Testimonial: 'Already One Step Ahead'

Photo by Lindsay Henwood on Unsplash

Intern Testimonial

Maria Laham
University of Massachusetts - Boston, Class of 2015

"Peace circles [now, 'Unity Circles'] is the main reason I have continued into graduate school. Peace circles, its students, and Val have all had a part in my current goal to receive my masters in school counseling and mental health counseling.

This program has shaped me into the school counselor and mental health counselor that I am today. As much as we learn from books, it's a whole different ball game when you actually go through it. With my time at Peace Circles, I've learned how to work with students dealing with trauma or heavy hitting challenges in so many different ways that I never learned in class.

My first semester of graduate school I took a class on group dynamics and I was already a step ahead from my classmates because of Peace Circles. I knew how to control the group and pose questions that are in general terms so that each student can answer it from their own points of views. Without Peace Circles, I wouldn't have know what i wanted to do with my bachelors degree and more so, I wouldn't have a great counseling foundation for my current masters education."