Jasmine Torres joins Amador Valley High School after interning at Alum Rock School District in San Jose for eight months. She recently graduated from San Jose State this spring with a Master’s in Education and Counseling and a PPS credential to work in K-12.

Outside of work, Torres likes hiking and watching Netflix shows; her recent watch is Grey’s Anatomy. During her internship at Alum Rock, she picked up painting and some of her artwork now hangs in her room and office.

The following responses were edited for length and clarity. 

How did you know you wanted to pursue counseling?

It was through my first job as a peer mentor that I was able to work with students, so that was my first exposure, specifically high school students, because we did a lot of high school outreach. I would help students register for classes, I’d give campus tours, I’d counsel students, and it was through that job that made me realize that I want to be a counselor. 

Why did you choose Amador for your first job?

When I was applying to jobs, I knew that I wanted to do something in K-12, but I definitely applied to more high schools. The reason that I chose Amador was because I saw that Pleasanton Unified School District is really good. There’s a lot of resources, support, and a lot of academic rigor in the students that challenges them. I definitely wanted to be a part of a school and a community that valued that so much.

First impression of Amador?

I feel like the students are really determined, really on top of it, so it also keeps me on my toes, because they’re following up, and I’m also following up. It’s very team-oriented that students get back to me promptly through email, which I appreciate. I really love the school spirit, I feel like it really energizes me. From Pigskin and the events that I’ve been to, I just loved it. On Fridays, we all wear our gear, so it’s just super community oriented, and that’s my favorite part about being here.

Did working with elementary school students help you prepare for high schoolers?

I think it prepared me for the social-emotional aspect of high schoolers. It’s all academic, and you have to have credits for graduation, so it feels more like the social-emotional is on the back burner. I feel like that helped me prepare to counsel students in a deeper perspective.

Are high school students your favorite age group to work with? 

As of now, I feel like it’s hard to pick because they’re so different. I definitely feel like the age group of high school and up is what I like more. With high schoolers, you’re able to really develop things like, ‘I’m anxious because of this,’ or ‘I’m stressed,’ and ‘I’m excited,’ and you’re really able to kind of put together what’s going on, and how I can best support them. So I kind of like the back and forth conversation more with the older group.

How was your workload in the beginning of school with all of the schedule changes?

When we first started, the workload was really busy because of all the schedule changes coming back from summer, students coming in with questions. I think we did over 1700, almost 2000 schedule changes. It’s kind of settled down a little bit, but right now, it’s picking up more with college applications and letters of recommendation.

A lot of new counselors have joined the faculty this year, so how has it been working in a team with them? 

It’s been awesome so far. I’m super appreciative of the team that we have. I know there’s four of us that are new, but I feel like we were really able to pick up everything super quick, and we all still bounce ideas off each other. I’m super grateful for Ms. Woodworth, Ms. Pacheco, and Ms. McEntee, who have the experience of already being here, and kind of being our mentors to help guide us through our year of counseling at Amador, so it’s been super helpful. I feel like as a team we all mesh very well and we’re all very productive.