Mercer Grad Student Wins National Counseling Essay Contest

Martha A. Nodar, a student in 's Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program, placed second in the American Counseling Association 2012 Corey Graduate Student Essay Competition. Nodar's essay was selected as runner-up from among more than 100 entries nationwide.

Nodar will be recognized by Dr. Barbara Herlihy, chair of the American Counseling Association Foundation, at the association's national convention in San Francisco, CA, on March 24. In addition to a cash award, Nodar's 500-word essay will also appear in the May issue of Counseling Today, the monthly periodical of the American Counseling Association.

"When I entered the competition last fall I had no idea my essay would be one of the finalists," Nodar said. "I submitted my essay simply out of an innate love for the written word. I have a passion for understanding human behavior, beginning with my own."

Nodar lives in Decatur and is currently a freelance journalist for the Reporter newspapers, including Buckhead Reporter, Brookhaven Reporter, Sandy Springs Reporter and the Dunwoody Reporter. After graduation, Nodar plans to pursue her license in clinical mental health professional counseling. She graduated magna cum laude from Oglethorpe University in 2008.