Real Quick Update

Okay, I don’t have much time and will write a better update on Friday or Saturday, but I just wanted to say I’m switching from Post a Day to Post a Week. I think this will bring better updates from me (with the exception of this one) and less stress on me. When I have time, I’ll write more than once a week, but I will at least once a week.

I Led Group Today…

…and it wasn’t the greatest. I’m certain that I’ll get better at it with practice. So, next week is another week and hopefully it will be better than this one. Tomorrow I get to go to court with a client. We’ll see how that goes.

Celebrating Valentine’s Day with Geoffrey Chaucer

Many people believe that Valentine’s Day is a made up holiday started by the greeting card industry to make money. This is not so. The reality of the day of romance is far more complex.

The day began based on religion. It was to celebrate the many saints who had been martyred who were named Valentine. Not so much of a romantic feeling. While this is typically well-known information, there are many stories as to how the romantic aspect came about. Most of these (the ones involving St. Valentine) are myths. However, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Parlement of Foules and alluded to birds meeting to mate on the day of St. Valentine. And thus began a tradition of romance on Valentine’s Day.

If you’re interested in the medieval work that began this holiday, you can read it here.

Missed Two Days

I’m incredibly exhausted. I feel as though I’ve spent the last few days running around and my brain has turned to mush. So, yes, I missed the last two days, and I apologize, but sometimes those things happen. I was too tired to write anything intelligent. To be fair, this may also not be very intelligent, but I felt it necessary to write something.

I’ve been working at the video store and working at my internship. I worked with the families at the latter. I am tired…and I actually don’t have anything to say. Terribly sorry about that. Hopefully I’ll have something good for tomorrow…

Finding Warmth in One Degree Weather

It is cold outside…I can’t officially say freezing, but it is definitely cold. I had to wait for the bus for twenty minutes in this weather. My body was going numb. I was rubbing my hands together for warmth and it actually hurt. I called my mom while waiting to see if she could check online for a bus update. Since she knew how cold I was, I arrived home to a pot of boiling water for me to make tea. She then reminded me of the fact that there’s a jacuzzi in the house that I could use. I am grateful for an awesome mom who takes care of me when I’m cold 🙂

Crazy Days

Thursday-Sunday is going to be pretty crazy. I leave my house tomorrow at about eight in the morning and will not arrive home until about ten at night. In that time span, I will be on campus, in different classes for a total of ten hours. Thursdays are hard, but one of my classes only has two more weeks, and then I’ll have a much more manageable six hour day. Friday and Saturday I work for eight hours and Sunday I will be at my internship, helping with family sessions. I also have a great deal of homework to complete this weekend. However, this is life, and this is graduate school.

Today I did not get to see any clients, which is rather frustrating. I was in and out of meetings all day until group therapy, and then I had to leave. Sadly, it’s part of the job…

And Then Life Happened…

It turns out I didn’t lead group today. The group had far more pressing issues to discuss. Those issues even made it so that there was only one client that I could meet with today. After all the anxiety that I had approaching my internship, nothing happened.

I think it’s kind of funny how life works. I’m a major planner. I hate it when everything cannot be planned out and especially if a plan falls apart. But this is a major part of life, and even more so when you’re working with people. I need to learn how to be flexible and how to avoid worry when things don’t go as planned. I also need to stop stressing about group (which, theoretically, will begin next week on Tuesday) and just do what I can. At least now I have more time to figure out a good activity for the boys.

Tomorrow Begins a Group

Tomorrow I lead group therapy for the first time and I’m completely terrified. I was supposed to do it last week, but there were far more pressing issues to talk about, so my first week was put off to this one.

I have sat in on a grand total of ten different group therapies in my short career as a social work intern. I have co-facilitated three different groups. I even co-created a curriculum for children with anger issues, specifically ages 9-12, at one of my internships. However, there has only been one time that I completely led a group therapy, and that was my final group at my last internship. I knew those guys well and had good rapport with them. While all of this is true of my current group, the biggest difference is that last time I knew I was leaving and that this was a one time thing. This time, I am beginning a sixteen week curriculum on anger management. The curriculum was even written for adults, so while I am going through it, I am constantly having to rewrite things in words that make more sense and add examples they can relate to. This is scary, but I know I need to get through it to move forward. After all, I love the concept of group social work and embrace it.

Hopefully, all will go well with that and I will be able to meet with all four of my clients for individuals as well, since my Wednesday is pretty booked. Tomorrow will be crazy, but I’m trying to have a positive attitude. After all, social workers regularly have too much to do, right?

A Fun Video

A nice break for the beginning of the week (because some of us do need a break when the week starts). Check it out here.

Why I Still Can’t Write Much…

So sorry that, once again, this will be a short update. I have a better reason this time. I recently found out that Michigan is hiring over 500 child welfare workers and they’re looking at soon-to-be grads. Since I fit into this category and I want to work with children, specifically in the area of those who have been affected by trauma, I’ve been spending a good amount of today registering for one of their workshop/applicant times and researching what this whole process will look like. My posts for about the next month will probably be shorter (since I will have to make sure I pull everything together while trying to do homework), but I promise to continue writing. Currently, I’m trying to figure out who I need to contact to receive letters of recommendations and how I can get a new social security card since mine was put in a place where I’d always remember it and I cannot remember where that place is…wish me luck!