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Assuming I did not completely bomb my exam yesterday, I have officially completed all my assignments for my Masters! Isn't it great?! I also finally sent in my application for the licensing exam, so I just need to keep my brain in gear and get some daily study time in for that.
In the meantime, I have been enjoying all this extra time off. I know I need to tell my part time job of my new availability and get back to work, but being able to do what I want on my own time has been glorious. Besides, I am cleaning my apartment after several weeks of neglect so I'm not being completely lazy.
I have started checking out jobs on-line. Even though everyone is talking about the economy and how limited the jobs are out there, I am determined to get a job I actually like and not just settle for any ol' place that will hire me. I do know several girls (not all from this school) that got jobs very quickly. One even got 2 or 3 offers and got to choose from among them. And I did get an e-mail from an organization I gave my resume to at the job fair back in April. So there is hope and there are positions out there. I need to keep looking, put in the effort, and keep praying that God will lead me to the right job for me.
I hope that things are going well for you too, and I will be praying that God leads you to the best job or field placement or whatever that is best for you at this time.
Peace be with you,
-Sharon
Can you believe it? I have completed my internship! This last semester has gone by really fast. On Tuesday I terminated with my two last clients. I hope that I have done well enough that they have some new perspective or some more positive direction to go in. Even if they got nothing out of our sessions, I know that I have definitely learned a lot from my internship. It started out pretty rough, but ended well. I diagnosed people and made treatment plans for the first time and I got a hold of the paperwork well enough to help others somewhat. My fellow intern Laura and I got to gain the esteem of some of the therapists there because we used our free time to help develop trainings and update agency forms (which were ancient, let me tell you). I know gloating is not a good thing, but in a field where results can come so infrequently, it gives me joy to know that I was able to reach some accomplishments.
I do believe, though, that my internship would not have gone nearly as smoothly if it were not for my supervisors and their attention to how I was doing and taking the time to discover how I viewed things and how I learned. I have really been blessed to have great supervisors and helpful colleagues in both of my internships. I'd say that this has been true with my past jobs too. I hope and pray that this wonderful trend continues into the future!
But, before I reach that next employment, I need to finish this degree and take my licensing exam, which I still need to finish my application for. So, today my group for Human Resources turns in our paper, next week I have a quiz, and the week after that I have a multiple choice exam. And that's it! Assuming I pass all these things, I am two weeks away from completing my Masters!
May you all also be ending your semesters on a high note.
-Sharon
Hooray for Spring Break! Thanks to Spring Break, I just got to spend a long weekend with my relatives in Boston. I had such a great time playing with my nephew and I really enjoyed eating and talking with the rest of the family. I wish I had more time to be there- a few days every other month is never enough.
But, now it's back to work. I have an exam in my Human Resources class on Monday to study for and I need to prepare for a meeting with my group project members. There are readings to do for both Human Resources and Family Therapy and there are odds and ends to do to get everything ready for my after-school club tomorrow. Not to mention all the housework I have been putting off!
So, no more stalling! Off to work I go.
Enjoy the rest of your week, everyone!
-Sharon
I quite enjoyed this week:
- Monday classes were canceled due lots of beautiful, fluffy snow
- Tuesday at my internship we interns got to spend time planning our "Creativity Day" in which we will entertain the staff (we've been hearing about this day since we got here, the staff really look forward to this chance for random fun together)
- on Wednesday I and Laura, another intern, got to prepare a training for the Parents as Teachers (PAT) educators and the lady in charge was thrilled with our work thus far
- Thursday I and Laura took our after school club (which is part of our internship) to world food fest at a local high school. It was nice just to get to hang out and talk to our 5 middle schoolers and encourage them to try new things. They seemed to enjoy it and I don't know why people don't like middle schoolers- they say the funniest things.
I am wondering though what's going on with 2 of my clients. One failed to show and they have always called ahead of time if they needed to cancel before, and the other one has missed 2 out of the last 3 scheduled sessions which is unlike her. For the latter one, I am suspicious because I had just asked the whole family to start coming in to therapy right before these absences started happening. To be honest, it was kind of a relief that they did not come since I was at quite a loss of what to do with them this week. The prior week the client had gotten mad at her mom and left the room while mom sat there and sighed and I didn't know what to do; forget having to figure out what to do and how to handle having ALL of the client's family members in the room.
In any case, I really have enjoyed the variety of activities I have been able to do this week. Next up on the learning curve is figuring out how to terminate with my 4 remaining clients. I've never had to formally terminate before because all my other clients had simply stopped coming. This is different. I will only have 5 more sessions with each of them and it's time to tell them our time together is coming to an end. Then they'll have to decide that they do want to be done with therapy by then (and I hope that we can get to a point where they feel they don't need therapy) or transfer to a new therapist and have to start the therapeutic relationship all over again.
