Headaches, both literal and figurative

Last week the radiator hose in my car busted on the way home from school. I also have had a headache for a week now. I went to the doctor today and seem to be getting better. Basically, I have been sick and busy. That is why I have not updated recently. I will update at some point this week. I feel bad, but then again I only have two followers and am not sure how many people are following my blog. :)

Long Week

Classes started back this week and it has been a bit more difficult than I expected. Then again, I was not expecting to get a full eight hours at my job yesterday. Normally I get sent home between 6p-7p on the weekends. One a positive note, the Tri-C center on campus is open past 5pm during the week. This is awesome news for me because I can get free coffee there. I am at my internship from 9-4ish on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I NEED coffee to make it through my night classes.

I have all my internship papers turned in for the week and I have my hours and interning details updated on my computer. I even created a document that i can check via the "skydive" portion of Outlook mail. This document has all the readings I need to do, weekly class topics, and assignment/ test dates. The cool thing about the file is I can edit it to indicate when I complete a specific task. Yes, I am still keeping a pen/paper planner, but I am able to keep far more detail in this excel file than I can in the tiny blocks of my planner.

This week should be a bit easier. I was at my internship much later on Wednesday than I normally will be there. Monday was a holiday and the group I observe that night was moved to Wednesday. I am really glad that there will not be another Monday holiday anytime soon. I am just glad that I have Fridays off. :D

Well, I am off to work now... The job that actually pays me. Depending on when I get sent home today I will have between 13-16 hours this week. I cannot help but feel that there is some disparity between how much I work each week and how much work I do earns me money. With that said, I know my hard work will pay off at some point.

Observations

I was able to sit in on some one-on-one sessions with clients and the counselor that I am shadowing. I enjoyed listening to the client's plans. One client was thinking about jobs and I was able to give some good recommendations that may help.

Last week when I observed a group about relapse prevention, there was a question about how the government views drugs, or the Drug Schedules. I was able to look up the Drug Schedules and present them to the group this week.

After the groups and everything was finished today the counselor that I am shadowing thanked me for my input and that made me feel good about myself. As a grad student intern it is easy to think that I am not ready to actually contribute to working with clients. Yet, today showed me that I am able to contribute, but I am still glad that I will be supervised.

Tomorrow I will have my first day working on the more Macro side of things at my internship. I am not sure what I will be doing but there was mention of helping with data analysis to assist with grant writing. Will update more on Friday. Also, I will present my Diversity group on Wednesday, Jan 25th. I am excited about this and will update after the group.

First Week at Internship

I spent this week at my internship and I am going to learn quite a bit. I am currently working on a psycho-educational group about diversity and cultural acceptance. There have been a few issues lately with client's disrespecting individual's cultures. Since we are working with adolescents and are trying to teach them real world skills, this group is needed. I believe I will be doing the group on January 25th, unless something changes.
The internship had a welcome ceremony for all the interns and that made me feel welcomed and appreciated. During the ceremony I found out that I will be doing TWO different types of work. In addition to direct practice, I will be doing Macro type work as well. I will be assisting with grant writing and data analysis every Thursday and as needed. I am excited about this because I want to do a thesis and the experience will help me prepare for a thesis. I am also hoping that this experience will help me get a full time job this summer so that I can reduce, or eliminate further student loans.

Book Review

Okay, so I promised to review the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I did not forget, I just have taken a long time to finish the book.

I truly think that you should read this book. I don't care if you watched the movie and hated it. I have not seen the movie but there is no way that celluloid can capture the book's essence. Ms. Gilbert chronicles her journey through Italy, India and Indonesia. Her quest was simple, spend a year healing from her divorce and to bring spiritual enlightenment and balance back into her life. The book is a very candid look into a spiritual journey. Most spiritual journeys only talk about the most amazing and moving parts of the experience. This book captures the real to life, gritty nature of enlightenment; as well as the powerful moments. What struck me the most about this book was the brutal honesty that Ms. Gilbert had about her experiences. Pain is uncomfortable and it takes bravery to reveal one's inner most dialogues in a nationally published book. This book is a must read for anyone on a life changing journey.

Productive Weekend

This weekend I managed to reorganize my room, hang pictures on the wall, install a shelf in the bathroom, add some hooks to my closet and clean my car. School starts back on the 17th of January and I am pretty much ready for classes. I now just need to finish Inheritance by Christopher Paolini. The sooner I can finish the book, the sooner I can start reading for my new classes. Okay, this is a short post because it is late and I want to read some before bed.

