High school counselors are a selfless breed of professionals. One more hour of work, one more meeting, one more email or voicemail or question to answer—so often they cheerfully say “yes,” driven by the desire to help the kids they serve. While the uninformed outsider might make a flippant comment about those counselors getting “summers off” as if it’s an easy gig, it’s difficult for me to think of a group of professionals more richly deserving of a break from serving and the space to do what they want to do.

But I also know how many of those same counselors just aren’t wired to trade selflessness for a bit of selfishness, even when given the opportunity to do so. If you struggle with the balance and want to find a way to make the most of your time off, both personally and professionally, here are two past posts that might help: one with my summer suggestions for high school counselors, and another with Patrick O’Connor’s suggestions of what not to do over summer break.

High school counselors, I hope you’re able to do whatever’s best for you to make the forthcoming summer one that recharges and refreshes you to come back to the very important work you do for your students.