UOG has been looking to hire an in-house licensed professional counselor for some time, and the search was for someone with the credentials to help high-risk students in their time of emotional turmoil or help students talk through their emotions before they reach a crisis point.

Meanwhile, Ituralde, who holds a master’s degree in counseling psychology and another master’s in education, specializing in educational leadership, had been thinking about going back to Guam to be closer to her aging mother.

So, while Ituralde was contemplating on her possible return to Guam, she received a phone call from UOG, asking if she would consider the counselor position that hadn’t been filled for nearly two years. She came aboard as the Student Behavioral Counselor Supervisor/Wellness Coordinator.

And to her, it felt like the latter was the manifestation of her hope to find a way back home – even if it meant closing a door to a life she also loved in Hawaii.

The opportunity to work directly with and meet the counseling needs of UOG students also helped convince Ituralde that the time was right to leave Chaminade University, a Catholic educational institution, where she worked for more than two decades as Director of Residence Life.

“A lot of my experience is with students who are from the Pacific Islands,” she said, and added that the opportunity to give back to a campus that serves many Pacific islanders was part of what made her feel excited about the move.

This is nearly her second month at UOG, and her availability came at a time when the University Community saw students dealing with the collective grief over the passing of a beloved dean, the late Dr. Margaret Hattori-Uchima of the Margaret Perez Hattori-Uchima School of Health.

Ituralde acknowledged there’s been a great need on campus for the services she has been able to provide.

In the last nearly two months that Ituralde has joined UOG, her office, set up like a living room environment, in someone’s home, has welcomed a steady flow of students. All students, faculty and staff are welcome, and snacks and candies are available for the students as part of helping to make them feel at ease.

Ituralde has provided initial outreach activities, including a recent Welcome Back activity for students for the new Fañomnåkan semester. At the event, she had colorful sticky notes that allowed students to write what feelings they’d like to leave behind as the new year begins, and dump those in a trash bin. She then offered, in return, messages of affirmation for the students to take and hopefully inspire.

“I had students write down anything negative that they wanted to let go that was plaguing them in 2022 then it goes to a trash can so they would have a fresh start in 2023,” Ituralde said.

Random Acts of Kindness Day

On Thursday, Ituralde and Dean Lawrence Camacho, Enrollment Management and Student Success, engaged student organizations on campus to hold a Random Acts of Kindness Day.

In the atrium of the HSS Building, students were offered pizza and a chance to paint rocks and write messages on them to share words of kindness.  More than 50 students participated.

“We’ll be doing more things like that again,” she said.

More events – promoting and encouraging mental health wellness – will be announced as the plans firm up.

For more information or for students, faculty, and employees to schedule a counseling visit, contact:

Venus Leah Ituralde
Student Behavioral Counselor Supervisor/Wellness Coordinator
Room 103, HSS Building
wellness@triton.uog.edu
(671) 735-2890