Skip to main content

Beginning the post-high school journey with TWHS’s new College & Career Center Counselor Erin Teague

If you’re, please read the contents of this message here or check out the PDF (these contain a list of upcoming events to add to your calendars and they just look nicer).

Hiya folks,

I’m Erin Teague, the new College and Career Counselor here at The Woodlands High School. I’m a first generation college graduate, so I know that education matters (whether you’re going for a PhD or a trade certification). What you decide to study next has a lot to do with who you get to become! I also know that planning for the future can be simultaneously exciting and scary and overwhelming. I want to reassure you that you’ve got a team of people supporting your efforts as you work to build the future of your dreams — your teachers, your counselor, your AP, and — now — me in the College and Career Center in Room 251!

A little more about my background and qualifications: My undergraduate degree is in English and my graduate degree is in Humanities. Before pursuing counseling certification and joining TWHS counseling team, I worked as an educator for 15 years. I have experience teaching at both the high school and college level. From journalism and Honors English to photojournalism and art appreciation, I’ve taught all sorts of classes, but they all shared a common thread: the storytelling process. My students won numerous state and national awards, which earned them feelings of pride (and some pretty decent scholarship offers). I even picked up my own state award for making “significant contributions to Texas scholastic journalism” in 2016 (#humblebrag). The good news for you? Because I spent much of my career advising student publications, I’m highly qualified to provide meaningful feedback on those pesky college essays.

Speaking of college applications, ApplyTexas is already open, and the Common App opens Aug. 1. Did you immediately start to feel anxious? Well, relax — The College and Career Center has open computer lab hours for students Aug. 2 through Aug. 4! Come in, and I’ll help you get started on those applications! Or bring in a rough draft of your essay (this year’s ApplyTexas and Common App questions are here), and I’ll give you some feedback. Or we can work on your resume. Or we can peruse the Planning Your Future Handbook together. Let’s get you feeling more confident. (Parents — I know you’re bummed you can’t come, but we haven’t forgotten you! Counselors will have a parent information session on Aug. 18 from 6 pm – 8 pm.)

As a senior, it’s normal to feel lots of conflicting emotions like fear, excitement, eagerness, and overwhelm. The College and Career Center is here to help. Though leaving high school marks the end of your compulsory education (you’re over it, we get it!), it also marks a really cool beginning: the beginning of you. The process of choosing your next step and then working toward your goals represents your journey into adulthood. Choosing the path you will travel after high school graduation is not something your parents can — or should — do for you; this is something you need to do for yourself.

I invite you to view this process as the formative challenge that marks your transition from teenager to adult. Seize control of your future! Take responsibility for not only where you want to go (both literally and metaphorically) but also for the adult you wish to become. Find the right college or career for yourself. Take responsibility for researching the requirements. Track the deadlines. Meet them. And ask for help when you need it. Then feel the deep satisfaction of knowing that you did everything within your power to actualize your dreams.

After high school, you are in charge of you. And truly being in charge of yourself is the coolest and scariest responsibility you can have.

I’m looking forward to being part of the process! I’m sure you’ll have lots of questions along the way. Because I’m new in this position, I can’t promise that I’ll know everything immediately off-hand, but I can promise that we will find the answers together.

Sincerely,

Erin Teague,
TWHS College & Career Counselor
Canvas Course: https://conroeisd.instructure.com/courses/223034
Email: eteague@conroeisd.net