I wrote the following article/essay for Chi Sigma Iota which is the Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society International that I have been blessed to be a member of since 2002. I won second place in their 2010 Essay Contest on Leadership: The Many Voices of CSI and wanted to share that article with you. It will also be published on their website at: www.csi-net.org.

Leadership: Words from a Past Student, Present Counselor, and Future Entrepreneur

It has been with great pleasure that I received the utmost in a counseling education that a university could provide by attending Bradley University in Peoria, IL. I was invited to become a member of Chi Sigma Iota in 2002. I was a very young 22 year old graduate student who was still finding her footing in the world of counseling and mental health. By becoming a member of the university�s chapter, I gained the knowledge and experience I carry to this day from fellow Chi Sigma Iota members and leaders.

As I entered the working world in 2003 after my graduation at Bradley, I was challenged by the initial position I took as a counselor in chemical dependency and substance abuse. By utilizing my ties to Chi Sigma Iota, following their periodic newsletters, and gaining CEUs offered through the fraternity, I was able to become a highly successful counselor and leader from the start of my early twenties.

Now I am entering a new phase in both my personal and professional careers. I am in the process of opening my own private practice. Without the assistance and resources that Chi Sigma Iota has provided me through the years, I would never have been able to say that I am actually starting my own business. With this new beginning, I want to pursue Dr. Herr�s and Chi Sigma Iota�s mission.  I want to continue to conduct and continually improve my professionalism, leadership, and excellence in the counseling field.  I plan to do this by engaging with the fraternity to promote scholarship and research among students, professors, and practitioners in the mental health community and counseling field. I also plan to take on more leadership roles both within the fraternity and outside with other counseling associations with which I am affiliated.

The future lies ahead, and it looks very bright for both myself and my fellow Chi Sigma Iota members.  "I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow." � Julia Cameron

By: Meghan L. Reitz, MA, LCPC, NCC

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