doing more harm than good. Make time to take a brisk walk, to do stretches in the morning, to go for a swim in the evenings. It may seem like a chore but I guarantee that you will feel better when you are done. We aren’t made to sit around all day. It makes us crazy and isn’t any better for our health. Exercise is the single most reliable way to make us feel more alive, energetic, and less stressed. I promise.

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and was a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.

Jessica Diaz

My home isn’t much different than many American homes in the morning. As I pour my morning cup of coffee and get myself ready for the day, in the background is a cable news show. It has been years since I had a newspaper delivered to my door. In today’s virtual world I get my news from any number of news websites. I click a bookmark and I am greeted by a list of headlines. This morning the headlines read, “Afghan’s risk death to vote”, “Obama: Some bear false witness on health care”, and of course “Bikini-clad Britney heats up ‘Letterman’” and “The 12 most annoying types of Facebookers.” And the news shows aren’t much better, “Vote on what you think about Michelle Obama’s shorts,” and “Why are we so angry about heath care?”

What I think many of us fail to realize is that this current world of website headlines, tweeters, and blogs are a far cry from the new reporting of the past. In a world where things happen and are reported on, YouTubed and tweetered on in real-time, is there really anytime to investigate and verify. The result is a world saturated with opinion and less fact based information. This wouldn’t be an issue if we all didn’t take everything we heard for face value. Most major new networks report on the stories reported on other news outlets. CNN might report on a story in the LA Times or a small local news station in Fort Collins Colorado. They are “relaying” information from a secondary source and not doing their own investigation. This takes the responsibility of reporting on truth fact almost completely out of their hands.
As I write this blog I am reminded of what a blog really is, an online journal or commentary on events or personal experiences. According to Princeton WordNet, a blog is a shared on-line journal where people can post diary entries about their personal experiences and hobbies. A blog is not a news site, there is no fact checking necessary or anyone to verify that the information is accurate. It is a place to share thoughts and opinions and this is a great place for them, not the cable news shows or online newspaper sites.

The reason I bring this up is that we need to be smart consumers of information. Before we run off with someone’s opinions on healthcare, the state of our country, the benefit of having counselor’s covered by Medicaid, do some research on your own. Seek out a number of different sources, do some real research, and formulate an opinion based in fact. The reason many of these town hall meetings have become so heated is that an individual heard something that scared them and they took it as fact. We wouldn’t begin to write in research papers something we heard over causal conversation, we wouldn’t begin to use counseling techniques we read about in US weekly, so why are we so willing to accept anything we hear on TV or read about online as fact? We are smarter than that.

Jessica Diaz

So a few weeks ago I focused my blog on tips for increasing the likelihood of having your conference proposals accepted. This week I wanted to add a few more tips to the mix and offer some food for thought.
First let’s review:
1. Proof read, proof read, proof read. You are being graded!
2. Follow the directions.
3. Choose your topic area wisely.

4. Poster, short session or long session?
What many people don’t realize is that the type of proposal you submit does make a difference. If you are a student and want to get your foot in the door to present at a national conference, submit a poster proposal. Conferences usually have more poster slots to fill than they get proposals so most, if not all, usually get accepted. This is not to say that they accept anything. You are still given a grade and the panel still reviews each proposal to ensure they have a high quality exhibition of posters, but your chances are higher. As for the short session proposal, this is the hardest category. If you are submitting for the short session (usually 60 minutes), you have to make sure that yours will stand out because chances are you are one of many for only a few slots. The longer session (usually 90 minutes) have a little less competition but you need to make sure you have a topic that can fill the entire slot. Remember, for students, just presenting at a national conference is a big deal and looks great on your CV, no matter if it is a poster or a full session. The added bonus is that most departments will help fund your trip to the conference if you are presenting! So submit those proposals.

5. Big names or no names?
Maybe you are working with a big name in the counseling profession on a research project or chapter and you are interested in presenting those findings at a conference. The big question is, do I increase my chances of getting accepted if I ask that big name to present with me? The answer is yes and no? Most conferences have a limit on the number of sessions any one presenter can have, including those big names. So if your professor is submitting 6 proposals (to which only one is with you) and all are worthy of being accepted, they may only accept two of them. And yours may not be one of them. While having a big name on your proposal may help to get it noticed, it is not a guarantee. My best advice is to try one on your own based on your research together, or even better, ask to work on a solo project and make your proposal the best it can be.

6. Know your profession?
Conference panels want research and sessions to be on topics that are relevant to the field. Despite a great score on a proposal that pushes yours to the top of the list, if it is on a topic that has been presented to death or was “so last conference” they might pass yours over for a proposal that is in the “here and now.” This is where staying up to date is so important. Read your Counseling Today and any professional journal you can get your hands on. Counseling Today is great because the issues come out on the press fast, much faster than journals that can be a year (or more) in the works. The topics covered in Counseling Today are about things that are happening right now.

I hope these tips are helpful. I have been to a lot of conferences and although I love going to the big sessions of those big name counselors, nothing is more rewarding than attending a session (poster or presentation) of students. Students have a passion for what they present and it really shows.

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and was a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.

