I'm Dr. Helen Davis. I'm the department
director for education at UCLA Extension.
The instructors in college counseling
are a great group because they all work
in the field and they have a great depth
of experience and knowledge and they
bring their personal everyday
experiences of what it's like to be a
college counselor to the the online
experience for students.
The college counseling program is comprised of six
or more classes along with a 10-week or
longer practicum where students can take
all that class material that they've
gleaned and put it into real practice. I
am a product of that program and I can
tell you that it made a significant
difference in my life, in my practice, in
my career now, which is one of the
reasons why I came back and decided just
a few years later to teach.
My name is
Kristina Brown and I earned a college
counseling certificate from UCLA
Extension. One of the benefits of
ULCA Extension is that you can work at your
own pace.
I started out taking one class per term.
I think I only took a couple classes the
first year and in the end I decided I
was ready to finish and I took three
classes in one term and that was fine as
well, but it really does allow you to
work ahead or work at your own pace,
which I really enjoyed. I've decided that
UCLA Extension was a good match for me
because it allowed me to further my
field. I am an attorney by trade and I
wanted to specialize in special
education law as a career change and
this allowed me to earn a certificate to
help children with special needs in
college counseling. Well, years ago I
started practicing in intellectual
property law, and then I took a break
when I had my children and I decided
that I didn't want to go into such an
intense field. My oldest son has some special needs
and I decided that I would focus in that area
since I have learned so much about it. So,
I did special education law and I
realized that a lot of children with
special needs are going to college and
they need help with their accommodations
and services. This has been a really
important experience for me and it has
shifted my life in a lot of ways.
UCLA Extension is full of opportunities.
