Ashley Drehobl is a college graduate who earned her master’s degree in school counseling. Currently, she is interning at Benilde-St. Margaret’s for the rest of the 2024 school year.
Drehobl started out in college with the intention of becoming a math teacher. Although her goal changed, she still wishes to remain in a school setting. Once she saw the benefits of being a school counselor, she decided that a similar career was the right path for her. “I realized I appreciate working more one-on-one with students and helping them with a larger goal for their life than just accomplishing math,” Drehobl said.
Drehobl continues to learn new things in the short time she is here. By attending counselor meetings and gaining first-hand experience, she has been able to learn new techniques in her internship. “[I want to help with] the social and the post-high school component of high schoolers’ lives,” Drehobl said.
This internship at BSM has helped Drehobl establish an understanding of the school counseling industry. Her experiences help to bring these encounters into her future career. Having a strong grasp of technological tools, she aids other counselors who have less experience with technology. “Seeing the trust that students have and even allowing me to sit in on meetings with their counselor and opening up [to me] about their experiences,” Drehobl said.
Drehobl is constantly offering new ideas and helped provide support for the counselors for the Building Your Future day, a time for 11th-grade students to focus on the college application process. For efficiency, she suggested using barcodes to speed up the process of gathering information and allow students to complete other tasks of the day faster as well. “She’s already ready and willing to take on projects, which I think is just the biggest part of being an intern along with being open to things and learning quickly,” counselor Amanda Anderson said.
Not only does having an internship give Drehobl new things to learn and practice, but it also helps the BSM counselors learn about some of the newer tactics in counseling. She has been able to relate to students and provide a more comfortable setting for adolescents. Both parties involved get to experience a new viewpoint. “I think it forces you to take a look at things more critically and relearn some things that you thought you knew,” Anderson said.