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Name: Geni Bird
Title: Adjunct faculty
Department: Counseling, Special Education and Rehabilitation
Academic Degree(s):

• B.A. Liberal Studies, Fresno State
• M.S. Counseling, Fresno State
• Pupil Personnel Services Credential, Fresno State

I am a first-generation college student and the only one in my family to obtain a degree from Fresno State.

How long have you worked at Fresno State and in which offices have you worked?
16 years as adjunct faculty for the Counseling Department and as a school counselor at University High School.

Are you a Valley native?
I am a Fresno native, having grown up and attended school within the Fresno Unified district. My educational journey took me through Eaton Elementary, Ahwahnee Middle School, and Hoover High.

Later on, the Fresno State women's soccer team recruited me, and I had the honor to be part of the first team that won the WAC Championship in 1999, and head to the NCAA Tournament.

Do you have a campus mentor or someone who has helped you in your career?
Dr. Sarah Lam was my advisor while in the counseling program. She assisted me with my master’s project and was my biggest supporter while on the path to a school counseling career. It was her advocacy and reference that led to me years later becoming adjunct faculty for the Counseling Department.

Tell us about your department and what people may not know about it.
The School Counseling option in the Department of Counseling and Rehabilitation is relatively a small group of faculty. In addition to myself, we have a few other adjunct faculty that work full time as school counselors in the neighboring school districts.

The one thing I love about our department is that adjunct faculty are involved in many decisions and opportunities within the department. I have had the opportunity to assist with developing the comprehensive exam questions, participating in interviews for faculty members and incoming graduate students into the program.

What is your most notable accomplishment in your field, and why was it important?
I was asked to be a keynote speaker for Student Housing at their Academic Success Banquet. I felt honored that the work I was doing in the Counseling Department was being recognized by colleagues and graduate students that in turn selected me and my educational journey to be shared with undergraduates.

What are you most passionate about in your field and why?
Counseling is more than just helping others but about building trusting partnerships with students, families, and the community. I am honored to be a school counselor and take my professional knowledge and expertise and pour it into the graduate students. I treat my graduate students as future colleagues and want them to be equipped to create systemic change and social justice across all educational institutions.

What is a memorable moment you had at your job?
I have had many memorable moments in this job but what is most memorable is when I see my former graduate students at counseling conferences, and they express to me how appreciative they are for what I taught them in class, because that is what ultimately led them to getting a school counseling job.

What is a memorable moment you had in class?
After five semesters of teaching online during the pandemic, I remember the first day back to in-person teaching during fall 2022. I welled up with tears of happiness to finally be back in person with my graduate students. Human connection is very important to me and Zoom teaching prevented me from forming those deeper connections with my graduate students.

What is your teaching style?
I am all about providing practical and real life experiences into my teaching. I find that my graduate students learn more from me when they hear how I have handled certain situations in the counseling field versus only using the theories and case studies out of my course textbook.

I also like to include professional development into my assignments such as creating a portfolio, resume, counseling philosophy and even a mock interview with a panel of educators as a final.

What is your favorite quote or saying?
Do the things that most people won’t, and you will have the things that most people don’t.

What is the most interesting or unusual job you've ever had?
I worked at the Disney store in Fashion Fair Mall while in college. My job was to stand by the entrance door and greet every person that walked into the store. This was intentional to prevent theft but very exhausting saying hello to hundreds of customers.

Geni Bird leading her high fitness class

What do you like to do for fun in your spare time?
I love to exercise and pretty much work out almost every day. I am a certified high fitness instructor and teach a fitness class one night a week at GB3 North.

What is something interesting about you that most people don’t know?
I am a concert junkie. I have been to over 30 Dave Matthews Band concerts and hundreds of more other artists across all musical genres.

Geni Bird and her family at a Dave Matthews Band Concert