Finding Balance

Through seeing the hardships of those around her, she discovered her passion for helping them shine a flashlight on their shadows.

Angela Rector is a licensed counselor at Tennessee Tech. College students can go to her when they feel suffocated by their stress and anxiety. The root of her love for counseling stems from her pull to help others in her early life.

Her passion also derived from her earlier education, though there was pressure from her family to take a different career path. Coming from a line of doctors and engineers, there was always a looming expectation for her to follow in their footsteps.

Many relatives believed she would be more financially successful if she pursued one of the careers her family members had, but that did not stop her. She said, “These are great fields, but they are not for me. I chose counseling for the reward I receive knowing I give people hope.”

Rector reflected on a tragic story she heard which traveled through the desks of her seventh grade classroom. One of her classmates was scared to verbalize her struggles with an alcoholic father. The girl expressed how she did not have a safe space to exist. After hearing this, Rector opened her home to her and let the girl stay with her family.

Rector never placed herself into a category during school, rather she tried to speak up for the voiceless. This admirable and empathetic quality later became the reason for her declining mental health once she entered the workforce.

Rector found herself working excessive hours and was unable to say no when it came to helping people. She described, “There was a point that I failed to implement self-care and became emotionally exhausted.”

Not only did these overwhelming work conditions impact her mental health, but they also damaged her ability to work and maintain her relationships with her family. Rector began neglecting her family and was not able to be the best version of herself for her clients, which was a pattern she knew she could not continue.

When she felt her lowest, she began utilizing important practices such as self-care and mindfulness. Rector discovered ways to create a division line between her work and personal life. She says, “One way that helps me shift my focus is to call a family member as soon as I get in the car at the end of my workdays.”

The practice of taking care of yourself is not something learned overnight. It can become easy to place our personal challenges in a closed-up box in order to focus on helping others, but it will impact our lives in ways we are unaware of.

“Achieving a measure of work-life balance helps to maintain a healthy personal life, as well as a successful worklife,” Rector says.

She wishes to remind anyone choosing the same rewarding yet difficult career path to always take care of yourself and remain genuine. She also highlights the significance of making connections with others, both in and out of the workplace.

Rector is able to be a healthy and successful counselor today thanks to her cultivated support network and due to her practice with setting boundaries, which allows her to not overexert herself.

Equipped with her ability to implement a balance of self-care and hardwork, she continues to help students get through any dark days of depression and anxiety they face during college.