With the start of a new school year comes new students, but what is often overlooked are the staff that have also transferred to new districts. Among the new staff members is Ms. Christine Flores, who has been working as a counselor in this district since August. Mrs. Flores remarks about how her passion for counseling evolved, what appealed to her about working in San Marino, and she shares advice for both students and staff about how to utilize online learning efficiently. 

A self-driven woman, Mrs. Flores initially dreamt of being a police officer in law enforcement. Flores graduated from college and earned her master’s degree, becoming the first in her family to achieve this feat. However, when she realized that her passions lay elsewhere, she began to deviate away from her dream of becoming a police officer. “I just started getting interested in working in the juvenile courts, and all of a sudden I was like ‘What if I [can] get to students before then?’” Flores said. To her, the most valuable component of counseling is getting to know students in different environments, including in their classes, clubs, and sports. Hence, Mrs. Flores tries her best to be “[…] involved in everything outside of just the walls of the school,” she said.

Additionally, Mrs. Flores elaborated on which attributes of SMHS appealed to her. She liked the concept of a small community and how  “[…] college-driven the campus and the students are […] there’s just so much growth that you see in students from the ninth to the twelfth grade,” she said. Unfortunately, she can not interact in person with students due to recent global situations, so she shares advice on how online learning should be utilized to have the most benefits possible. “It’s the effort of the students with their teachers and participating in class, but also vice versa [that is important]; the teachers need to connect with students on a very unique level,” Mrs. Flores said to explain how everyone needs to cooperate to reach positive results. 

Mrs. Flores’ family and surroundings inspired her to become a self-driven person with the career aspiration of becoming a high school counselor. Since everyone is navigating the same pandemic journey in different ways, Mrs. Flores has bestowed valuable advice that is available to anyone that needs it. Thus, since online school is new for everyone, “[…] we have to make that effort to still connect with people on what our needs are,” she said.