Clarke Central High School counselor Akua Nelson sits in her office on Feb. 25. Nelson joined the counseling team this semester after previously serving as a counseling intern to alleviate the increased number of students assigned to each counselor. “This semester, I’ve been working specifically with ninth graders and sometimes I’m with the tenth graders,” Nelson said. “I haven’t really touched juniors or seniors because that’s really the other counselors’ territory, but I hope that I can get to know the ninth and tenth graders a little bit better.” Photo by Ana Aldridge
Clarke Central High School counselor Akua Nelson was hired as a member of the CCHS counseling team this semester.
Co-Editor-in-Chief Ana Aldridge:What was your childhood like?
School counselor Akua Nelson: I grew up in Savannah, Ga. It was pretty laid-back. I am the youngest child, but my siblings are much older than me, so I grew up as an only child. I went to private school my entire educational career, and I just played a bunch of sports and read a bunch of books — not too much else.
AA: What sports did you play?
AN: I played volleyball, basketball, softball and my senior year, I tried to play soccer, but I wasn’t very good at it.
AA: What is your family like?
AN: My family, it’s interesting — my dad’s from Ghana, Africa. My mom’s from Saint Croix, Virgin Islands. So, I was the only child of them that was born in the (U.S.) and I’m the only one that’s born on actual U.S. territory. So, it was interesting. I definitely got a lot of different cultures. I ate a lot of different kinds of foods that I didn’t really like. I haven’t been to Africa. I’m going this June, but I have been to the Virgin Islands a couple times. My family has always been pretty strict and education has been super important, but we do have a lot of fun together and I miss my parents a lot. They still live in Savannah.
AA: Where did you go to college and what did you study?
AN: So, I went to (UGA) and studied Psychology. That was actually my fourth major change. I went thinking I wanted to do Exercise and Sports Science, but then realized I was really bad at chemistry, so I had to change, and then I went from English Major to (Mathematics Major) and finally landed on Psychology. I knew I always wanted to do psychology, but I knew it takes a very long time and a lot of hard work to be successful in it, so I kind of navigated away from it, but I found my way back.
AA: What made you choose Psychology and realize you wanted to be a counselor in a school, specifically?
AN: I’ve always watched Law & Order and seen forensic psychologists. I’ve always been interested in it growing up, just learning how people think and why they do what they do. And, my senior year, I had to do a research paper on psychology and I found out it takes forever to do well in it, so I kind of reverted back from it. I came back around to it after attending a seminar at (UGA) about kids in schools and how mental health is super important, and so I went back to that, did psychology. My senior year of college I was like watching a TV show and they had a school counselor on it and I was like, ‘That seems like the perfect job,’ and in my family, my niece and nephew had a really hard time in school and they really had to rely on their school counselor to get through a rough patch, so I was like, ‘That might be something — I can do that.’ So, that’s how I came to counseling and working in schools specifically.
AA: What previous jobs have you had, if any?
AN: So, this is my first big-girl job. I’ve always been a camp counselor, I work with the athletes at UGA right now as a mentor, I’ve worked at Smoothie King just up the road and I was a cashier at Kroger once, but this is my first, like, professional job, so it’s pretty exciting.
AA: What brought you to Clarke Central High School, specifically?
AN: So, (for) my master’s program, we have a practicum in our spring of our first year, so last year, I was at Madison County Middle School as a practicum student. You don’t have a lot of responsibilities — you’re really just shadowing once or twice a week and our second year we’re at an internship site, so a lot of us are at elementary schools, middle schools, some of us are at high schools. I picked (CCHS) because I have helped out with the volleyball team when I first got to Athens. I see it all the time and I really liked what it’s about, so I chose this as my first job choice and I got it.
AA: What are your hopes or goals as a CCHS counselor?
AN: (I’ve been working with freshmen and) I know in ninth grade it’s a transition from middle school, so just really trying to support them with their grades, with their social-emotional learning, trying to help them understand that this is a clean slate of the next four years and that they can really do whatever they set their minds to, and hopefully I can help instill that in a couple students while I’m still here.
AA: Is there anything special or different that you feel you bring to the table as a counselor?
AN: I think just being fresh in my program, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I relate with others, so I think that might be my biggest gift to the school: just being different and understanding that there are changing things happening in the world of counseling and that fresh ideas can be incorporated into what’s already in place, and can also help start something new.
AA: What are your hobbies and interests outside of your job?
AN: I am coaching a volleyball club right now out in Commerce, and I like to play volleyball a lot. That’s something I’m really passionate about. I’m really passionate about food. I’m trying to learn how to cook some more by myself, so that’s been something that’s been pretty fun. I usually just hang out with friends. I’m trying to go to more concerts now that I have a little bit more free time. I know Athens is a pretty big music scene. I have traveled. I’m going to Ohio in two weeks, I’m going to Africa, so I’m trying to get out more before I have to be a real adult.
