Goodbyes and Lessons Learned

Had the first of many good-bye sessions of sorts today--my last group session with my Stress and Anxiety Group. We each co-run several groups in a year. I co-run Stress and Anxiety, Women's Issues, and Pathways (life skills). This stress group has been a really good experience. These kids are awesome and really respectful so it's an ideal group to learn how to run an effective group with.

During our last session today we had pizza and talked about things we have learned about/from one another. It was really touching and adorable and full of warm fuzzies. They all said super sweet things about each other and me. One of my girls who I adore and another boy who never really talks really touched me with the things they said. The boy, who almost never speaks, told me that he never really connected with interns last year and is almost glad he is graduating so that he won't be coming back to group without me there. That almost made me lose it. You sometimes don't know how big of a difference you are making.

This is one of the most amazing things about our jobs. As annoying and frustrating and overwhelming it has been at times to be an intern this year, it has also been incredibly rewarding and has taught me an amazing amount. I have been able to truly make a difference in students' lives rather than just be a testing machine. We make a difference in people's lives. That matters. That's what it all comes down to. Kids knowing that someone there cares about what happens to them. Be real. Be authentic. CARE. Honestly, that's 95% of my counseling skills.

Decisions

What if I had taken that internship in Grand Junction, Colorado?

For those of you who don't know, I was offered an internship in Grand Junction mere hours before I was offered an internship at Niles West here in Skokie. I had literally just gotten on the train from the interview at Niles when I got a phone message from Grand Junction. I listened to my heart and here I am...but what if I had gone there?

It is SO crazy to think how decisions like this ripple on and on and we can never truly know what would've happened if we had chosen differently.

Internship year

I've been at my internship for about 4 weeks now so I figure it's time for an update on my life.
The first week we just did training, which was nice to get to know our supervisors better before the students came. Things are starting to become a little more solidified with our schedules too. This year I get to work with four amazing school psychologists with three being my direct supervisor at some point during the year. I get to do a variety of things too, and it's crazy different from working at CPS (Chicago Public Schools) last year. I am doing counseling of individual students (both gen ed and special ed), working on teams of deans, counselors, academic advocates (people who work with kids who need extra help with hw and organization) and my supervisor, run groups with supervisors (right now I will be doing a post-hospitalization check-in group, transfer group, a group for freshman students with emotional disabilities, a group for students dealing with sexual orientation issues, and I may get to do another group at some point. I also will be doing evaluations for special ed, but much fewer than last year and less testing.

I also have been doing check-ins with students who are considered at-risk.
In October, I will start a rotation (going every week once a week) to a local junior high to work and get more experience with younger kids.

Each day I learn more and more and if I'm being honest, it makes my brain hurt sometimes. But I think this is going to be an amazing year and I'll be ready to start my real job after this year. It's a good feeling.

Volleyball and random thoughts

Haven't posted much of substance lately, so I'll try to catch you up on what's been going on. Finished up the semester last week and just have two more days at my schools before I go on break until January. It's so much easier to only have practicum and not all the school stuff too.

I had the volleyball playoffs for the league I joined this past Friday. We turned it on and got second place! We were just outmatched the last match owing mostly to the fact that that team had clearly played together more than one season and had three guys over 6ft to spike it at our faces while we had only 1 guy over 6 ft. Also, they had 9 players to sub in and out all night where we had 6 players playing four matches in a row. It was pretty sweet getting second place, though. We went out afterwards and had a great time. I love the sports part of the league, but the other amazing part is getting to meet so many new and interesting people. It's fun to have something to do every Friday night too.

I was super glad that I had volleyball Friday night because the school shooting really affected me. I was seriously getting into my own head too much over it. The school psychologist was killed. Also, I kept picturing all of my kindergarteners from Bonjour I loved so much. If some one ever tried to hurt them...

In other news, the main conflicting thing right now is the fact that I start applying for internships in January and my heart is still torn in two over Chicago suburbs and Colorado. I mean, maybe I can apply for both and then make my mind up. Only, that's hard because what if I get accepted into one first and then have to say yes or no and the other places haven't told me yet? I'm going to do some serious soul searching the next few weeks and hopefully divine wisdom will show me the way (I've been reading that Power thought card every night).

T-2 days until Christmas break!