Into the Life of a Counselor: Mrs. Kajikawa
Photo Credits to Melody Gonzalez
November 4, 2019
BY MELODY GONZALEZ
This year will be counselor, Mrs. Kajikawa’s 15th year working at West Covina High School. An alumni of the school, she continued her studies in UC Irvine followed by Chapman University for her masters in school counseling. She has worked here for 15 years, but the first year and a half, she was a college advisor. In the time being a college advisor, she only helped students with their college applications.
Shortly after, Mrs.Kajikawa decided to become a school counselor because she really wanted to go into a field where she’s able to help others. In the beginning, she thought wanted to be a teacher, but soon realized that she wanted to work more “one on one with students.” One of the main reasons she decided to become a school counselor, is that she could talk to kids about everything and get to know kids as an individual. Kajikawa helps students both with their school and personal lives.
Despite her schedule at work, Mrs. Kajikawa has a busy life outside of school. She has been married for 11 years and has two kids, Jayden and Tyler. In her free time, she does a lot of family activities and is mostly occupied with her sons. She takes them both to basketball practice and on Monday nights she plays Japanese drums, or taiko. She started practicing taiko as a preteen, following family tradition. Alongside her love for taiko, Kajikawa enjoys reading, swimming and going to the beach. She grew up swimming at her grandfather’s pool and says she still enjoys anything outdoors. She wants students to know that they should “enjoy high school” and to have a healthy balance between school and family. Her last piece of advice is for students to “enjoy being a teenager” because soon they will have to grow up.
