Counselling activity: how collaboration expands students’ horizons

At my school, I founded what I call the Horizons Club. I chose this name because it accurately reflects the club’s goal: to help students see further, dream more and realise that opportunities are not limited by the borders of our own country. 

The idea of the club is quite simple: to bring together students who want to study abroad and give them the opportunity to work together to achieve their goals. 

Every week, we gather in a room and spend time working on the students’ applications and essays – or just share new information that we have discovered. Instead of each student working alone, they suddenly have a small team – and this changes the whole process. 

Horizons Club: combining strengths

One of the features of Horizons Club is that each student brings their own strengths to the group. For example, one student may be really good at writing essays and helping others to finalise their drafts. Another student may have excellent command of the Common App system and can show the group how to navigate it. 

Some of them focus on US universities, while others know a lot about Europe or Asia. It turns into a community where everyone is a student and a teacher at the same time. 

It is this element of equality that makes the club so effective. Our weekly classes are never just boring lectures. We make them interactive and practical. Sometimes we brainstorm essay ideas in pairs, helping each other to find personal stories. At other times, we conduct trial interviews where students practise answering questions in front of a group. 

From time to time, we invite graduates to share their experiences and inspire others. This is not only useful, but also allows students to feel like they are part of something bigger. 

In addition to our weekly meetings, the Horizons Club organises larger events once a month or at the end of each semester. One of my favourite examples is our Global Opportunity Fair, where students prepare small presentations about universities in different countries. This opens the eyes of other students at the school who may not have previously considered international study. 

At the end of each semester, we also hold bootcamps – two intensive days dedicated to goals such as writing an essay or resumé, or preparing scholarship applications. These training camps are challenging, but very rewarding, because students leave with self-confidence and a sense of real progress. 

How to set up your own Horizons Club

If another counsellor wants to set up their own Horizons Club, there are a few simple steps to follow: 

1. Start with a small group of motivated students and encourage them to take responsibility for what they are good at.
2. Plan a weekly time and place for meetings.
3. Make sure that each session is clearly focused on one thing – but at the same time conduct it flexibly so that students can freely share their ideas.
4. The main thing is to create a positive, motivating culture in which no one feels alone in the process.

Our Horizons Club has had a huge impact. Students acquire skills and knowledge, but they also develop teamwork, leadership and resilience skills. For me, the biggest success is how the atmosphere has changed throughout the school. Applying abroad is no longer seen as a rare dream. Instead, it seems possible – and even exciting – for anyone with the motivation to try. 

As a counsellor, I have also learned a lot from this experience. I realised that students need not only individual guidance, but also a sense of community and inspiration. When you bring motivated students together, they naturally push each other forward in a way that no single counsellor can do. 

With creativity, collaboration and the right environment, we can transform the stressful international application process into something positive, inspiring – and even fun.