This article appeared in Sarasota Herald-Tribune (FL), Style Magazine. in the February 2005 issue.

Good Counsel
By Ruth Lando

Susan Samson is the first person I've interviewed "At Lunch" who never touched her food. I worried that my questions were too disruptive to allow my intelligent, consummately elegant guest to enjoy her food and talk at the same time. But she assured me that she was just "too energized" to eat; too deep in thought and concentrated on each answer to be able to give her food the attention it deserved. She took everything home intact and promised to tackle it later.

This is a woman who clearly thinks and feels fervently about everything she undertakes, whether serving as an independent educational consultant to teens and their families; entertaining guests in the stunningly modern and artistic home she shares with her South African-born, vascular surgeon husband, Russell; or parenting her children, Andrew, 25, and Paige, 22.Since moving to Sarasota from Scarsdale, N.Y., 18 years ago, the 5-foot-8-inch former Bergdorf Goodman and Bloomingdale's floor model has been known as an effective and dedicated Pine View school volunteer. For years, she used her dual master's degrees in education and applied human development and counseling from Columbia University Teachers College in New York to advise and be an advocate for her own children, who went on to the University of Pennsylvania (Andrew) and Emory (Paige).

Now that Andrew has graduated and started a career in television writing in Los Angeles and Paige is a senior at Emory majoring in psychology, Samson wants every child and parent tackling the tough decisions and preparations for college to benefit from her education, research and personal family experience. Working alongside her own children, Samson saw that "the application process for college had become more complex and demanding than ever ... That's when I decided to dedicate myself to helping other parents survive this tedious but ultimately gratifying journey."

Samson has a knack for establishing an easy rapport with teenagers, who sense her efforts to "meet them where they're at ..." Amazingly, she says, they'll listen to her when the same advice from a parent might be completely ignored. When she counsels a confused high school senior to get organized, follow certain guidelines for a "self-inventory" or to check out colleges that he or she might not have considered, they generally follow through. She might advise a new strategy for tackling the ACT or SAT tests, help sharpen a resume and polish the dreaded college admissions essays, or even suggest taking a "gap" year off before continuing on to higher education. Not all of her clients see her because they want a leg up applying to a prestigious school, however. Some will go to community college, get a job or attend vocational school after high school; but all will have given their futures a lot more careful consideration, Samson says.

"Parents want peace of mind, I think. You can never guarantee that ... but you can do your research. There's so much that the parents can access on the Internet that with just a little bit of coaching it can become their thing too ... and of course, there's that dynamic of having a third person involved ... I like to be part of the team." She also collaborates with a clinical psychologist to provide coaching and test-taking strategies for students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

For Samson, helping parents to better understand their children before they ship them off to the "real world" is a valuable service. "I've always felt that before you send your child away to school you should know who they are mentally," she says. "You wouldn't NOT give your child a physical every year. And yet we're so quick to send our kids away and not really know (who they are) on a psycho-educational level. All of their safety nets are taken away when we send the student away, not really knowing what they are capable of or how they're going to be affected by a different lifestyle and leaving home ..."

Samson pays particular attention to inconsistencies in a student's academic transcript or test performance; the strengths of extra-curricular activities; work experience; volunteerism and career objectives; not to mention the family's finances. If a student is deferred or rejected by a school, Samson is hurt for them, but tries to remain philosophical. "It's hard not to take it personally," the counselor says. "But it doesn't change the person you are if you are not accepted. You have to think of the bigger picture."

To hone her counseling skills -- which are offered as an adjunct to the high school guidance counselor's role, not as competition -- Samson attends national conferences, visits dozens of colleges and universities and participates in e-mail conferences with her peers. To help students explore all their options, maximize their potential and discover what kind of school would make them happy, she asks them to take a personality assessment test and to investigate different sorts of environments. They're encouraged to consider their strengths and weaknesses and the quality-of-life issues they most value. Some start working with her as an academic coach when they enter high school while others wait until their junior year. Many go through up to 15 conference sessions at Samson's home office. Others pay an hourly fee for tutoring.

A former teacher and counselor born in the Bronx and raised in Paramus, N.J., until she was 11, Samson comes from a loving family that encouraged her to excel in school. When she met Russell in March 1975 on a blind date set up by her parents, he had two strikes against him: he was a South African doctor (she had already had a bad experience with one) and was 45 minutes late. "It's gotta get better, because it can't get any worse," she remembers telling him. By September, they were engaged and the attractive couple will celebrate their 30th anniversary this fall. "He's the best thing that ever happened to me," Susan now says. "We complement each other well."

As for her own career, Samson says, "I knew I should get my master's and I knew I loved kids, but did I really know how much I was going to love the field? No. Being a parent brought that dimension of appreciation to the process ... and certainly the insight. I'm a much better counselor now than I could have been 25 years ago. I think having Paige and Andrew definitely brought some depth to the way that I see things ... that it's not so much about the grades, it's about the emotional experience and the quality of life."

Above all, she wants students to be themselves, not what they think a college admissions officer is looking for. "You mustn't think that you have to do things in order to make your resume look good. If you are authentic, if you are true to yourself and do what you love, that will shine through on an application." *

WHERE WE ATE: Turtle's Restaurant on Little Sarasota Bay

WHAT WE ATE: We both ordered seafood gumbo and Susan a garden salad. I had a crab cake.