Speaking and bonding with students, replying to interminable emails, helping sophomores schedule their classes, and attending a plethora of meetings all crowd the schedule of a Lead Counselor. But Marc Genwright, the sophomore lead counselor, loves this about his job. He loves the challenge of creating relationships with a diverse group of students and walking them through the complicated system of high school. Every day is different for him, and he’s grateful for that.
Genwright didn’t begin his college journey with the goal of becoming a school counselor. He originally planned on majoring in Computer Information Systems which is under the business school umbrella. But as he started courses his sophomore year he began to have thoughts of being a teacher. Then one time late at night as he was troubleshooting a code, he decided it was time to change his major. Genwright said, “I’ll never forget; I was working on a program till about four am in the morning, and I couldn’t figure it out. I was missing a period. So I said, ‘this is not gonna work’, and I went and changed my major.”
Two years later, in 1997, Genwright graduated from Georgia Southern with a degree in Business Education. He became a teacher, and sponsored school clubs which provided him the opportunities to meet a larger group of students. He began to connect with his students and he would meet to discuss their goals and aspirations. The type of work a counselor does. His passion, he realized, was working and counseling students outside of the classroom. Genwright said, “I had a school counselor in high school who was very inspirational to me, so I decided to go that route. School counseling was the area I felt would fit me best.”
He hasn’t looked back. For the last 20 years, Genwright has been a counselor. One truth he has grasped from counseling are the challenges it poses. One challenge is North Atlanta’s vast diversity, and this reality is one Genwright gets to explore and test daily. He maneuvers the challenge of a diverse student body gracefully in order to put them in a position to succeed beyond high school. “I enjoy the challenge. You have to be versatile, and be able to change on the spot. But that’s my favorite part about being a school counselor,” said Genwright.
Beyond our eleven floors Genwright enjoys an active life. He aims for a regular routine of cardio and resistance training, but isn’t hesitant to drop the weights and gym equipment to take a hike in the woods. He and a group of friends sign up for local 5k’s together and “try” the 4th of July Peachtree Marathon.
It seems Marc Genwright thrives in challenging environments. Whether it’s while he’s counseling, or “trying” a 10k, he enjoys the challenge and finds it extremely rewarding.
