‘My biggest cheerleader’
After her commencement was delayed by the pandemic, an area woman got to walk across the stage with her daughter, a fellow graduate
When Janea Meeks walked across the stage last month at National Louis University’s commencement ceremony to get her master’s degree in mental health counseling, she did not do so alone. Her mother, Jenille Gunter-Harlan, was on that same stage, receiving her own master’s degree in mental health counseling.
There’s one other aspect that made the ceremony unforgettable: Meeks is pregnant, so one more family member was present at the moment.
“That was even more exciting,” Gunter-Harland said, “walking across the stage with my first daughter and my first grandchild.”
“Oh, yeah — because I was pregnant when I walked across the stage,” said Meeks, who lives in Country Club Hills. “That’s cute. We’ll have to tell her that later.”
Although the two women have already begun work at different counseling-related jobs, they hope to eventually open a practice together that serves individuals, families and former inmates.
Gunter-Harland, who lives in Bolingbrook, actually earned her degree in 2020, but because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the commencement ceremony was virtual. This year, the university decided to allow last year’s graduates to participate in this year’s in-person ceremony. “So because of COVID we ended up participating in the same ceremony,” Meeks said.
Walking across the stage together Oct. 9 was extra special because of the extremely close relationship between mother and daughter.
“It was amazing to be able to participate in a ceremony with my daughter, my firstborn who had been my biggest cheerleader,” Gunter-Harland said. “I wouldn’t have been in the program without her. … I really feel like it was supposed to be that way. We were supposed to walk in the ceremony together.”
Meeks agreed that it was an emotional experience.
“It was a long time coming for her, so I was just so proud of her for actually enrolling in the program and then seeing it through. I knew she was passionate about it for years,” she said. “And then being able to participate with her was just so different and phenomenal because of how the way it worked out with COVID.”
Other relatives, both at the ceremony and watching virtually, were just as moved by how it worked out, Gunter-Harland said. “They were definitely as excited as we were.”
“We’re both very close to our family so it was emotional for them as well,” Meeks said. “My grandmother was able to be there — she’s in Georgia now — so she flew in. She said it was an exciting experience to see both her daughter and granddaughter on the stage.”
Gunter-Harlan, whose degree is in mental health counseling as well as school counseling, began working with a private practice last year because the pandemic made getting into a school nearly impossible. “That was not my plan,” she said, but “in my opinion, God always has
the final say.”
This year, as schools reopened to in-person learning, she took on a family counseling role as family and community liaison.
“It’s been a great experience,” she said. “There are growing pains because it’s a new position. … I am basically bridging the gap between the community, the school, the family, making sure families have resources they need.”
She works as the liaison during the day and with a private practice in the evenings.
“I know that I’m where I need to be,” Gunter-Harlan said. Although she works with couples, adults and children, “I do really believe in starting young — they need that mental support.”
Meeks also is at a private practice.
“I specialize in domestic violence, sexual assault but I also see depression and anxiety,” she said. “I work primarily with adults.”
They have high hopes for their future practice.
“We’re both passionate about families and community, and bridging whatever gaps to resources different populations need within the community,” Meeks said. “One of the populations that I’m interested in inmates or recently incarcerated individuals. That transition back into society and bringing those resources whether it be counseling, job placement, education.
“We’re (also) both very passionate about education,” she continued. “We are interested in starting our own practice later on down the line but we want it to be more than just a practice — more than just counseling. We want to be able to bring all of those resources.”
Gunter-Harlan said her daughter is passionate about helping inmates and the people around them.
“We want to work with the whole family as a unit, want to work with the community as a unit,” she said, trying to get to deeper reasons for what happened to someone to put them back on the right path. “There might have been some things that start really young, in a child, that fester because of their environment or things they’re exposed to. We want to address issues like that.”
She praised her daughter, calling her “extremely intelligent: and saying she does a great job with youth, even though she doesn’t counsel many of them for mental health.
“There are areas she might not want to work with youths when it comes to their mental health journey, but she may when it comes to academics be a huge resource. So that’s why when Janea said we’re looking outside of the box — not just counseling — we want to make sure that we can work within the community to help families, and tutoring might be part of it.”
As she explained, families might have some concerns about a child’s mental health that have led to academic concerns.
“A student may be struggling in school and there are some delays and that student is embarrassed and not really getting the proper help because they’re acting out having behavioral issues,” Gunter-Harlan said.
Meeks said they expect it will probably be five years before they open their own practice, thanks to licensing requirements and the need to gain experience.
“I think we’re both in agreement that we want to pull as such as we can from our outside realm before starting our own practice. That’s why I have felt it’s very important to stay with private practice so I can really get that experience. That’s why my mom has enjoyed the merger of private practice as well as working with the school.”
The women are looking forward to working together in private practice, just as they did during the master’s degree program at NLU.
Gunter-Harlan said going through the master’s degree program with her daughter was amazing.
“Even though she’s my daughter, my child, I learn a lot from her. I can’t say that enough. … It was such a tremendous experience. I can’t think of anyone else I would want to share it with, honestly.”