“The single fish in the sea”: Exploring the Lived Experiences of Rural School Counselors Earning RAMP

Empirical scholarship exploring the Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP) process in rural school communities is notably lacking. In response to this gap, we conducted a phenomenological study with eight rural school counselors who successfully navigated the RAMP process. Participants shared influential reasons for pursuing RAMP, supporting factors in that work, obstacles that occurred during their RAMP pursuit, and outcomes related to earning the distinction. The findings support the need for RAMP resources geared toward school counselors working in rural settings. We discuss further implications in the article.