Mrs. Lilit Akopian is our new school counselor at Glendale High School. She has replaced Ms. Sarah Dearn, who left our campus in the summertime to be a physical education teacher. Mrs. Akopian is responsible for all GHS students whose last names start with Am-Az and B-F. She was born and raised in Glendale, and she attended Herbert Hoover High School. She then went to California State University, Northridge for her undergraduate degree.
Being a school counselor was not always Mrs. Akopian’s first choice. However, being in the school setting was.
Mrs. Akopian originally wanted to be a teacher, but after all of her schooling, she figured that this plan just wasn’t going to work out. She stated that she had a bad experience with one of her school counselors, and that’s one of the things that made her want to become a counselor herself.
Before Mrs. Akopian came to GHS as a counselor this year; she was a kindergarten teacher at an early education program. She came to our school, because she was always curious about what it would be like to be a part of the GHS team. Since she had attended Hoover High School as a high school student and completed part of her internship there as an adult, she always wanted to know what it would be like to be on the other side of the city.
Mrs Akopain’s favorite part about working at GHS is providing support for her students. “Watching students bloom into the best person they can be brings me great satisfaction,” she said, “and I’m doing my best to be the best support system, because high school is already hard enough. So it’s nice to know someone can lean on me for guidance.”
Outside of work, Mrs. Akopian likes going on hikes, playing tennis and riding bikes with her husband. She also has a German Shepherd that she enjoys taking on long walks, and she also likes spending time with her family and hanging out with friends.
If you are looking to become a school counselor yourself, there is a lot of schooling that you must complete. You are required to have a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree and a Pupil Personnel Services (or PPS) credential.
Mrs. Akopian’s advice to anyone who wants to become a school counselor is to “have patience”, because “working with students requires lots of empathy, understanding, and the ability to always consider people’s perspectives which can be exhausting at times.”
If you are feeling nervous about taking that one step to succeed, Mrs. Akopian suggests that you don’t let fear hold you back. “Life is too short,” she declared. “So take the leap, because things tend to fall in place.”
Even though Ms. Akopian went to Hoover High School, she is still a Nitro at heart. If you ever have a chance to visit the counseling office, be sure to stop in and say hello to her.
Welcome to GHS, Mrs. Akopian!
