Man embraces his nature, discovers his passion and flow by standing up to parent's agenda
Tom, a 20 y.o. sophomore enters counseling after taking a semester off from college. Tom was struggling mightily with his second year of college for three reasons: he was barely passing his courses, had lost any of the drive he once possessed and he was undecided about a major even after changing his field of study twice. Due to the conditionality of parent's financial backing and their persistence, Tom had by-passed his loves for drawing, writing, sports and helping people and opted for a "more safe and logical" choice of accounting. Since taking his break from school, Tom has been trying to find himself but in this sincere effort noticed his thoughts spinning like a top especially at night and found himself immobilized.
In order to become unstuck, we decided that it would be a good first step to take a couple of courses at a community college in his areas of interest such as design and journalism.
We agreed that Tom had a responsibility to himself to listen to his inner voice, take small risks and "come out" to his parents with his new plan.
Tom was pleased that his parents were in fact willing to support his plan financially as long as he maintained grades of B or above.
Discussed the importance of finding flow where he is able to lose himself by utilizing his skills and interests and feeling challenged in this endeavor.
Tom decided to take a course in web design and public relations, start his own sports blog highlighting the behind the scene narratives of players, take a part-time position as a copywriter for a local weekly newspaper and work as a freelance journalist for a couple online publications.
Upon receiving an A and A- in his two community college courses, rediscovering his passion for writing, discovering a love for web design, and experiencing flow, Tom found the decision easy and organic to apply to a top-notch university in communication and design.
Together we developed Tom's thesis for his personal statement which was the parallel process between the discovery of his authentic voice and the essence of any form of communication.
Tom penned the essay which mainly required editing and submitted his application to two of the best New England universities with majors in communication and design.
After being accepted to both schools, he made the decision to attend the college where he would be able to board so he could continue to foster independence, refine his own voice, mold his identity and pursue his dreams wherever that "natural" path leads him.