Its SUMMER!

First, I would like to start by apologizing for not updating my blog at all during the past semester. Although I was taking less classes this Spring, I felt extremely overwhelmed and exhausted. By the end of the day, all I wanted to do was binge watch Netflix and fall asleep - which I did, a lot. Although stressful, I survived and successfully completed my first year as a grad student! It feels phenomenal! I have also begun celebrating the warm weather and feel like sweet Olaf from Frozen:

Even the rain is a welcome change from the awful winter Pennsylvania got - as every one liked to point out, this was the worst winter in a long time (I hate to think that I am potentially bad luck for the weather out here). Even though it was a rough winter, I did enjoy the snow and experiencing an actual changing of the seasons. Let me do a brief summary of school and events this past semester:

School:
Like I mentioned, this semester was very stressful. The courses were all new to me and contained their own challenges. I took a class on the DSM-5 and attempted to learn how to diagnose people - what I learned: diagnosing is complicated and I am no good at it. That being said, I managed to pull an A- out of the course and did learn a lot.
I continued working at the Charter School and was completely burnt out by the end of the semester. I picked up another client during the spring semester and through our sessions found a passion for art therapy. I have begun researching training opportunities for art therapy so I can add it to my practice. I enjoyed working with the student and was genuinely sad to say goodbye to her. However, I am very glad to be done with that internship. I did learn a lot about myself and that I do not wish to ever work in a school.
My biggest challenge this semester was dealing with a teacher, and a class, that was so unprepared and unprofessional. For the first time this year I became angry with the school I am attending. At an undergraduate level, having teachers that are not prepared and do not care about the class would have been acceptable - heck, it meant an easy A! But at a graduate level, when I am paying an absurd amount of money, this type of teaching is unacceptable. It was very difficult and frustrating, but administration was helpful and hopefully our criticism will be taken seriously and they will fix the course for future students.
I am very happy and proud to have completed my first year and plan on enjoying my month and a half off before summer session begins in mid-June.

Social Life:
I have made the best group of friends here! It has been wonderful meeting people who challenge and support me. I feel so loved and accepted. My close friends go out of their way to make me a part of their family, especially during major holidays. While its so hard being away from you all during those times of the year, it does help to have friends that make sure I am taken care of. It hasn't been easy being away, but they definitely make it smoother for me.
This program has opened my eyes and mind so much - I can feel myself changing every day. I am gaining a voice and confidence I never had before. Coming to a new state and meeting new people has allowed me to start at ground zero. Here are people who know nothing about me and have no bias about my personality. I feel like the person I am here is exactly who I am. It is a great, yet scary, feeling.

This past week I started working for a woman that runs a pet sitting business. She hired me as an independent contractor and assigns me different pet sitting clients per week. My first day was this past Wednesday and as my luck would have it, there was a HUGE storm. The rain came down in buckets and flood warnings were issued throughout the day. However, Fido still needs to potty so enter Sammie - rain jacket, umbrella, and poop bags. It was an exhausting day but luckily, the rest of the week was all sunshine. I am absolutely loving this job. It feels great to be back working with animals and its fun interacting with pets when they aren't stressed out from being at a vet office. Plus, I get a great cardio workout in. Most of my day consists of dog walking for 30 minutes - the most I've walked was three dogs. Luckily they were small and pretty well behaved. Although, two were on a splitter leash and tended to want to sniff things in opposite directions.

Other Updates:
Mushu is doing great! He is getting SO big and will be turning 1 year in June. He has been a great stress reliever and has helped me get through this first year away from home. However, I think he is outgrowing the comfy box of an apartment we live in - if affordable, I am thinking about upgrading to a one bedroom apartment now that I have extra money coming in. I know we could both use the space. Plus, it would also mean I would finally get some peach and quiet from the extremely angry neighbor that lives above me. Although highly entertaining (he gets angry about EVERYTHING - things that people just don't need to scream about) it'd be nice to not have my shows interrupted by his yelling. Here is what Moosh has been getting into this past semester:

 "Helping" me change toilet paper rolls                       Also stressed out with school work
                                                         

Constantly judging my wine consumption

The spoiled brat got a cat tree!                                  He sure does sleep a lot....

He also made friends with Rufus, my friends equally energetic cat. Yes, we schedule play dates for them. 

 

 Being adorable! Love this guy!

