The Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science has a reputation as a tough academic environment. How do students deal with this? They turn to what is to many one of the school’s most important resource: the Counseling Office. MSMS has two counselors, Dr. Heath Stevens, an MSMS alum and a counselor since 2012, and Dr. Ty Crook, who is beginning his time at MSMS in the 2015-2016 school year. Kellie King is the administrative assistant and registrar.

The MSMS Counseling Office aims to “enhance the future of Mississippi within our global society by fostering the academic, personal/social, and career development of gifted and talented students,” according to its website. How does this translate into reality?

These past few weeks this means Senior Meetings. These were meetings scheduled ahead of time for students to go in and meet face to face with their counselor, gaining the one on one access essential for good communication.

For students like Dajah Carter, it meant gaining a clearer view on her goals, “I feel like I had a better grasp of what I actually had to do… because, contrary to popular belief, I actually have no idea what’s going on.”

In a similar vein, Jacob McDonald describes Dr. Crook as “very approachable.”

“I think I could hold a friendly conversation with him  easily,” McDonald said, stressing the importance of keeping in touch with your counselor. “It’s very important to communicate with them. Throughout MSMS, students encounter a lot of stress, and if it gets too much the counselors need to know so they can help,” he said.

While this is all very essential, there is perhaps more going on behind the scenes than the students are aware of. Dr. Stevens, for instance, goes the extra mile for the students, literally: “We try to visit a lot of colleges to get the experience because not everyone has the chance to go see places face-to-face for one reason or another.”

Indeed, the counselors draw inspiration from the students to go above and beyond. Dr. Crook credits his drive for counseling to a summer youth program he worked at in undergraduate. On his experience, he said, “The feeling of giving back was very strong and I knew that a career doing so would be great for me.”

Similarly, Dr. Stevens said, “I love helping gifted students meet their goals. In my experience, most gifted students are not adequately served at most of their home schools, so I enjoy being able to try to correct that oversight.”

Dr. Crook feels that the most underutilized resource they offer is individual counseling and planning. “Dr. Stevens and I are experts within the field and have a plethora of experiences and knowledge that can assist students while here at MSMS,” he explained.

Dr. Stevens reiterates this, “I do think that not enough students take advantage of our personal/social counseling services.  Students frequently come to us for their academic and college/career needs, but everyone gets stressed here at some point or another; know that we’re here to help you get through those stressful times.”

So what advice do the counselors have for the students? Dr. Crook says to the juniors, “[they] should be focusing on adapting to the rigor and uniqueness of MSMS. Building strong and positive habits will help them academically and will prepare them for their senior year.” To the seniors, Dr. Stevens says to focus on personal wellness first, then grades, college applications, scholarships, and enjoying the last year of high school.