Part of what makes Jesuit successful is not just the experience at the school, but the results that come from it. Jesuit sends students every year to a wide variety of schools, ranging from local schools like Texas Christian University to highly selective ones such as Yale University. This is in large part made possible to Jesuit’s college counseling department.
Recently, Jesuit announced the hiring of former Southern Methodist University’s admissions counselor Mrs. Anna Buehn, who will serve as a college counselor.
Background
Mrs. Buehn grew up in Alma, Georgia, which has a population of about four thousand people. During her childhood, her parents would drive her 45 minutes to the next town over in Douglas, Georgia to attend Citizens Christian Academy. From Citizens Christian Academy, she attended Southern Methodist University.
After college, in 2007, she briefly worked in George W. Bush Administration, serving as an Assistant to the Social Secretary to Vice President Dick Cheney. Returning to her college alma mater, she went to work in the office of undergraduate admission at SMU. There, she reflects, she was exposed to the disparity in education.
During her time at SMU, she married her husband, who served in the Navy, and moved to California. In California, she worked for a political action committee called Alder (now called Gen Next), working towards education reform. From Alder, she was also hired to lead the Antelope Valley Board of Trade, which connected her to the superintendent of the Antelope Valley School District, a very underserved school district. Because of this, she decided to do pro-bono counseling for them.
Following her stay in California, she and her husband moved to Boston so her husband could attend business school. While her husband was attending Harvard’s business school, she worked in transcript evaluation. In 2021, she returned to Dallas with her family and resumed her role in admissions at SMU. From SMU, she was hired at Jesuit as the Director of College Counseling.
Mrs. Buehn’s thoughts on Jesuit
When speaking about Jesuit, she states that she senses, “something different happening here.” She says that Jesuit was the only place that drew her out of SMU. In addition, here she sees a level of commitment from the staff that she doesn’t see anywhere else. According to Mrs. Buehn, she saw teachers who “understood the mission of educators, and people who saw it as a higher calling.”
She also states that she loves how unapologetically Catholic the education is. In particular, she loves the spiritual formation. The thing that sticks out to her, is how supportive the staff has been in helping her with the transition.
Plans for Next Year and Beyond
The counseling department plans to introduce a new 4-year college curriculum:
Freshmen year- the focus will be on appropriate course selection and appropriate grades. She wants the freshmen to know that grades do matter. Another emphasis she wants to the freshmen to know, is to get involved in extracurriculars. Colleges, Mrs. Buehn states, want to see continuity. The hope is that by senior year, they will be serving in leadership roles, such as the head of the club or more shared responsibility.
Sophomore year- Mrs. Buehn encourages sophomores to start visiting schools. She says to start with the local universities, like SMU or TCU. However, she says college visits can be done anytime, for instance a visit to the University of Miami during a trip to Miami. She encourages sophomores to stay committed to extracurriculars and focus on the PSAT.
Junior year- This is the hardest academic year. During this time, she says it is especially important to commit to focus on your grades, along with thinking about leadership opportunities for extracurriculars.
Senior Year– Students focus on completing applications, financial aid, and understanding selective admission vs. automatic admission.
If you see Mrs. Buehn in the hallways, be sure to say hello or stop by her office in the Junior Commons!
Stay Tuned to the Roundup for more new faculty interviews.
