UMB School of Social Work: Sharon http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/ en Copyright 2008 Tue, 06 May 2008 15:41:42 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss "Almost there....." 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!) http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/05/almost_there.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/05/almost_there.html Tue, 06 May 2008 15:41:42 -0500 Be encouraged. "It is so important not to let ourselves off the hook or to become apathetic or cynical by telling ourselves that nothing works or makes a difference. Every day, light your small candle.... The inaction and actions of many human beings over a long time contributed to the crises our children face, and it is the action and struggle of many human beings over time that will solve them—with God's help. So every day, light your small candle."
- Guide My Feet by Marian Wright Edelman
]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/04/be_encouraged.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/04/be_encouraged.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 19:25:02 -0500 Oh, the places you'll live, the Professors you'll have quite expensive and have thus prefered to live elsewhere. There are nicer areas of Baltimore to live in, but it can depend on if you have a car and how you feel about public transportation, which can be unsafe around here when it gets dark. There are plenty of apartments available in the area, and one girl went this route by using an on-line apartment finder and using the school's website to find a roommate who is also a grad student. I hope that helps. Sorry if this info comes a little late for some of you. Like I said to Sam, if you want to know more or have a question about some other part of student life, don't hesitate to contact me. Just leave a comment on the bottom of this blog entry. -Sharon]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/04/oh_the_places_youll_live_the_p_1.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/04/oh_the_places_youll_live_the_p_1.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 19:43:53 -0500 one more paper down New Foundations School. Everyone says that after this internship, you will be ready for anything. Now, I don't know if that is true, but when I went to my interview to get next year's internship, my interviewers had me do a role play where I had to be their "therapist." I must have learned a lot this year from my internship, because the interviewers said I passed that part with flying colors. Which leads me to announce, I got the internship I really wanted! Next school year I will be at Carroll County Youth Services Bureau three days a week. I'm really excited about this place because they seem to pay so much attention to their interns and I will get to work with people of all different ages, parents, kids, and females for the first time. Ha! Ok, so there is one downside to my current internship- an all boys school means no job practice with girls. Ah well. So, other than that, I've scheduled my classes for the summer (I'm going to take two classes over the summer to ease my course load over the regular school year) and for fall. New students-- make sure you get Alstien for Research class and Smith for Human Behavior! If you have any questions about being a student here (or on who I think should win Dancing with the Stars), just write me a comment on this blog. I look forward to hearing from you! -Sharon]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/04/one_more_paper_down.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/04/one_more_paper_down.html Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:25:03 -0500 WOOOO! SPRING BREAK! saying that I will do all these things is different from actually doing all these things. For some reason, I never get all the work done I say I'm going to do. Beats me why. Maybe I'll make some cookies. I wonder what's on TV...]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/03/woooo_spring_break_1.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/03/woooo_spring_break_1.html Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:57:24 -0500 February = FREAK OUT! We love you, Ms. Purnell! As much as I enjoyed my group and Edmondson, I am very relieved to have all the stress that went into the project over with. In addition to the stress from class, my internship was also crazy this month. The father of one of my individual therapy students tried to commit him to the hospital at least 4 times; each time he was rejected because he just wasn't crazy enough. (What does that say to a kid?!) And then my other individual therapy student was suspended for 45 days for bringing a weapon to school. Since he won't be around for a while, another student has agreed to do his individual therapy with me for the next two months so I can continue to meet my requirements for school. It's also been disappointing to see other students in my group therapy sessions taking steps backward in their progress. I began to wonder if I and the therapist I work with could have done more in group therapy to help. My frustration eventually turned to apathy. I would go through the motions just to get through the day. I started looking forward to the end of the school year. But these past two weeks I've been having a big attitude change. I can't just give up; I need to do my best with the little influence and therapy skills I have. I do still enjoy spending time with these boys--despite all the nasty things these kids say to each other and the staff! It's still going to be a struggle and a lot of learning from mistakes, but I'm going to be really sad when this internship ends. Well, time to work on my other group projects and two research papers. And more reading. Oh, and I got my FAFSA stuff done too (well, ok. My husband actually did it all for me. I was eating ice cream) which I believe is due tomorrow. Did you? Have a great day! -Sharon]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/02/february_freak_out.