Meet Sean O’Connor, Seton High School English Counselor

Meet Sean O’Connor, a relative newcomer to our staff here at Seton.

Sean spent part of his boyhood in the historic town of Gloucester in Virginia’s Tidewater, where in addition to homeschooling he spent his time swimming, boating, and crabbing. After graduation, he attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas.

In addition to earning his degree in English literature at Benedictine and receiving various academic honors, Sean also participated in various campus activities and ministries.

He was a part of Saint Paul’s Outreach, whose goal is to build Catholic evangelistic communities on college campuses and to send Catholic graduates into the world as missionaries for Christ.

Sean helped organize retreats, talks, and worship services, and often played the violin for daily Mass.

On a typical day at Seton, Sean finds himself answering phone calls from parents and students, helping them with assignments, writing letters of recommendation for students applying to colleges, and reading over lesson plans to consider ways for improvement.

“My greatest satisfaction is helping students succeed,” Sean says. “I like helping them find the answer to a problem—not just giving them the answer, but enabling them to get on the right path.”

He finds that some of the difficulties that arise often, particularly when students are disappointed in the grades they receive on essays, come when students neglect to read carefully the guidelines for writing the essay.

Sean then adds,

“One thing to remember is that we are all improving as writers, one essay at a time, one paragraph at a time. Not receiving a perfect score on an essay is not necessarily indicative of your talent for writing. All writers, even the best ones, constantly strive for improvement.”

Meet More Seton Staff…

Manuel Vicente – Spanish and Science Counselor

Cecilia Sauer – General Counseling

Don Valaike – Counselor Emeritus

Deacon Gene McGuirk – Director of Counseling

Thomas Centrella – Production Editing Specialist

Kathleen Hunt – Special Services Counselor

Darin Byrne – Seton Admission Counselor

Sean O’Connor, Seton High School English Counselor