Hitting the Ground Running

Yesterday was my first official day at my internship. I have my schedule now and was assigned a counselor to shadow. My first task was to read over the curriculum that the facility uses. Then I observed a meeting with a current client. The last thing I did was to listen in on a telephone assessment of a potential client.

At some point I will be allowed to conduct these assessments and meetings myself. I will also be responsible for writing up progress notes of any conversations I have with clients. Granted, a supervisor must read my notes before I submit them, but I still get to write up notes. I will also get to run small groups. However, I do not know which groups I will be running yet.

Overall I am excite about my internship. I think that there will be plenty to learn, and I will develop my professionalism as well. Again, due to issues of confidentiality I am limited on how much I can reveal about my internship. However, the broad strokes should apply to most any type of Social Science internship.

Sacrifice

One thing that no one prepares you for when you start graduate school is how much you have to sacrifice to do well. The sacrifices I have had to make are not permanent but the choice is not always easy. At the end of the day, the reward for hard work and sacrifices does pay off.

Graduate school means saying no to weekend trips and to excess spending. My habit of going to the movie theater to see the latest blockbuster has also ended. Some of my friends still make weekly trips but I can no longer afford the expense. Free time is sacrificed in order to appease the Grade Fairy. Sleep is often a casualty in the fight to study for exams or complete papers. Granted, these sacrifices were made during undergraduate college. However, these sacrifices are more frequent and longer lasting in graduate school because of the increased workload.

When going to school far away from home, graduate school means you sacrifice spending time with family and friends. This is especially hard when your significant other is also in graduate school far away. For the past week my boyfriend has been visiting me. It was nice to see him again and he was able to meet my family. After I dropped him off at the airport I cried on the way home. It is so hard to say goodbye to someone you love. Yet, I know this sacrifice right now will improve both his and my futures. It is important to me to get my Master in Social Work degree because it is a goal I have set for myself. My boyfriend supports my goal, despite how hard it is on both of us to be apart.

Right now I am sacrificing moments of comfort so that I can become a stronger woman. When we are comfortable we have less incentive to grow and change. When we step out of our comfort zone we can begin metamorphosis. Remember, a pearl cannot be created without a little sand, a diamond without pressure, and people can not become great without a little sacrifice.

My Birthday

Today was my birthday and I had a really nice day with my family. My boyfriend flew in to see me on Friday so that he would be here for the New Year and my Birthday. I have not seen him since the summer and it was incredibly nice to have him here with me today. This morning I opened his gift. He bought me Casablanca and Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. He told me that they were his two favorite romantic movies. I LOVE romantic comedies and have convinced him to watch most of the selection on Netflix with me.

I had to work my part-time job, all two hours of my shift. After work we went to a few places and my boyfriend picked up a deck of Magic the Gathering playing cards. We played Magic quite a bit prior to me moving but he did not want to bring his decks with him for fear that the decks would get lost on the plane. He has been collecting cards for almost 15 years and cannot replace his cards easily if they are lost or damaged. So he picked up the New Black and Red Core deck and actually got several awesome cards. There is a new Red foil vampire that when does damage to a player the vampire gains 2 +1/+1 counters. I was hoping for the card but he likes it too much to part with it.

After shopping we had Angel Food Cake with my parents. I requested Angel Food Cake and berries because I am still trying to loose weight. The cake was very good and work as a nice afternoon snack. My parents got me an insulated water bottle and a padded laptop case. I needed the case because my backpack is not insulated well enough for transporting my laptop to school. We had dinner at Carrabba's and then watched Casablanca while playing Magic.

I know my birthday sounds simple but I really did enjoy the day. I have two more days to spend with my boyfriend before he returns home. It is sad to know his visit is halfway over. Yet, I am so glad he was able to visit. We will be able to see each other over the summer and seeing each other now has helped with the waiting until summer. 

I cannot help but reflect on my year and realize how blessed I really am. My parents are helping me attend graduate school. It is nice not to have to stress about rent or groceries or cooking. Mom takes care of most things when I am in school. My boyfriend and my parents both provide emotional support when school stress is getting to me. Even 1,200 miles away, the companionship with my boyfriend helps keep my spirits up. 

I still feel that traveling 1,200 miles to be with someone on their birthday is love.