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/02/february_freak_out.html Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:54:56 -0500 Where I is Classes have started again. Part of me is happy about that because I get antsy when I don't have something to stimulate my brain and keep me from laziness. The other part of me is wondering if sleeping in every day will really be that detrimental to my future. So my new schedule looks like this: Monday from 12:15 to 1:45pm I have a research class on adoption with Prof. Alstien, the same prof I had for my foundation research class last semester. It was neat to see that he remembered the names of all his previous students. I'm really excited about this class. Adoption is a topic I haven't really studied or even thought much about before. But Alstien had talked about his research on adoption a lot, and I became intrigued about people adopting children who differ racially from themselves and about how women who use surrogate mothers or fertility drugs tie into adoption. Because I don't have to leave my apartment till 11am to get to school on time, I have told myself that I am going to still get up early and exercise and take some time to pray and do homework. So far I have slept in anyways and only accomplished the homework bit. Then I go right over to "Children and Social Services Policy" from 2-5pm. I'm not sure how confident I feel about taking this class. The teacher is Bevan, and she told us straight up that on the end of the semester evaluation, her last class reported that they would not recommend her class to anyone and made many other unhappy remarks about her class. She seems a little scattered, but she does have many years of experience working with policy and I do want to learn about this subject. The problem is, there is no time to decide or find a new class because I just had our first class yesterday, and TODAY is the last day to add any classes. And the only other classes I could contemplate require me to get approval from one of the Deans. Oy. We shall see how it goes. Oh, to note, I get home by 6pm. Tuesday is the day I REALLY want to just keep sleeping, as my alarm goes off at 5:45am! I can get to my internship by 7:30am. I plan for my individual therapies, pray that the boys won't be terrible, do a little homework, assist the group therapies, meet with my adviser, and head for home at 3:30pm. This gives me two hours to eat and do some reading before my hubby and I go to our Cha-Cha class. Wednesday I leave at 7:45am for my 9am class. From 9am to noon I have my Social Work Practice class. This class continues over from the first semester, so it's the same prof and same classmates. Now we've started our group project where we learn about a local community and attend a community meeting there and then write a paper and present our findings to the class. I have a good group, so I think this project will turn out really well. Prof. Wilson always gives a TON of reading, but I think it's the same for all of the SW Practice classes. From noon to 2pm I eat my lunch, start on some of the readings, and inevitably doze off on one of the benches on the 2nd floor. Dang, this is a long journal entry! Then at 2pm to 5pm, I have Human Behavior 2 with a new prof named Marcus. I believe this is kinda like a sociology and some more general psychology class. He seems like he'll keep my attention even when the after lunch drowsiness hits. It promises to be an interesting class. In fact, fellow bloggers Chad and Kim are in this class as well, so I'm sure we'll keep you well informed on how everything goes. Again, I get home by 6pm. Thursday is like Tuesday, only I actually conduct my individual therapies. Friday I don't have any classes or my internship, so I sub at a YMCA daycare for a few hours and try to clean up some of the mess I left around the apartment all week. Phew! So now you know what I'll be doing for the next several weeks, along with lots of studying and hopefully a lot of sleeping and some socializing as well. Hope that was a helpful look into the daily life of a Social Work student. If you want to know about something or have any questions, please feel free to add a comment to this blog. I'll try to answer them as best I can! Thanks for reading! -Sharon http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/01/where_i_is.