Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Debriefing is Necessary

Yesterday was the first day of my elementary school social work internship in an urban atmosphere. Although the anticipation of the first day caused me some anxiety, once I got there, the day went fairly smoothly. I got assigned three clients which i will initially observe and then meet with individually to counsel. I also was involved in two groups yesterday: one that dealt with working with kids on basic social skills like taking turns and not interrupting others and another group that worked with kids who have an autism spectrum DSM diagnosis. Eventually I will be doing my own groups, including facilitating a group that will be a photography/scrapbooking therapeutic group which is very exciting considering I doing both! My supervisor is awesome as well, very sweet and understanding and very willing to get me involved with kids and learning social work tools and experience that is a key to my learning process. She wants me to create a grief therapy guide for counseling children individually who have gone through the loss of a loved one that will cover 8-10 sessions. This is relevant to me because of my own personal losses and because I feel there is a greater need for social workers to be trained and aware of interventions to help children who are dealing with the issue of loss in their lives.

I feel things in my life have picked up speed drastically in the past week. I realize if I don't write things down in my planner, I forget them. I am already struggling with keeping up with readings from courses again so hopefully I find a way to fit them all in and simply not forget about them because I am too tired. I am sure I will get a better handle of things in a few weeks once I get more used to being at my present internship. It just takes time.

I am also very thankful to have my boyfriend. As I go through this program, I realize the importance of having someone you can debrief with at the end of the day (My supervisor says she plans to discuss how things went after each day I am at my placement so we can reflect on the day which is also great). I can talk to him about my apprehensions, my high and low points of my day, and just get the feedback that I am doing something great and receive the awareness that I am being supported through my social work education journey. I am happy to not that I am not alone and have someone in my life who will advocate for me to pursue the job I want once I am given the opportunity, even if it may mean leaving the Rochester area.

I truly see God's hand in this journey everyday and I am thankful at the end of the day for each opportunity to help others, including when a little girl who was in a group yesterday said she was happy because I was a new friend who wanted to help her be happy. :)

Friday, September 11, 2009

Looking Forward/Remembering to Remember

I got the internship for a school social worker position! I will be working with a bilingual social worker who was very nice and helpful. Most importantly, she seems very skilled and competent in what she does so I have a feeling I am going to be very busy and will learn a lot this year.

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Of course, like millions of others out there, I can't help but remember that today is 9/11. For me, 2001 was one of the most challenging, life-changing years of my life. Though my personal losses happened well before 9/11/2001 came, I too could relate to the pain of losing a loved. Life can never be the same after you have lost someone whom you have loved and who has loved you. Eight years after I lost my father and my brother, I still am healing, as I believe that those who lost their loved ones on 9/11 are still healing. So today I pray for peace for those going dealing with the memories of loss all over again because grief is something that one is constantly working.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

A Promising Evening

So after sitting in tonight's Mental Health Theories class and watching Obama's Healthcare reform speech and hearing the hopeful news of better healthcare for the millions of people in this country who need it (including myself!), I returned home to find positive news regarding my personal/professional life. After trying unsuccessfully to complete the application requirements and trying to contact the agency that seemingly had been forced upon me for my final internship placement for this year, I got fed up and no longer wanted to try to compromise for an agency I have heard just bad news about. So I email the field placement director of my school and told him that I would like to hear of other options if they were available because I had no luck with my current efforts to start my internship. I know I am a week or two behind as we speak from my peers and told him I realized I needed a placement immediately. He first emailed me back to say that he would speak to the lady I was trying to contact. However, he then emailed me back saying that there was an elementary school social work internship position so I emailed back him saying that I would be all over that position and he replied with the social workers contact information. I am extremely excited and will be contacting who will hopefully be my future supervisor tomorrow. I understand I still probably need to do a formal interview and what not but I am praying truly that this is the position meant for me and that all my apprehensions about my former internship possibility were there for a reason. I have been seriously considering looking into school social work lately just because I think it will provide me with more opportunity to do faith based counseling on the side with summers, weekends, and evenings free. I am still young and don't have a family yet so this makes it more possible to perhaps pursue this dream. However, I will not get my hopes up---we'll see what tomorrow holds. I hope all who are reading are having a blessed week! Take care!

Monday, September 7, 2009

a life of purpose and meaning

"So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning." (Tuesdays With Morrie, p.43)


This is just one of the many reasons I am pursuing my higher education in Social Work at Roberts. If I can do my part to help others discover or renew their purpose and meaning, I will find joy in my labors. If I can help people find hope to go on in life, I will be thankful for the opportunity to bring light to an individuals situation. I think it is sad that we live in a world where many people take life for granted, where people walk by each other lonely, and where people fill their life with things to take away the pain instead of finding true love in the goodness of something or someone. I pray that I don't lose my vision for purpose and meaning in this life. Ever.