For the Kiddos

Learn more about guidance counselor Mrs. Judy Lee

For+the+Kiddos

Mrs. Judy Lee has been a counselor at Lyman for about a decade and she does it for the kiddo’s. She realized from her youth group and after being an English teacher that she enjoyed working with students. Mrs. Lee enjoys talking to kids, and working with them, and helping them with their issues and other challenges. 

After she graduated as a history major in Taiwan, she couldn’t imagine being a history major and doing that for a living. She then became an English teacher for a couple of years. Later graduated from Ohio State with a master’s in mental health counseling and worked at Harper center, which is a behavior school for 3 to 4 years but the school was closed down because of a lack of funding, which was when Mrs. Lee applied and got the counseling job at Lyman.

“For me, I feel like talking to people, helping with other kids made me feel happy, made me feel like you get your peace and you feel like you actually did something,” Mrs. Lee said. 

In a sense, being a counselor is Mrs. Lee’s dream job. She wants to make a meaningful difference in her student’s lives, helping them through the door and off to the next journey of their life. She prides herself on being the adult that kids can trust and confide in. 

“I feel like the kids see me as an adult and counselor that they can easily talk to, and then they actually confide with me with something that’s going on, and I think that’s something I’m proud of,” Mrs. Lee said. “like you know a kiddo comes up and they’re like hey you know what, you’re so easy to talk to even though you’re not my counselor, I think that’s something I feel like at least that I’m doing my job right where people can feel like they can talk to me when they have problems.” 

Before she was a counselor at Lyman, she was a mental health therapist, a  youth group leader in her church, and an English teacher. These helped her to be a counselor because she realized what she was passionate about and what she was good at, helping her students. 

“You feel like you can make connections, and you make something, a little thing for the kids’ life, and then eventually it makes a big difference for them down the road.” Mrs. Lee said. 

Getting her students motivated is the hardest part of the job. Lee has to be the cheerleader for the student and the parent, motivating them to try their hardest in school and preparing them for their future. She wants all of her kiddos to see the bigger picture which is the impact school has on their life, to find out what they want to do with their life and get them there.