Guess we'll see. Enjoy the weekend everyone!
-Sharon
3 months left, kids! 3 months left till I and many of my fellow students are done with classes, internship, and the School of Social Work in all. I will only be having each class 12 more times. Isn't that crazy? This program goes by pretty fast, especially if you're in the 2 year track like I am. The talk of today and last week at class has been mostly about graduation, how soon it is, when it is (8am on a Friday- who thought that was a good idea?), whether you're going, and how we all can't wait to be done with assignments and tests and move on to a career in Social Work, with hopes that it's with the population or in the mode of our choice.
So, if you are part of the graduating crowd, congratulations to you! And, do make sure that you applied for graduation through the SURFS website, which apparently must be done soon. I say this because, as usual, important things like this have not been told to us by the school; rather, we have to find out through word of mouth from the one person who knows about it. (Supposedly, the school announced this on the daily e-mails it sends out. Now, I am one of the nerds who actually reads that e-mail everyday, and have not seen this announcement.) Yet again, the school's communication and technology is lacking.
On a more positive note for the school, I absolutely love my Family Therapy class taught by Dr. DiBlasio. I hope to talk more about it in the future, but just for the heads up- TAKE THIS CLASS! DiBlasio is engaging and on top of things and the material interesting and useful. I've been looking forward to taking this course for a while, and I have not been disappointed.
And, as always, I'd love to hear from you! If you have a question about the school, please leave a comment to this blog and I will do my best to get you the answer. Thanks for reading!
-Sharon
Hello Everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful past couple of weeks. The "spring" semester (it does NOT feel like spring) is well under way. I had a great holiday break with the family and have already completed two more weeks of my internship since returning. My first week back, I ended up seeing only 1 of my clients out of the 6 I had scheduled. I was told not to feel bad, since many clients do not show up and since all the other interns had almost all of their clients cancel on them too.
As for classes, I decided to take one of the "mini-mester" courses the school offers in January. Mini-mester courses are 1 credit classes where you meet for two full days of class, then turn in an assignment afterward. I was really excited about mine: Financial Social Work. I really wanted to learn more about how credit cards, loans, etc. worked and how to get my own finances under control. I also wanted to find out how to help others with their financial situations as a social worker. The class really inspired me to work on all these things. I might not have learned about mortgages and stocks as much as I wanted to, but it was such a relief to find out how many other people are in the same boat as me and how there are some basic solutions (like a "Personal Spending and Saving Plan" and where to get free tax prep) to help all of us take better control of our finances. I've always liked math, and the things we discussed are so vital to daily living, I really hope I get to do some Financial Social Work as part of my career. This was a course that was useful and applicable. So if you see "Financial Social Work" taught by guest presenter Reeta Wolfsohn being offered in the future, take it!
I must say, though, one of the things that I struggled with most and found inspiring was Reeta's message that "There is always hope." Having hope has been something I've been wrestling with for a while now, and actually recently talked to my internship supervisor about. How do I maintain hope when two of the families I work with have become homeless and another client battles violent and suicidal thoughts? How do I maintain hope with all the war and injustice going on? I believe in a just and loving God who is gracious beyond all belief, but it's still hard. In the Financial Social Work, we watched the documentary "Maxed Out." It showed people getting rich off of buying and selling and getting people into debt. And it ended with stories of people who committed suicide because of their debt. The credit card companies get away with so much, profiting from poor people's pain. But what if we prayed and joined together against such injustice? We can work with our neighbors and friends and clients and be smarter about our financial choices. We can build lifestyles that will be different, that will be uplifting. We can.
There is hope. There is always hope.
-Sharon
It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.- Eleanor Roosevelt,
in a 1951 radio broadcast
Have a great holiday, see you in January!
-Sharon
In twenty minutes I will hand in my last paper for this semester. Hooray! This is the first semester that I have completed my assignments ahead of time and not had to be working furiously till the last minute. It's rather nice, really. Since my group pushed hard last week to get our presentation done (which we presented this morning) and I got my paper done on Monday, I have been happily slouching around this week without a worry in my head about finals. Beautiful! Three more days of internship next week and I will be done for the semester!
How do colds know to come at the really inconvenient times of my life? I swear, colds only come when it's finals time or I have a major performance to participate in. I have a quiz tomorrow and I need to do a bunch of research for a group presentation by tomorrow as well so my group can prepare because everything else is due next Friday. My cases at my internship are also becoming a lot harder, requiring more knowledge and expertise than I have right now. It's really hard to get work done when I'm reaching for a tissue every minute. And it's hard when I'm trying to talk to my clients and my throat is throbbing with pain. Why couldn't this cold have come a few weekends earlier when I had nothing due?
