UW Grad Student Receives Counseling Scholarship

The NBCC Foundation, an affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors Inc., recently awarded a $5,000 2016 NBCC Foundation rural scholarship to University of Wyoming student Carlos Uriel Garcia Santiago, of Laramie.

The scholarship is awarded to counseling students who commit to practicing in rural areas upon graduation.

The mission of the NBCC Foundation is to leverage the power of counseling by strategically focusing resources for positive change. The foundation created the rural scholarship in 2009 to improve access to counseling services in rural communities, which suffer disproportionately from a lack of mental health care. More than 40 students from across the country applied for the five 2016 rural scholarships.

As a rural scholarship recipient, Garcia Santiago will receive $5,000 to support his counseling education and recognize his commitment to the underserved. A graduate of Casper College, Garcia Santiago is a master’s student in the mental health counseling program at UW.

Upon graduation, Garcia Santiago intends to work with children and transition-age youth minorities, particularly those who have suffered trauma in their early stages of development and are first-generation college students. He also would like to work with people who are often marginalized, such as traditionally underrepresented ethnic minorities, LGBT individuals and people living in rural areas lacking mental health services.

Earning this scholarship will allow Garcia Santiago to attend counseling conferences to establish a stronger professional identity as a counselor; learn evidence-based practices to better serve underserved populations; and advocate for the counseling profession.

The NBCC Foundation is the nonprofit affiliate of the National Board for Certified Counselors, based in Greensboro, N.C. NBCC is the nation’s premier professional certification board devoted to credentialing counselors who meet standards for the general and specialty practices of professional counseling.