The director of PBA’s counselor education program prayed for each of the ten PBA Orlando counseling graduates at an intimate hooding ceremony earlier this month.
The graduates earned their Master of Science degrees in Clinical Mental Health Counseling or School Counseling. Dr. Chelly Templeton, dean of the School of Education and Behavioral Studies, began the program by acknowledging difficulties the students faced during the pandemic, calling them “the definition of grit.”
James Hicks, lead pastor of Greater Faith World Center in Apopka and one of the graduates, gave the opening prayer.
Student Lorraine Villar was selected by her peers to share graduate reflections. Villar acknowledged the personal losses that individual students experienced throughout the program and the ways they supported one another through those hard times. The integration of faith and learning allowed students to lean into each other for support and trust the process they were undergoing, she said.
Graduates Helene Moreau, Desta Cil and Nadege Nicolas asked to be added to the program to present each of the Orlando counseling faculty with a gift and a card signed by all of the graduates.
Each of the five PBA Orlando counseling faculty spoke to the graduates prior to the individual hooding of each graduate. Dr. Devie Forrester, director of the counselor education program, closed with prayer.
The ten graduates will be recognized again at the 2022 Commencement in May.
