Graduated in 2019 from BoCo with a major in Contemporary Dance.
Position: Mental Health Counselor at The Academy of Physical and Social Development in Newton, Mass, which does after school programs for children with autism and simlar developmental issues. She plays games with these children designed to help them socialize, though over half of her day involves communicating wtih parents and doing paperwork.
Overview: Weeks into her first year at BoCo, Kayla suffered an injury while dancing, and needed a lot of physical therapy. She got better enough complete BoCo, but sensed that she’d never be at 100%. Kayla went through a lot of counseling, then decided that she’s like to go into that as a profession so that she could help others. During her last two years at BoCo she led instructional programs for autistic children and loved it. She applied to multiple grad schools and was feeling dejected, then a BoCo professor suggested Kayla check out the Counseling Psychology program at Regis College in Newton; Kalya applied immediately after graduation, was accepted, and started this two-year program in September, 2019.
While a grad student she did a couple of internships, including a yearlong unpaid one at her current employer during her second year. She really loved the place and the work that she was doing, though because of the pandemic most of the work had been virtual. She asked to intern through the summer after graduation so as to get more in-person experience. Her employer not only agreed, but told her that they would bring her on as a paid employee starting that September!
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You can see Kalya’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I love being around kids–I’m the oldest of 4, and have many younger cousins. I babysit on weekends. I really, really enjoy that part of it. And seeing how much kids progress over time is really special as well…and now I get paid to play games with kids, which is awesome! That’s one of the most unique experiences in the field! When I was exploring what I wanted to do I hadn’t heard of this, and couldn’t believe it was real! When they wanted to bring me on after my internship I couldn’t believe that was real either!”
My background and emphasis on pedagogy while at BoCo was incredibly helpful. In many ways, leading a group is similar to teaching. It gave me foundational things I still rely on a lot. Also, the overall emphasis on knowing and listening to your body. So much of what’s going on for kids mentally presents itself physically. Many kids can’t express what’s going on in their heads, but I can put some of how kids may be feeling into words. It makes them feel really seen. Even when I’m wrong they’ll tell me that, which is also super-helpful!”
“If you know what you want to do, just do it! That’s what I did. By all accounts I shouldn’t be where I am. Somehow grad school let me in–I applied to multiple other grad schools and didn’t get in and was feeling dejected. I was maybe going to give up, figuring it wouldn’t happen. Then Regis took a chance on me. We all experience this in the performing arts world–doors that aren’t open. if you really want it, continue to go for it.”
“This job is hard. I talked about the great parts of it, but you’re face to face with people who sometimes will tell you about something horrible that happened to them. It’s not your job to fix it or make it better. But it’s your responsibility to be there for them and help them feel seen.”
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