Profile: Robin Marks

Penn GSE has been the best place for me because what we learned is very cutting-edge and very much in the now," says Robin Marks. "Plus, the material was translatable into really practical experience."

Robin completed her master's in psychological services in 2007 and then signed up for the M.Phil. program in professional counseling. Before applying to GSE, she worked as a recruiter but wanted to move into career counseling.

"I wanted a program that would touch on that aspect as well as others — but I had never studied psychological services. When I came onto campus and met with the people here, I felt incredibly welcomed. I just felt that this was the place for me."

Penn GSE's Psych Services program covers theory in classes that deal with different interventions, group counseling, assessment, testing, etc. But students are also required to take a practicum class. "Ten hours a week," Robin explains, "we were out in the field - my practicum was in career counseling — and then we came back into the classroom and discussed our experiences. We would talk about ways to improve, about different theories that were were currently learning and how they applied to what we were doing."

As for the faculty, Robin was impressed by the open-door policy that prevails at GSE. She says, "Everyone stresses coming to them, speaking to them, making sure that you're making the most of your experience and learning the most that you can. They are very open and welcoming in discussing our practicum experience and how it translates into the theory we're learning into class and vice versa.

"When I was looking for an internship," she continues, "I could walk into various faculty members' offices to discuss how my search was going. They were very, very amenable to helping me through that process. And it is the same with the coursework. We really worked, I would say, side by side with the faculty to create a final product for most of our projects."

Robin characterizes her fellow students in much the same way. When applying to graduate school, she was expecting the atrmosphere to be cutthroat and competitive. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised by the collegiality of the student body here. "The relationship between the students at GSE is very accepting, welcoming. People really want to get to know each other and help each other. In my program, we did a lot of group work and we really depended on one another."

That sense of community extended to after-hours activities as well. In her first year, the psych services students participated in an intramural volleyball league and staged regular get-togethers and happy hours. At the end of the year, she reports, "We even did a board-game night. It was the culmination of our program, and it was a chance for us all to get together one last time."

Robin is now a career coach at the Temple University Career Center.