With her charismatic personality and big heart, South High counselor Jay Graham works hard for her students to be someone they can look up to and to be there when they feel like they have no one supporting them.
Graham, born in Danville, Illinois, and raised in Omaha has worked as an Omaha South High counselor for three years. Graham taught English and yearbook at Northwest High School for eight years before moving to South.
Graham said she was open to new challenges and trying something new.
“I was leaving everything that I had known; it felt like my first big girl job,” Graham said. She added that she made the choice to leave her community at Northwest to try something new and challenging. “I remember having a lot of mixed emotions, like being excited, but also scared to not fit in,” shared Graham. Graham said that sometimes you must get out of your comfort zone to grow.
Graham said at one time she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
“But I discovered that, unfortunately, sometimes an animal might die,” said Graham, an animal lover. At first Graham wanted to try psychology but during her sophomore year of college, she realized that she did not enjoy it much.
It was only when Graham talked to her high school English teacher that she realized she wanted to be a teacher. In the end, Graham said she wanted to work with teenagers, which pulled her into the educational field.
After a few years of teaching, Graham was told that she was good at building relationships with students and was successful working with a diverse population of students. “And so, I decided to go for counseling,” she said. While teaching full-time, Graham attended Creighton University and earned her master’s degree and eventually landed at South.
Graham said that every single day is different for her as a counselor.
“I can have a magical plan on how my day might look, but it depends entirely upon my students,” she said.
Graham said her days can go from being low key and working on schedules and attendance to days where she meets with parents and helps students figure out their hopes and their dreams. “I love being the person you can sit down with and share where you want to go or figure out your future plans together,” said Graham.
A favorite part of working with seniors for Graham is talking about the future, what that looks like and how she can support them to get though the transition of high school being over and starting their next big chapter.
Graham also stressed how important work/life balance can be and shared that it’s important to take care of one’s whole self.
“I think a lot of people think your wellness is your physical side, but ‘all of you’ also means your mental health,” she said.
In the end, Graham wants her students to know she cares. “The balance comes when you take care of all of you, and you have to do something that you love,” said Graham.