My final update involves  a new look. After my birthday I decided to donate my hair to locks of love. I ended up donate 10 1/2 inches and am in love with having short hair. It will be especially nice once the humidity kicks in. Here's a silly picture right after I got it cut :)

Well its safe to say I miss all of you! I promise to stay on top of my blog - at least one post a month! I can't wait to be home in CA in August. Love and miss you all!

Home Stretch

I am almost done with my first semester! I can't believe how quickly it went by. I have this week off from classes for Thanksgiving break and the following week is my last. I'll be at the Charter School for an extra 2 weeks to make sure I have enough hours before leaving to come home for Christmas.
This semester is by far my hardest. I am taking 6 classes (it would be 7 if I hadn't come early to take that summer class) and I can definitely feel the burnout happening. Myself, as well as my classmates, have begun checking out already. Thankfully, I only have 2 more papers to write before the end of the semester. As tough as it has been, I think I will be able to pull A's out of every class. This is a very exciting possibility and I know that if I can do this, my next 2 1/2 years here will be a breeze.
The Charter School is still number 1 on my list of things that cause me stress. It is such a crazy environment to be in and I can confidently say I do not want to ever be in a classroom ever again. It takes a special kind of person to do that every day and it's not me. That's not to say my work with the students hasn't been rewarding. I love teaching my Second Step lessons and the two students I currently do individual therapy with are great kids. I have found a lot of great therapy resources and the results have been awesome with the two students I work with. I have really taken to art therapy and I am finding out about so much through that. Also, it's fun and therapeutic for me as well since the students like when I do the same art project. I have built a great rapport with the entire 7th grade class and am trying to incorporate more positive interactions with them. Unfortunately, I'm just not used to the blatant disrespect that occurs between the students and the teachers. If you walk down the middle school hallway at any point in the day you will hear an adult yelling at the students for being so disrespectful. I have been able to help out in science since they tend to be pretty well mannered during that class period (it may be due to the teacher or due to the fact that it is the first class of the day for the 7th graders). Math on the other hand is impossible for me to be in. I am working on my patience level and my supervisor has been a great support for me. Even though I have some successes, I will be happy for the break coming up.

                       A group of us taking a much needed "selfie" break in our social work office

My social life has been great. My friends are a wonderful support system and provide me with some much needed self-care time. Unfortunately, all of them will be out of town for Thanksgiving so it will just be Mushu and I. I may take advantage of my recent sleeping problems and do some Black Friday shopping. Although, it has quickly dropped to 30 degrees and below so I try to limit my time traveling outdoors. The recent change in weather quickly erased all the beautiful fall colors. Here is one picture I managed to take before the leaves dropped:

As cold as its been, I can't wait to see everything covered in snow. I think I'm only excited since I know I will be leaving for 3 weeks during the winter. I think I can put up with 2 weeks of snow before heading out.
Mushu update: he is getting so big and has finally stopped biting me! After finding a baby tooth in my bed I realized that maybe he was teething. I'm definitely glad that stopped though - even though it was playful biting, it was still annoying. I am so excited to bring him home and introduce him to everyone. He is my little pride and joy and has such a great personality. Here are some pictures:

After a bath - he was very mad at me 

Making it impossible for me to get any work done on my iPad

Overwhelmed with kitten problems

Miss you all!! Can't wait to see you. Home in 23 days!



xoxo Sam and Mushu

Fall time!

I survived my busiest month and have almost survived my first semester! I can't believe how quickly time has passed. This is the hardest semester of the program so once I get through this, I know I can get through the rest of it.
It is also officially fall. The colors here are gorgeous. I will start taking more pictures but here is one I snapped last week:

My classes are going great and starting to wrap up. I don't have many papers due this month which is a welcome break after the chaos of October. My field placement has me incredibly busy. Friday was the math teachers last day; I had a feeling she would leave but I thought she would at least stick out the year. Unfortunately, it was not a good fit for her and the relationship she had (or better yet, did not have) with the students was not strong. She blatantly disrespected, so in turn, they had zero respect for her. The school is in the process of finding a long term sub for the rest of the school year, but as of tomorrow I will be in charge of the class. I plan on having a discussion with the students about how to make the classroom a productive and positive place once the new sub comes in.
I am really becoming attached to these kids. As I learn more about the history of Chester - which I plan to dedicate a post to once I have a complete understanding - I understand how difficult it is for them as students. I really want them to succeed and have begun advocating for them. I am attempting to get them some recess time because I find it ridiculous that they only have PE once a week and only 5 minutes in between each class to collect their things. They have so much energy and I think letting off some steam for at least 15 minutes would be a welcome break and improve their behavior in the classroom.

