Early in her senior year at GlenOak high school, Mercedes Marshall met counseling intern Kristen Zurbuch. And the direction of her life after high school changed.

Before she met Mrs. Zurbuch, Mercedes had no college plan, only an interest in culinary arts and the hospitality industry, and a vague notion about college.

Mercedes Marshall has a plan for college

Mrs. Zurbach, like other high school counselors at GlenOak, made a presentation to an English class at GlenOak on college opportunities. Counselors visit English classes because English is the one course that all students take. After the class, Mercedes and Mrs. Zurbach met, spurring a plan for attending college.

“You said if I remember, I’m interested in hospitality, do you know what I can do?” said Mrs. Zurbach. “I said, there are a lot of things you can do. what do you want to do? And then we started.”

Thanks to college planning counselor she has a reason to go to college

At first, Mercedes had to ask herself “should I go to college?” but after working with Mrs. Zurbach, the question became “which college should I go to?”

The student took advantage of a daily class period offered by Principal Mark Black and the staff at GlenOak called SBE, Soaring Beyond Excellent, which gives students opportunities for career exploration. The SBE period gives counselors such as Mrs. Zurbach a convenient way to work with students like Marshall on their career plans and their plans to attend college.

“She was at ground zero when she first came here. We talked and discovered a lot of things,” Mrs. Zurbach said.

One thing they discovered was Mercedes’ interest in culinary arts. So they first began talking about a school for chefs, and Mercedes visited one in the area.

“I applied. I was accepted. But then I changed my mind,” Mercedes recalled. The school would have taught her how to be a chef, but it would not have taught her enough about the business end of the hospitality industry. She also became interested in hotel operations. Being a for-profit school, the cooking school would not have provided Mercedes credits that could transfer to a four-year university, Mrs. Zurbuch pointed out. So they began talking about a two-year program at Summit College, part of the University of Akron.

“In the course of her two-year program, there are some general education requirements that then would apply to a four-year degree if she should decide to go on,” the counselor noted.

“At Akron, it’s different because we learn how to manage money. (At the cooking school) they teach you how to cook but don’t teach you the fundamentals of managing a restaurant,” Mercedes said. “I’m excited. I’ll probably do four years.”

An exciting direction for someone who only recently developed a plan for college. Of course, for this student, who would be the first in her family to attend college, financial aid is a crucial element of her plan to attend college. Like so many potential college students, she is now applying for financial aid and hoping to make ends meet.

Mrs. Zurbuch is new to high school counseling but not new to the intersection between high school and college. The Mount Union College graduate spent eight years as a college admissions counselor at Mount Union and at Kent State University. She decided she would rather work on the other side of the table with high school students who are planning to attend college, so she went back to school for her counseling credentials and has spent the 2009-10 school year at GlenOak as a counseling intern.

“When people ask me why I chose this career path, I usually reflect on my experience going to college and what an amazing time of growth and self-discovery it was. I suppose it is a tad selfish of me to say that I chose counseling students in planning for college attendance because it allows me to relive the experience just a little bit with each student I help.”

Should I go to college?

For those contemplating attending college or planning for careers after high school, many schools, including GlenOak High School, offer high school counselors and college preparation and planning programs to help determine if you should go to college.