Following the departure of Wellness Center therapist Naomi Burke last year, therapist Taylor Greulich stepped up to take on the role of counseling school students and helping run the Wellness Center.

Coming from San Diego, Greulich utilized her passion for mentoring students as an elementary school teacher at St. Rose of Lima School, teaching fourth grade classes for four years and fifth grade classes for one year.

“The school I taught at didn’t have any mental health support, so I found myself naturally gravitating towards that role,” Greulich said. “I saw how much student mental health impacted their learning at school, and I wanted to get more involved in being that support for students.”

She then got her master’s degree in school-based clinical counseling at the University of San Diego, training at Mt. Carmel High School for a year before coming up to Northern California to work here.

“I love getting to know each student’s unique personality and getting to the point where I can develop a relationship with them — where they feel comfortable, and where they can really be their authentic selves,” Greulich said. 

Greulich’s previous experience with teaching at a high school involved schools with large populations of 2,000 to 2,500 students, which she said did not have the same sense of community that a smaller school like SHS provides.

“If I had to describe what the campus was like when I first walked on, it felt very cozy,” Greulich said. “It feels like a community, it feels very comfortable. I love the size — it being a little bit of a smaller school, and everyone here has just been so welcoming.”

Greulich also expresses the cultural shock at the difference in mindset between Saratoga and her last school, remarking that academic stress is a much bigger factor here. 

She said she was shocked at students’ demanding schedules, as well as many thinking about college even in their freshman year. She expresses concern about the stress levels students are undergoing, but encourages students to take a moment and breathe in between stressful assignments.

“It can be really easy when you’ve got big goals and big dreams to feel like ‘if I take a break, or if I stop, that’s going to hurt me,’” she said. “But taking that break — whether it’s doing some mindfulness, doing some deep breathing, going to play with your dog or stepping outside and walking around the block —  will energize you and recharge you in a way that will, in the end, make you more productive and a bit calmer and more relaxed.”