Baylee Worth ’21 MEd never met Pete Warren, but she’s honored to have won a Virginia Counselors Association Foundation fellowship named for the longtime counseling professor at University of Lynchburg.
“I’ve heard wonderful things from all who knew him,” Worth said. “It’s an honor to carry his legacy at both the University of Lynchburg and the Virginia Counselors Association.”
Worth, a Lynchburg resident who’s working on a master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling, was notified that she’d won the Pete Warren Graduate Student Fellowship on April 6. The competitive, statewide award comes with a small stipend, along with VCA membership and conference attendance fees. Her professors say it was well-deserved.
“I’ve known Baylee for two years and in that time, she has exemplified what it means to put yourself fully into your education and professional training at the graduate level,” Dr. Daniel Hall, program director and assistant professor of counselor education, said.
“Baylee is the type of student who comes to class ready to engage course material critically, questioning how it combines with her own experience and what that combination means for her in her work as a professional counselor. This award is well-deserved and is a reflection that her dedication to the counseling field is already extending beyond the classroom.”
Worth works as a career services associate at Sweet Briar College, her undergraduate alma mater, and recently started a new job in psychiatric services with local health care provider Centra Health. Where she lands after graduating from Lynchburg next year is still up in the air, but wherever it is, she knows she’ll be helping others.
“Currently, I am weighing two long-term goals,” she said. “One, continuing to provide career counseling services for students in higher education and the other, … continuing inpatient services with Centra Health.
“At its core, I want to use my master’s degree to help the local community.”