Ok, so certain parts of both of my previous blogs are now untrue: I have officially fallen behind in my readings. I guess it was an eventual and inevitable evil, but it feels crappy, I don't like it, and sadly, I doubt that I'll make much progress catching up this weekend. I have a paper due on Monday that I have done all of the necessary research for (mostly, I think...), but that's about as far as I've gotten; my ability to procrastinate astounds even me. I intentionally made my schedule so that I'd have every Friday off (which is fantastic, btw), and so my plan was to come to campus, do some additional research, and then get down to the nitty gritty "get this stuff on paper" thing. Yeah, that never really happened. It somehow morphed into doing some research (with intermittent gmail chats, of course), eating lunch with two school friends, and then walking down to the inner harbor and doing a little shopping with one of them. Quite far from productive, but most definitely enjoyable. It's difficult to focus--inside, at a computer--when it's as pretty out as it is today. I'd argue that it's a quality of life issue actually, and then I'd partially blame Peace Corps. Even though I've been back for over three years, I'm still struggling to adjust to the amount of time that we spend indoors. The only time I was inside in Zambia was while I was sleeping, and because my grass roof had so many bare spots and the mud walls had quite a few cracks, "outside" never felt so far away . Truth be told it wasn't, and often came in to find me, in the form of the rats and bats that felt it was their home just as much as it was mine. I digress.....

So, right...there's this paper that I'm dragging my feet on. Most likely I'll continue pushing it off until I no longer can, and Sunday evening I'll be scrambling to get the reference list in APA format. Being a student is a very good thing; my brain hasn't been this exercised in years, but believe the hype, friends: it's tough. My budding social life here in Baltimore doesn't exactly help with staying on top of my school work, but it's a must, and my hope is that once I'm fully in the groove of this new life I'll strike that delicate balance and manage it all effortlessly. I will also learn Spanish, familiarize myself with all of the medical jargon that's used at the hospital where I have my field placement, eat fish at least once a week, develop a taste for jazz, read for pleasure, and think of a really fun Halloween costume. Goal-setting, goal-setting. Reminds me of what my stepdad used to say, "Fail to plan, plan to fail". I always thought it sounded a little too rigid, and I'm actually not sure that I'll follow through with any of these plans, but they're good to have...and sometimes that just has to be enough.

Alright, so no one has emailed me begging for me to let loose with the details of my field placement, but that's not to say that I think you're all disinterested. I only state the obvious because I won't be getting to it today, either. Goes back to that whole planning thing....makes me think of my mom, and her opposing philosophy: "Man plans and God laughs" she'd say. Interesting....

More soon, friends. Time to head outside with my good intentions and my very, very heavy bookbag.

Enjoy the weekend!

Posted by Kim at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi everyone---happy Friday. I'm sure that you're all equally as thrilled with the onset of the weekend as I am. Aren't Fridays just fantastic? I actually prefer Saturdays, but I guess you need one to get to the other. Safe to say that they're much better than Tuesdays...worst day of the week, and that's a fact.

Alright guys, so I'll try to quickly give an update of what's been going on in my world. You're all vaguely familiar with my tendency to babble, right?---but being that I have a lot of reading to do I'll try, for all of our sakes, to keep it in check.

It's been a busy busy week, but in a really good way. I know this will sound kind of cheesy, but I am completely enjoying the readings that are being assigned. It's funny- before classes started I thought I had a pretty good idea of what being a social worker meant, and along with that came an inflated sense of my own abilities...an "I can do that...easily" kind of mindset. I was pretty off. Wait--scratch that. I was pitifully nieve. There's SO much that I don't know, even more that I need to learn, but here's the reassuring part of this very humbling realization: it fits, it all makes sense to me...I really am interested in it. The bottom line of it all: I'm in a good place, AND staying on top of my assignments!!

Moving right along....

Who knew that Wednesday evenings could be so fun? For the last two weeks I've gone with some new friends of mine from class to a hip hop aerobics/dance class here at the University gym. It's a good, cheap work-out, AND provides all the comic relief that I can even handle in a one hour time period. More often than not time I'm laughing at myself and my inability to do this crazy booty-bustin' move that the teacher calls "Fabulous" (so NOT fabulous when I'm doing it), but when I look around the room I feel something that can only be described as camaraderie...a certain oneness as a bunch of women (and the occasional man) allow themselves to be silly, sweaty, and completely unabashed. Good, good times.

Alright, I really do intend to tell you guys more about my field work placement. Sit tight though. I've got to run now, but the next time you hear from me I'll tell you all about the oncology/gynecological surgery ward at Sinai Hospital where I'm working. I might also include a little ditty about the trials and tribulations of getting MD tags/registration. The word nightmare falls so short of what it's been for me.....

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. More soon.

Posted by Kim at 12:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Full disclosure, everyone: this is the first time I've ever blogged. Seeing that word written now makes me wonder where it came from. Why isn't it called "blagging"? Acutally, blogged sounds better than blagged, doesn't it?! Anyway, I digress. Let me backtrack, start off on some more proper footing and introduce myself.

I'm Kim, a recent transplant to Baltimore and a first year student in the MSW program here at UMB. I'm concentrating in clinical and my specialization is health. I say that with a bit of trepidation thoug, as the more I learn and the more I experience, the more likely it seems that my motivations and goals may shift into other areas. But I'm open to that, I'm loving what I'm learning, and I'm so comforted to know that unlike what I learned in undergrad, I really WILL use this stuff. I was most recently living in DC (3 years), before that Zambia with the Peace Corps, before that Virginia, before that California, before that Pennsylvania, and lastly, we come to my birthplace.....(wait for it)......Jersey. I've got a lot of love for all my various homes, and already Baltimore is squeezing its way into my heart. There's a real palpable energy here, a gritty, unpretentious, and exciting feel to it all. And the people are some of the friendliest I've met in a long time. They take the time to greet you. I don't remember getting much of that in DC....feels good.

Back to school----
It's surprising to me how busy I am---already, just three weeks in and I'm barely able to find enough quiet time to sit down and watch a movie. (Ok, a Sex and the City rerun). Between my fieldwork placement (which hasn't really gotten too far off the ground considering that I've had to go through a few orientations there at the hospital) and the four classes I'm taking the work really has piled up. The trick is to stay on top of it all, keep it manageable...that's what I tell myself at least.....

Anyway, I can get into the finer details of everything at a later date. At this point it's just important that I express how exciting of a time this is, how much fun it is to be in the classroom again (after being out of it for 7 years), and how many wonderful friends I'm making. It's really cool to be in the midst of a such a learning experience, and to know that you're exactly where you should be.

IMore soon.....

Posted by Kim at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)