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/01/where_i_is.html Tue, 29 Jan 2008 14:27:51 -0500 "but have not love, I am nothing" "We want to be professionals: heal the sick, help the poor, teach the ignorant, and organize the scattered. But the temptation is that we use our expertise to keep a safe distance from that which really matters and forget that, in the long run, cure without care is more harmful than helpful." -Henri Nouwen I really want to get my application for next year's internship done before classes start next week. I also really want to get this handed in as early as possible because there is one particular internship I really really want next year (your first year of internship the school picks for you, though they do look at your interests and match accordingly. I was surprised at how well I was matched--I said teenagers, I got teenagers. The second year you list your top 3 choices, and they try to get you one of those). The application consists of a resume, an essay on how my past experiences influenced me to get my MSW, and an essay on my career goals. I have most of these done, but I have gotten stuck on my first essay where I am trying to explain why I continue to want to work with teenagers and their parents based on my experience at my internship. Why DO I want to keep working with these delinquent youth? They have little respect for women, many don't wash regularly, they sweat all the time (I really meant to write "swear" there, but they do sweat alot too--ha!), and many only care about themselves. I can plan ahead for the day, but I can never know what may happen that day because my students may be cheerful or they may be threatening someone with a stapler. Yet when people say, "Oh, I could never do what you're doing. I don't know how you do it," I think to myself, they're not so bad. A good amount of the time I really enjoy being with these students. They are funny, raw, and real. There is beauty and strength to be found in them. You just have to look really hard and then have lots of patience to find that strength again. And the more I get to know them, I see how a lot of what they do are reactions to fear and built up anger. So, I guess the reason I persist in wanting to counsel youth, even they they frustrate me everyday, is that I care. Some days I don't want to care so I could go do something else, but I do care. I believe that every one of them has worth and a purpose given by God--how could I ignore that? If God loves them, so shall I. Sure I could keep doing social work without having to care about my clients. I could ask the right questions, use tried and true therapeutic games, and do well every day. But if I don't give a damn, then none of it matters. "What we see, and like to see, is cure and change. But what we do not see and do not want to see is care: the participation in the pain, the solidarity in suffering, the sharing in the experience of brokenness. And still, cure without care is as dehumanizing as a gift given with a cold heart."-Henri Nouwen Peace to you, Sharon (Quote in the title is from 2 Corinthians 13)]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/01/but_have_not_love_i_am_nothing.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2008/01/but_have_not_love_i_am_nothing.html Tue, 15 Jan 2008 11:15:39 -0500 Finished! for now, at least Already. Crazy! Seriously, I do not know how I have made it to this point with all my assignments completed and my sanity still in tact. There was a point when I was writing 6 different papers and I really thought I would just start crying. But then I kept thinking about how much time crying would take away from working on the papers, so I resisted. Even though classes are done, I still need to go to my internship. It's even harder than usual to get up and start driving by 6:45am because my brain thinks it's vacation time already. ]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/12/finished_for_now_at_least.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/12/finished_for_now_at_least.html Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:53:06 -0500 I think I can, I think... 7 papers down; 3 more papers and 3 exams to go. Let's do this thing! http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/12/i_think_i_can_i_think.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/12/i_think_i_can_i_think.html Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:24:28 -0500 Little Baby Kumquat kumquat and next week he/she will be the size of a fig, my brother and sister-in-law say. Frankly, this fruit comparison makes me a little uneasy about eating fruit salad. This week has suddenly become extremely stressful. For tomorrow, I have several long articles to read for the practice class (many of which are extremely hard to read because the print on the page is so blurry or almost non-existent) and two articles to write papers on and more reading to do for research class. Then, for Monday, I was only supposed to have 3 papers (totals 16 pages there, plus the research) due for my Human Behavior class BUT my Policy class professor moved his take home final up to Monday as well! (4 essays x 3-4 pages=panic). Two days after that my practice class has its 7-page-paper due plus a "quiz" I need to study for based on all the long articles we had to read. We were given a list of topics to focus on for this quiz, but most of them are so broad I'll still have to memorize whole articles to be prepared. My head hurts. my_brain_is_full.gif That's right Far Side, tell it like it is. Till next time, Auntie Sharon]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/11/little_baby_kumquat.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/11/little_baby_kumquat.html Tue, 27 Nov 2007 08:11:01 -0500 Grrrrr! fumes the Angry Little Asian Girl -Sharon]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/11/there_are_only_5_classes.