“Assalamualaikum cikgu!”On 19th April 2010, I start my first day practicum at Sek Men Teknik Gombak. I woke up at 5.50a.m and take my first bath as a practicum counselor. As usual, after performing Subuh prayer, I take my breakfast and preparing myself to go to school. I can’t deny that the anxiety is very high on that morning. Questions such as what must I do on the first day of practicum, who should I meet first, to whom I must report to and how the teacher perception towards me are repeatedly playing in my head.
I reached school at 7.20a.m and saw the students and teachers are preparing for the school assembly. Should I go to the assembly? I become more nervous. After a while, I decided to go to the school administration office and speak to one of the staff there. I introduced myself and inform her that I’m from IIUM and this is my first day as a practicum counselor at the school. She told me that I have to wait for the school principal and report to him first. So, I wait patiently at the school office. Around 8.30a.m, after the assembly is finished, one of the teachers approached me and introduces herself as Cik Hajjah Faezah Hanim, the school’s Penolong Kanan Kokurikulum. She said that the principal is having another meeting and she will handle my registration for the school. After finished on thumb print registration, I went to the Unit Bimbingan dan Kaunseling Room which is located at second floor on the main building.
My day as practicum counselor was not so bad and I enjoyed it. Relief class always fill my timetable for at least one and half hours a day. Sometimes, I had my individual counseling session for about a couple of time a week. There are varieties of problems among school students such as family problem, academic, career and so on. Besides, I also busy preparing my report, log book and journal. I’ve planned to arrange one group counseling on the career topic with a bunch of Form 5 students. Other than that, I involve in a lot in technical task in the school such as preparing multimedia presentation and backdrop for Sambutan Hari Guru 2010, updating counseling’s blog, and etc.
For me, students at Sek Men Teknik Gombak were really nice. Not much disciplinary cases, full of respect towards teachers, concern about their SPM examination and their career after school, enthusiastic, naive, friendly and helpful. When facing students with career issues, I try my best to help them to reach out for information about career, higher education level, job opportunities and etc. Besides, there are also several personal cases such as family problems, depression and referred cases such as smoking in school. Some of the cases are quite difficult and require me to do some revision especially when involved with family issues. Sometimes, I’ve been challenged by a lot of questions from students that not even crossed my mind.
There are many challenges that I have to face in school such as the culture of the school itself, means that I have to mingle with the teachers and helping them with relief class, organizing programs like Sambutan Hari Guru, Hari Anugerah Cemerlang, career guidance program from counseling unit, handling cases that have been referred by Discipline Unit and etc. When dealing with students, at Sek Men Teknik Gombak, the Form 5 students were really concern about their career exploration and which universities that appropriate for them after finishing their school. While for Form 4 students, since the school is a boarding school, many of the students face the adjustment problems that lead to homesickness, low academic performance and so on.
As a conclusion, after two weeks at school, I’ve gained a lot of experience in term of how to deal with students, time management, coping with the school environment, and get the picture of the real counselor in school. I can say that I’m very glad and thankful to all my supervisors especially Dr Haniza Rais for giving me this opportunity to carry out my first practicum at school as an early exposure for me about the roles and responsibilities of school counselor. Thank you.
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