Mary Ann Larios

Mary Ann Larios is helping students to find their career path everyday as a career counselor at Anoka-Ramsey community college (ARCC); ironically she didn’t always know that this is what she would one day be. Larios actually changed her career path several different times in her life before she discovered her true calling as a community college counselor. After graduating high school, Larios attended McAlister College in St. Paul Minn., initially majoring in vocal performance. However after her freshman year she decided to change her major and transferred to St. Benedict where she pursued a career in interior design.

After graduating from St. Benedicts in 1982 with her bachelor of interior design, Larios decided it was time to “go out and see what was out there.” She moved to Colorado Springs, Colo. where she lived with her older sister. However, due to the struggling economy at the time Larios was forced to move to Phoenix Ariz. where she had heard there were jobs available in the interior design field.

Larios worked as an interior designer and enjoyed it for about six years. During her mid-twenties however, she started working as a volunteer with soon-to-be moms and realized that counseling was her real passion “I found I was getting so much more reward and satisfaction from this volunteer work then I was when I was an interior designer.” Larios admitted. Larios decided to go back to school and received her masters in counseling from Arizona State university and later went on to gain her PhD in human services from Walden university .

At first Larios was intrigued by junior high and high school counseling, but after a couple of informational interviews she could sense that these schools were not for her. It was a friend of her husbands who introduced her to community college counseling and after a couple more informational interviews she knew that this was the job she was meant to do. “Typically people in a community college are in the realm of wanting to improve their life through education, and it’s really exciting to be a part of that.” She exclaimed.

She admits that even though she loves working at ARCC it is sometimes hard because she does not always know the outcome of different students she has helped. “I might have some students come talk to me about a personal issue, or their career or whatever it is and that might be the end of it, but I don’t know how their life progressed, and I think when your in a community college setting that’s typically the case.”

Now after what seems like a long journey Larios is happy to say that she has found a perfect match for her life. What she says she loves most about her job is the diversity of her workload. She says that her work excites her because she is not always doing the same thing over and over again. Along with counseling Larios also takes part in many different mental development workshops at the school, in addition to teaching an online career development course. Larios really enjoys the educational environment of ARCC knowing that her work associates are always supportive of her and her different ideas.

For Larios, it is both the faculty and students at ARCC that makes coming to work everyday a treat. She is overwhelmed by her colleges’ fantastic work ethic as well as the willingness of students at ARCC to succeed. She loves knowing that she can make a difference in their lives and thrives on it. “I wouldn’t call it helping people, because people help themselves, but I enjoy being on that journey with them. To me, it’s very exciting.”