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