Q+A with Jaclyn Hesling

Q: What’s your role at CHS?

I am part of the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) program. We do assessments on youth at the schools, then plan their goals and provide one-on-one counseling for substance use. This year I’m so excited because I get to provide services for the Turlock School District where I went to school.

Q: How are students referred for SUD services?

I have clients referred through the school administration and teachers, a lot of the times. We also get counselors who will refer students if they see that the student is having a problem. Sometimes a parent has found something in their kid’s room. Those parents have called the schools and asked if there are resources the school can recommend.

Q: What is your most memorable story from your time in SUD?

I had a student that was referred to me because he was just so out of it he couldn’t carry on a sentence. His grades were failing, it was not a good situation. Every drug test showed that marijuana was what was causing him to be that incoherent. He was with me for services for at least a year. He was set to not graduate, but over time while he was seeing me and the mental health clinician, his grades started to improve. We were able to actually have conversations with him. He was working on his goal to finish high school and be able to graduate and walk at his graduation. He went from smoking and drinking every single day to every now and then, then a weekend here and there. He improved his grades and was able to walk at graduation. Shortly before that, he got his first job and that was really exciting!

Q: What contributes to the success of a youth in the SUD program?

I think a big thing that contributes to the overall success of the program is a relationship with the school and the administration. I noticed that we get more referrals when we’re located at the schools and they can see a face and they keep our program in the front of their mind. I think with the students it’s being real with them, letting them know we’re here to support them. A lot of us in SUD have a background of substance use and that’s why we do this job. I feel like when the students know that we have been where they are at, they are more comfortable talking to you. I think that really helps because a lot of them are told what to do or shouldn’t do, but a lot of times it’s coming from people that they don’t think understand them. I try to tell my students, “Look I’ve been on the other side of this table, I’ve been where you are so I understand some of what you’re going through” and I feel like that helps.

Q: How do your students inspire you?

I love working with the kids that I work with. And the kids that I work with are usually not straight-A students. I just feel like when I see little successes with them or they start to kind of get it, it just makes me want to go to work. When I went to the continuation school graduation last year it just felt like it meant more than your average high school kid graduating. Some of my clients were not going to graduate, or they came from places that they didn’t think they would make it through high school, and then they graduate, and it’s just like, “Okay, I wanna see that again.”

Q: Is there anything else you want to share?

I just feel really fortunate to be able to do the job I love out of the school sites and I don’t feel like my job is the same every day. I don’t think I’d want to do anything else. Whenever I think about it I don’t ever feel like I don’t want to work today. I always look forward to seeing my students.