Mrs.Ambriz works as the 12th-grade counselor at Anaheim High School and is one of the newest additions to the counseling team, beginning her new job as a school counselor here just last year. She is a hardworking counselor who loves her job and is genuinely passionate about helping and interacting with students every day. Her educational journey was an essential part of who she is today and all that she has achieved as of now. 

Mrs.Ambriz attended La Quinta High School and was an outstanding student who loved her education and worked to challenge herself with rigorous courses. She took various AP and honors courses while staying involved in school programs such as sports and ASB. She was on her high school’s Soccer and Track and Field team. She continued to be a strong student, working for her goals and learning about responsibility throughout her high school years. She had a love for sciences and initially hoped to become a Pediatrician. However, she kept her options open because of the time it would take. Finally, she decided it would be best to choose a different career path that could be an even better fit. Mrs.Ambriz knew she wanted to work with children, but she was still unsure about selecting a career path. 

She studied at UC San Diego, double majoring in psychology and political sciences, receiving a bachelor’s degree. During her college days, she was still unsure about the specific career that she wanted to pursue, but she felt that taking psychology aligned with her interest and would aid her in a future career of her choosing. Mrs.Abriz shared that by taking psychology, she learned how to understand certain behavioral development stages essential to her current work as a counselor. By learning about behavior, she understood how and why people made certain decisions, giving her insight on human behavior that would help her better understand students’ needs in the future. 

After graduating from the university, she worked for an academic advising office. This job helped her narrow down her options, helping her realize that she wanted to work in a similar field of work. Mrs. Abriz states that “[soon after my previous job] I got a job working at a high school … where I would work with parents, I would work with students, I would translate for meetings, I would provide resources, and I worked really closely with the school counselors. (…) I would translate for a lot of their meetings and would work with some of their parents that they would refer, and then I was like, ‘Hey, I want to do that!'” 

During her work at the high school, she was able to pinpoint what it was she wanted to do; realizing her true calling, she began a new educational journey returning to school to receive her master’s and a PPS credential. 

Before working at Anaheim Highschool, she worked at a district office, but the distance was an issue.  She states, “‘I love my job, but it’s taking away time from my family, and so I needed to find something closer to home.” Soon after beginning her job at a new district, the pandemic resulted in budget cuts. This, unfortunately, forced the school to let her go, as she was one of the newest employees.

Rather than despair, Mrs. Ambriz took this as an opportunity to search for a new position as a school counselor and fortunately found positions open in the AUHSD district. As a firm believer of faith, Mrs.Ambriz shares that she believes that everything happens for a reason and that her arrival at Anaheim School was where she was truly meant to be.