Lexie Mullins, excited to help students achieve career and college dreams
After Diedre Cuffee-Gray left her six-year position as ARHS’s College and Career Counselor, Lexie Mullins stepped into the role with enthusiasm, ready to form connections with the student body, helping guide them through the process of creating a vision for their lives after high school.
Mullins grew up in Northern California. She studied psychology at Sonoma State University as an undergraduate and earned her master’s in counseling at Cal State East Bay.
Mullins graduated during the Great Recession in 2010 and has always wanted to be a high school counselor, but faced challenges finding school counselor jobs in California. After her family moved to San Diego, she landed her first job at the University of San Diego in admissions.
“That’s where this journey started,” said Mullins. After that, she was an admissions officer at Smith College in Northampton, followed by a stint as a college counselor at Northfield Mount Hermon, a local boarding school, and admissions at Smith College in Northampton.
Mullins loves working with students, particularly with juniors and seniors, helping them to see the different options that exist and planning their lives after ARHS. “I didn’t know much about college when I was in high school, and my parents didn’t either. I think there is so much out there to know, and I wish I had known more,” she said. “I love sharing what I’ve learned being an admissions counselor.”
As an admissions counselor herself, Mullins read thousands of college applications and learned what colleges are looking for in students. “I feel like I have this insider knowledge. I love being able to demystify the experience and share some tips and advice. I’ve always wanted to be on the other side of the process,” she said.
When reading students’ applications in that role, Mullins said she didn’t really know the students. “[Later], I would interview them and be like, ‘Wow, that’s such an amazing student!’, and then I’d never see them again,” she said. Mullins is excited to be in a job where she can create long-term connections with students and get to know them more.
She said that ARHS has been a welcoming community, and she looks forward to work every day. Adjusting to new software, programs, and remembering everyone’s names has been a learning curve, but everything “has been a dream come true,” said Mullins. “I wanted to work with high school students for years.”
Outside her career, Mullins is deeply devoted to her family. With her husband, she has two kids and a miniature dachshund named Penny. Her daughter does horseback riding, swimming, and plays soccer, and her son swims and will start Taekwondo. Her energetic kids both play string instruments and trombone in their school’s band and orchestra.
Mullins doesn’t have much free time to spend on her own hobbies. “Being a mom is my hobby,” she said. Completing tasks, scheduling appointments, and making family plans are a daily routine.
When time is available, she uses it for reading, meeting with friends, kayaking, camping, and cooking. “I don’t make the same things over and over. I like to try out new recipes. It’s definitely a creative outlet,” said Mullins.
Mullins loves all sorts of cuisines; she and her husband also like to eat out to new places and try things they’ve never tried before. The pair met in their high school years, dating all throughout college before officially getting married after.
As a family, everyone watches shows together during the week for a family movie night. “We do a movie every Friday night, and we rotate who gets to choose what movie,” she said. On Sunday nights, the family watches a family show, the one currently watched being “The Mandalorian.”
Mullins always cherished the connections she’s had with her friends and family and looks forward to new connections she will forge in this job. “I want to be someone [students] can come to. I want to break down those barriers,” she said.