Socially, I am growing some great friendships. My friend Mary Faith and I went to Philadelphia last weekend to participate in a painting event. Its called Paint Nite and they organize different social events that normally take place at a bar. There you drink and socialize and learn how to paint a certain artwork. Here is our masterpiece:

We were about 30 minutes late due to good old city traffic but were able to catch up in a timely fashion. It was probably one of the funniest things I have participated in. We definitely plan on doing it again and I hope to take my friends to an event in San Francisco when I come home. I have my painting hanging up in my kitchen and it makes me so happy and proud every time I walk in. I actually painted a piece of artwork!











This past week also involved some Halloween parties. I went to one on Halloween night and another over the weekend (its weird figuring out when to celebrate when Halloween falls in the middle of the week).

 As a graduate with no extra funds to but a Halloween costume, I took the cheap, creative route. On Wednesday I went as a "Nudist on Strike" which all my human sexuality friends seemed to enjoy. Here we all are on Halloween :)

I went to a party with Mary Faith over the weekend. She was Jenny from Forrest Gump (during the 70s) and I went as a "minion" from Despicable Me. Mary Faith's boyfriend went as Forrest and even made his own leg braces. It was hands down the best costume of the weekend.







I'm happy I have been able to socialize, relax and blog in between school work. I registered for classes today and am looking forward to only taking 5 (technically 4 since my field placement is counted as a class) classes next semester.
Now for a Mushu update! He is getting bigger every day!

He loves helping my write my papers - although he does anything and everything to distract me for attention. 

Helping me put away my laundry

He is always watching me.....

....but his favorite thing to do is snuggle!








Miss you all like crazy! Only 1 month and a few days until (we) are home! xoxo

Overdue Update

Hi Everyone!
Sorry it's been so long. October is my busiest month for papers and tests so I've been over worked and tired. The only reason I am updating now is because I came down with a nasty bug. It looks like my body will be able to clear it in 24 hours so I should be good by tomorrow and back to writing papers. Here's what I have been up to:

Classes:
They are great. As I mentioned, I've been doing a lot of writing recently. Its been hard getting back in the saddle after a year off from school. Luckily, Widener has a writing center staffed by professors so I took my research paper in last week to get it reviewed. I got some great feedback but realized that my undergraduate professors let a lot of silly grammatical errors slide. The two papers I am writing are on sex education; one is a research paper on the benefits of adding pleasure to sex education curriculum and the other is a history paper on the social problem of teen sexuality that lead to abstinence only education. The history paper is for my Social and Economic Justice class, which is by far the most challenging. However, my teacher is amazing and I am learning so much from her! She lets us turn in our papers a week before the due date and will give us ungraded feedback. I really appreciate that system and love how all of the professors want to help us in any way possible.

My Field Placement:
Working at the school is equally rewarding and frustrating. I really feel as though I am making a connection with the students and have begun working with two on-on-one (for confidential reasons I can't go in to any detail about them). Working in the classroom is an entirely different story. I have begun a program called Second Step which contains 13 different lessons about social skills. I was nervous about teaching the entire classroom but it ended up being a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the students have no respect for each other or their teachers. After my second class, which is at the end of the day, I went into our social work "office" and cried. The lessons in Second Step are so beneficial but its like the lesson is falling on deaf ears. The amount of energy I am putting in to teaching them is exhausting, especially when the students aren't respecting the process. The main issue with the 7th graders is the amount of personal conversations that happen during instruction. I tried to ask them why there was such constant chatter and where the disconnect was coming from, but I was met with silence (for once).
I found out recently that drop out rate in Chester is around 40%! I could not believe it. I immediately had a sinking feeling. These poor kids have so many odds stacked against them, its no wonder school is not a priority in their lives. The Charter School only extends to 8th grade, and majority of the parents are trying to propose a Charter School for 9-12 grades so their kids can avoid entering the district high school. The fact that I only get to work with these students for 1 year and knowing that many of them could drop out makes me sad.
I am supposed to be teaching the second lesson from Second Step on Friday but have decided to open up a less formal discussion with the students. I to know where their heads are at about school and try to get them to see how important it is. I am trying to meet them at their level and have, what I think, is a great lesson on respect and school planned out. Hopefully it reaches all of them, but my fellow interns tell me that even if I reach 1 or 2 students it will be a success.