To those of you who may be stuffed up like me, I raise my glass of orange juice and salute you.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving holiday,
Sharon
Apparently this is the time to NOT go to therapy. Last week 3 out of 7 of my therapy sessions were no shows. No phone call. Nothing. And two of those no shows I had to drive out to the person's house. So far for this week, I've had 3 of my 4 sessions bail on me. At least 2 of them called this time so I didn't waste my time waiting and driving for them. Now, I know this happens often to all social workers in all fields so I haven't taken it personally. Still, I often wonder if I'm actually doing anything special as a therapist and being useful and if my clients are wondering the same thing. I wish they would just say so or tell me they're stopping therapy so I'm not wasting my or anyone's time.
I must say, my time at my internship is no longer a complete overload of stress and confusion and frustration. I've gotten the hang of things and have begun to accept a little more that I am doing what I'm supposed to as a therapist. I started with a new client 2 weeks ago and to me it was a chance to start the therapy process and do everything confidently and correctly this time, now that I have experience.
I hope today's session goes great. That and our new cycle of after-school clubs starts today. Just going to keep on praying and trudging forward.
-Sharon
(Quote in title from "Blind Boys of Alabama")
It's that time of year again....it's course registration time! (And you thought I'd say something about it being Halloween today.)
I've been busy quizzing people today (and busy being quizzed) to get some info on the professors and the classes I am thinking about taking spring semester. If I plan things right, then this will be the last time I register for courses as I expect to graduate in May.
And I say plan things right, because even though I am quite certain that I only need my internship, a MACO/SWOA methods class, and a clinical/SWCL course to finish according to the checklist online, I am sure that something is going to go amiss. I'll think a class satisfies the requirement but really there's some exception or loophole that no one told me about. Hopefully I will get a hold of my adviser and get it all settled.
Do you have any questions about classes? About this school? Please ask me! If I don't know the answer, I will ask around and try to get you something. Just click on the "comments" link and write me a note. I can't wait to hear from you!
-Sharon
Hi All,
There's never a better time to write a blog than when you're waiting for your laundry to get done. The past three weeks have been a real struggle for me. I and 7 other interns had 6 days of training at our new internship. Talk about information overload! I came home each of those days exhausted and overwhelmed by all the new information and the anxiety over whether I'd ever be able to remember everything, on top of being a competent therapist. I saw my first two clients and their parents/guardians on Tuesday. I was so nervous I had to keep my head and my hands from shaking. I had to take deep breaths at times to calm myself just enough to sign all the documentation we had to go through. Can I really help these people? What can I really do that all the other caring people in their lives haven't been able to do already? So much doubt.
During this time I and another intern started our assignment of conducting a weekly club at a local middle school. The first club was beautiful. The kids were cooperative, friendly, and seemed to really enjoy the activities we planned. But then the second club came with some new kids. Now, they pushed and called each other names during the games and were disrespectful to everyone. I feel bad for the few kids who played fairly and respectful. These kids often seem to lose out on opportunities and attention because the other kids are being so disrespectful and crazy. The other intern and I had started planning on getting international students from the local college to come in and go on scavenger hunts and make international food based on the kids' interests in travel and suggestions. If we can't find a way to control the students at this week's club, we won't be able to do any of it. So much aggravation.
Class on Friday did not ease my mind any. We talked about child abuse again (depressing) and then got on how much it costs to take the licensing exam plus the additional costs to keep our licenses, (on top of how little our profession makes salary-wise) and how many people lose their licenses each year because they failed to act appropriately. I was also reminded of all the budget cuts, the unrealistic case loads, and lack of tangible results in the social service field. I began to think of all the work I would be going through, and no matter how hard I tried, I could miss an obvious sign of child abuse or trip up somewhere else and lose my license and people's faith in me in an instant. So much fear.
Yet inspiration comes in weird ways sometimes. I caught the end of the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (a favorite of mine) on TV the other day. After spending most of the movie fighting to hold on to his memories of his girlfriend, Joel, the main character, has to submit and realize that he can't control the situation. He can't control the future. He has to let go, do his utmost in that moment, and enjoy what he has. I knew this career would be hard, but I also knew how much I wanted it. This life could be worth so much.
Enjoy it.
-Sharon
Welcome, new students! Welcome back, returning students! And welcome all of you who are pondering being students here someday.
I hope everyone is starting to get back into the groove of studying and driving in rush hour traffic. I also hope you all got a good impression of your new professors and classes like I did. Because I took summer classes, I only have to drive into Baltimore once a week this semester for my two classes: "Program Management" and "Clinical Practice with Families and Children in Child Welfare." Both professors seem really enthusiastic and experienced. I think it's going to be a good semester. Seeing familiar faces in both of these classes and in the lunch room also made it a happy day. Field starts on Tuesday. I can't begin to express how excited and petrified I am about this field placement. People told me that if I could handle my last internship (at a school for teen boys with behavioral and emotional problems), then I can handle anything. I pray that they are right.