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/11/there_are_only_5_classes.html Wed, 07 Nov 2007 18:08:18 -0500 Truth is stranger than fiction Your girlfriend?" "Oh right, yeah, um, I'm gettin' her a hotel." He also says that he is experienced in carpentry, greatly sought after by all women, and is being recruited by a professional football team, even though the only football practice he is getting right now is through the game Madden NFL. Being very new to this whole therapy thing, I have no idea how to apply the skills learned in class to our therapy time because the book writes as if people tell the truth and want to talk about and deal with their problems. And we're not supposed to just tell the client what's up, but help them figure it out on their own. If I explored what my client was talking about, it would be useless because we'd be talking about his pretend life, not his real one. I am getting the feeling that many people receiving therapy are like my client. But, for some reason my supervisor thinks I'm doing a great job thus far, and she and my client's mentor agree that I can be more blunt and follow my gut more than what the book says with the kids at this school. I think they're right. Real life is a lot more complicated, and stranger, than what the book says. Thanks for staying with me and reading this lengthy account. Till next time, Sharon]]> http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/10/truth_is_stranger_than_fiction.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/10/truth_is_stranger_than_fiction.html Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:27:38 -0500 Meetings prefer Mondays I promise that I will write a blog later this week about my field placement. There are so many crazy stories from that school and so many frustrations from trying to figure out how to be a good therapist, I need some time to sort it all out in my head. But for now, I would like to make an additional note on my last blog: If you want to get involved in the school's clubs, which you and I should do, do NOT plan anything for Mondays after 5pm. Most of the clubs meet after 5pm on Monday because the second year students are only at the school on Mondays and Fridays. They are at their field placement the other three days. I did not realize this and had scheduled a yoga class for Monday night. Don't make this mistake! I also said that I would update you on my midterm for my social policy class. I stressed over it a lot, and received 100% on the three essays! Hooray! But tomorrow is another midterm, this time for my research class. Best get to studying! See you all later this week, Sharon http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/10/meetings_prefer_mondays.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/10/meetings_prefer_mondays.html Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:56:17 -0500 Erikson's Stage 6: Intimacy vs. Isolation Ahhh, a little social work humor. The joke will make sense when see what this blog is about. It was pointed out to me through a comment on my last blog that none of us bloggers have talked about the social life here at the UMB's School of Social Work. Oops. So for those of you who were wondering about what would happen if you moved here for school and will know no one, thank Stacey for bringing it up: I didn't know anyone when I started my semester, and I would guess that most people don't know anyone either. The classes aren't too big to meet people. They're about 12-25? people each. Actually, since full time foundation students take the same credits, I see the same people in most of my classes. By chance I have sat next to the same girls in 3 of my classes, so we chat it up. People have been very friendly. I mean, we're all going to be social workers and thus are probably people persons. And, since we are all going for the same higher degree, we all have much in common so you should find it easy to connect with someone. There are only about 4 guys in each class and the rest are girls. But that's the way the field is, unfortunately. My Social Work Practice class (the class that accompanies the field placement) has been the best way to meet people. Dr. Cascio is my professor in that one, and she really creates a space that has encouraged us to meet each other and get to talk about our field placements, which we are all eager to talk about. I have not made many friends through the school to be honest, but that is because I rush home once classes are done to see my husband. I also do know some people who live within an hour of the school, so I'm not completely starting anew on the finding of friends. BUT, Kim, another blogger, just moved here and she hangs out with a lot of people already since she's living right by the school (I believe) and can participate in different school activities, like the dance class she mentioned in her blog. Also, there are clubs just for the social work students. I'm pretty sure the girls I sit next to in class have already gotten very involved with those. And once you make friends, there are free museums nearby and in DC (which isn't far away if you avoid rush hour), many places to eat, shows (which you can get discounts for as a student), shopping, Inner Harbor has lots of stuff, etc. I hope that answers your question. If you want to know more, I suggest asking Kim and seeing her blog since she's doing exactly what you're contemplating. Don't go it alone! Bon chance, mes amis! -Sharon http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/10/eriksons_stage_6_intimacy_vs_i_1.html http://blogs.targetx.com/umbssw/Sharon/2007/10/eriksons_stage_6_intimacy_vs_i_1.html Sat, 06 Oct 2007 16:49:46 -0500