Jessica Diaz

I am sitting on the porch of my DC condo trying to figure out what to write for this week’s blog. I have started at least three different drafts, one on the Dr. Gates story, one on the amazing kids I am currently working with, and one on the stress of being a graduate student. However for some reason each draft gets deleted and a fresh new empty page appears staring back at me with increasing pressure, another looming deadline on an increasing list of the To-Do’s of a graduate student. Believe me, it isn’t for a lack of things to say, being a graduate student I love the idea of people reading what I write. And it isn’t for a lack of passion and interest in this blog.

Two hours later it occurs to me, who is reading this anyway? Where are all the graduate students visiting the ACA website, commenting on the latest issues and seeking advice from the wise professionals? Why are we so underrepresented in this arena? We certainly make up a good portion of the membership but how active are we? We submit a couple of conference proposals because it looks good on our CV’s, we get our liability insurance which in most programs is a mandatory step before practicum.

This week I set a challenge, pass this blog along to a friend, a classmate, a colleague. Ask them what they want to hear about, talk about, or simply “shoot the shit” about. Students have a voice but if no one steps up to speak, your wants and needs will not be heard. And hey, if it is just he fact that I am not interesting enough to elicit a response from you, tell me how you think can and I will be more than happy to make sure they are heard.

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and was a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.

Jessica Diaz

This past weekend I had the privilege to sit on the American Counseling Association’s Conference Blue Ribbon Panel. If you don’t know what that is, don’t feel bad, many members of ACA have no idea either. I have had this amazing opportunity twice now and to make a long story short, have you ever wondered what happens to conference proposal once you hit submit and how a proposal gets chosen to be a education session, learning institute, or poster session at the ACA conference? Well I do!

Before I go into a long explanation which includes the hard work of an incredible ACA staff, an ACA President, an ACA President-elect, two seasoned Counselor Educators and a rather awestruck doctoral student (that would be me), let me make an important statement to all those students out there who submitted a conference proposal… awesome job!
And there are still few ways to make it better. Here are a few tips that I picked up on while sifting through more than 1000 conference proposals.

1. Proof read, proof read, proof read. You are being grade!
Don’t be fooled by the fact that you are filling out an online form because you are being graded! After you hit submit, your proposal it is sent to three reviewers for a blind review. They rate your proposal on a scale of one to ten in six different areas. Those scores are averaged and final scores will fall between 100 (a perfect proposal) and zero (not good). One of those areas is Proposal Preparation. If you have spelling and grammar mistakes that is taken into account. If you spelled your name with no capital letters, that is taken into account. The reason being is, much of the information you submit is put directly into the conference booklet as is and they aren’t about to put in the session description something with a bunch of spelling errors. My suggestion…

Put together your proposal in a word document first and have someone proof read it. Remember reviewers rate your proposal blind so they have no idea if English is your first language or not and rate based on content.

2. Follow the directions.
This sounds like a no brainer but you would be surprised. If the directions say “No all caps” then don’t submit a proposal with the entire title or description written in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS! IT IS ANNOYING AND LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE YELLING… Get the point? My suggestions…

Be careful to actually give the information they are asking for. If they ask for a description of the program, do exactly that. Again, have someone proof read and ask them to double check that you are actually answering the proposal questions.

3. Choose your topic area wisely.
At some point in the proposal process you are asked to choose a primary and secondary topic area that describes your presentation. Having a topic area that is usually scarcely represented, increases your chances. For example, if your proposal is about training counselors to work with couples in the military deal with their sexuality amidst PSTD, don’t pick “Counselor Education” as your topic area. Although this is true, Counselor Education is a very popular topic area. Part of the job of the Blue Ribbon Panel is to make sure all topic areas are represented during the conference so if we have accepted a bunch of Counselor Education presentations, we will sift through to look for proposals which cover topics that are not well represented. So for this example, choosing “Military Issues” and “Sexuality” will increase your chances even if you didn’t score that high with the raters. My suggestion…

Print out the list of topic areas and break down what your proposal is about. Don’t go for the broad overall topic area. Instead of “Counselor Education” be more specific. If your topic is about dealing with acculturation stress for international counseling students, don’t pick “Multicultural Issues,” instead pick “International Issues.”

These are just a few of the smaller things you can do to increase your chances to have a proposal accepted to a conference. I will post more in the weeks to come. Please give me feedback on whether or not this was helpful. Keep submitting those proposals!!

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.

Jessica Diaz

“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfillment.” By Earl Nightingale

Sitting amongst friends, someone asks me a simple question… “So how is teaching going?” This simple question some how lights a fire in me. I start by describing what it feels like to stand in front of a class, share knowledge, and witness understanding, confusion, or doubt. Whatever the result it is my opportunity to share with a group of students something that I am passionate about.

I have spoken to friends on numerous occasions about their level of satisfaction for what they do, how they live their lives, the people in their lives who love them. Nine times out of ten they strike upon that one thing that makes their face light up and sends their enthusiasm soaring.

This is why I love our profession. Every time we attend a conference or meet with colleagues or have the opportunity to share with someone the passionate details of our lives, our vest for what we do is revitalized.

What is your passion?

Jessica Diaz is a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, a third-year doctoral student, and a student representative on ACA’s Governing Council.