Even though we just started the semester, I am already thinking about the spring after I (hopefully) graduate. Where will I want to work? What do I exactly want to do with this degree? Where do I want to live? Here or somewhere else? Will I be able to avoid working weekends and evening hours? I guess the more important question is, can I trust God enough to let him lead me to where He wants me to work and live? And stop worrying about things that don't need to happen for months?
"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?" -Luke 12:25-26
-Sharon
Hello everyone!
I had all the intentions to blog earlier this summer, really I did! But there is something about summer that inspires laziness, if laziness can be inspired. In any case, I have been taking two summer classes: Psychopathology and Paradigms of Clinical Social Work. And, just to show how slow I've been to talk about them, I will be done with both classes by Thursday. In any case, I STRONGLY recommend that you take summer classes.
Sure, I could have taken these during the regular school year and it would have been a part of my full time tuition rather than pay extra to take them now. But, taking two courses now lightens my load over the next school year and thus will alleviate some stress. What is more, these classes have been very relaxed with less reading and less assignments. I do my studying in between classes and rarely have to do anything at home for them, unlike the regular school year.
Professor Belcher teaches the Psychopathology course, and I've found him to be straight forward and to the point, which I like. Class also only goes 2 hours, instead of the regular 3 hours. Psychopathology basically teaches you the diagnoses in the DSM-IV-TR. Very interesting and will be very useful in my internship. He took class suggestions to give us case examples to practice with and we go over them in class, which is helpful because his exams are just like these practice examples.
Professor Schiff teaches the Paradigms class. He really goes over what you need to know, and my class notes were all I needed to ace the midterm. He doesn't get to the point as fast as most of the class would like (the dwelling on a topic can be painful to me), but that's the only downside I can think of right now. We did a project where we role-played a therapy session, and that was helpful. I do wish we could see more videos of experienced therapists conducting the different kinds of therapy. Oh yeah, the course is on different kinds of therapy, and I think it's a requirement for most concentrations. Thing is, I feel like this course is repetitive of other classes I have already taken. It clarifies, but does not teach much new content.
So take summer classes! I have also found that in this smaller environment, people are meeting other people easier and those who are new are getting to know the ways of the place better. Parking is also easier.
Speaking of parking, if you plan to commute to campus, I highly recommend getting parking at the BioPark garage. You can get the permit for this at the same parking office ( http://www.parking.umaryland.edu/ ). The BioPark garage is a bit farther to walk to than the Lexington Garage, but there is a shuttle bus that goes to and from the garage and the school, it doesn't run out of parking spaces like the Lexington Garage does, and you don't need to carry cash because they give you a card you just swipe. You can get in any time, any day. So when I needed to come on an extra day to do a group project, I did not have to pay to park, just swiped the card. You pay for the whole semester, no matter how often you park there. Could save you a lot of money!
And one more thing...I'M AN AUNTIE!!!! My nephew Jakoby William was born on June 23. Auntie Sharon is already over thinking about the developmental milestones he needs to reach and how to get him there (I am most certainly a social work nerd) and buying him frivolous items he doesn't need. Let the spoiling begin!
Catch ya'll later,
Auntie Sharon
The semester is officially over! Hooray! It technically ended on Friday, but I actually got done on May 7. (Why we say the semester goes that late even though grades are due before then is beyond me, but I am in no way complaining about being done early!) It is GLORIOUS to just go to work (I am a substitute teacher at a daycare and they have called me in every day since my classes got done) and come home and not have to do any homework. I've been gardening, visiting friends, making jewelry again, snuggling with my hubby, and watching an excessive amount of episodes of "What Not to Wear." Glo-ri-ous.
But, in another 2 weeks the fun will be put on hold again as I am taking two summer classes- Psychopathology and Paradigms of Clinical Practice. As much as I am not thrilled about doing the work and having to drive into the city again, I know I will appreciate this later since this will lighten my course load over the regular school year. Which reminds me, I still need to get my books and renew my parking permit....
Thanks friends for reading. Although I can't say how much I'll be blogging over the summer, I will be back in the fall in prime blogging form. So, continue to send any questions about student life by leaving a comment at the end of this blog. I will get back to you and answer your questions as best as I can.
I hope you all enjoy some lazy summer days! Till next time,
-Sharon
I am ALMOST done with this semester. I can feel it, it's so close. All the advanced year students are done already, as their grades were due yesterday. My brain has already gone on summer break and left the rest of me behind to work on two last essays due tomorrow morning and trying to figure out what to study for my exam tomorrow afternoon.
Hopefully tomorrow at 5pm I will be celebrating the completion of another semester...and not crying because I totally bombed these finals!
Till then,
-Sharon
(Quote taken from some Star Wars guy when they're going in to take the Death Star!)
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