The experiment conducted accessed the level of growth in student curiosity, executive functioning, and academic achievement following a series of interventions concentrated in social and emotional learning techniques. The study was performed on a group of middle schoolers gathered between six classrooms in two separate schools. The study used three separate means to assess student growth – the Five-Dimensional Curiosity Scale, the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function, and academic testing through district exams. Results showed that students that were a part of the intervention increased levels of curiosity, executive functioning, and academic testing in English, math, and science. Because of this, the study seemed to be successful in its hypothesis that social and emotional intervention has a positive effect on academic and emotional growth.

Growing up, my school counselors were not as involved in my academic career as I feel they should have been. Because of this, I never established a strong level of trust with them. I never truly felt as though they would be beneficial to me in my academic life. However, I know some students at my school that had great relationships with the counselors. In my opinion, it depends on the needs of each student. 

Since I have little experience in counseling thus far, I found that, while I completed the assessment, I was lacking in areas that I expected to be lacking in. I recognize that being deficient in these areas is somewhat expected of us at this point in the program. However, understanding my deficits gives me the motivation to consistently work to build my knowledge in the program. It provides me with a baseline for my skills and points me in the direction I need to go to improve. Based on my results, I find the areas that I lack the most are related to textbook knowledge, such as legal and ethical principles, theories, and policies. These topics are more about historical facts rather than application. However, they are just as important as the application aspect of counseling. Knowing the background of the field, as well as the ethical codes and legal facets of counseling are necessary to the practice itself. The areas I found myself feeling most comfortable in were related to the application and development of lessons. Since I am currently an educator, I have experience planning, developing, and applying lesson plans to students. I feel like this will help me in the school counseling field because I have an understanding of the teacher’s point of view. I anticipate this to assist me in the connections I make with staff in advocating for student equality and well-being.