 On a lighter note, here is a picture of Kayla and I wearing matching outfits to school....this was not planned













Social Life:
Now the fun stuff. I have been maintaining a pretty solid social life. I go out with my friends on the weekends and its been really great getting to know everyone. It's also a nice break from all the school work and stress from my field placement (even though that is what we talk about 80% of the time).

 A fellow intern at my school had a "semi-formal" social gathering at his house last weekend. It was so much fun to get dressed up. He lives near center city so we drove around and saw some sights before heading to his place.

Me and my friends Cassie (in the middle) and Erika








Mushu:

He lets me put him in rainboots for adorable picture opportunities

Being a silly cuddle bug

Playing in bags

He is the cutest sleeper! Having me home sick all day has been so much fun for him







We miss you all! Only a month and a half until we will be home! Hope to update soon. I will also be starting a blog about wine. I have become a fan of choosing wine based on the label and am going to start reviewing the wines I choose. I will also have stories/thoughts/adventures accompany the wine I am currently drinking. Once I pop open my first bottle I will post the link :)

Putting the "social" in social work

Before starting the program, I was warned about trying to maintain a social life. Actually, I was told it was not going to be possible my first year. However, I have been able to meet a lot of great people and go out and explore. Two weeks ago, Joe came to visit and we explored Philadelphia. We went to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. It provided a great view of the Philly skyline:

The aquarium was AMAZING!

I got to pet a shark! As much as I love touching the bat rays at the Monterey Aquarium, touching a shark wins! Some were rough, but a few (like the one pictured) were soft. It was so much fun. I could have stayed there all day. 

This exhibit was meant for kids, but I couldn't resist looking at fish from inside the aquarium. 

Loved the hippos! We showed up at the perfect time and got to watch them be fed. They eat full heads of lettuce. 

An awesome shark tunnel. Needless to say, I loved the aquarium. So many sharks, so little time.









After the aquarium, we went to a food truck festival in Manayunk, a town in northern philly. The town as a giant main street and there were about 50 different food trucks parked along the entire street. It was so much fun to explore and eat delicious food truck food. I also discovered fried cheese curds, which are sooooooo delicious.

My cohort has been organizing many different social gatherings. The first one was held at a bar in Media. I took Joe and we mingled with people in the human sexuality program. Last weekend was my friend Cassie's birthday. We went out to a bar in Philly called Barcade. It is a big bar that has 20+ arcade games. Apparently, there are 2 other Barcade locations so they rotate which games are at each location.

Here we are outside on the patio (it was to loud inside to have a conversation).






This past weekend I went out with bigger group from my human sexuality program. We met at a german bar in philly and had food and some drinks. Afterwards we went dancing at a nearby gay bar. On the dance floor, one wall had a projector set up - instead of showing music videos (which is normally what gets projected to correspond with the song being played), they were projecting clips from different movies. Mainly clips from The Labrynth, Golden Compass, and Mortal Combat. It was hilarious.
Yesterday I hung out with my friend Mary Faith, who is in the social work program with me. She is becoming a close friend and I really enjoy spending time with her.
I'm really happy I have time to hang out with people and get to know everyone in my program.

Nobody said being in graduate school would be a walk in the park

Well, school has officially taken over my life. Not to say it isn't enjoyable, but it does get tiring. I am learning so much, and it is all stuff that I can apply to my practice. Lets see if I can catch you all up to speed:

School -
I still haven't officially started at the Charter School yet due to a delay in my clearances coming back. Hopefully I will be able to start next week. Its hard not being in the classroom working with the students, but I have been keeping myself busy. Assignments are starting to become due for my classes so that takes up a lot of my time. I actually have a paper due tomorrow that I will definitely be pulling an all nighter for.
I started my human sexuality class this past weekend. I went Saturday from 9am-7pm and Sunday from 10am-6pm. It was really intense, but a great way to dive back into the subject that brought me out to Pennsylvania. I have this class for 6 more Wednesday and then I will be done with it by the end of October.
I don't have much to report about school except that I am really enjoying it and am meeting a lot of great people through my program.

I did get a chance to explore my area a little bit more a few weeks back. I went on a 4 mile walk and found some adorable houses and a really cool park (that is actually right next to the freeway).

This was one of the houses I saw that I loved - just add a wrap around porch and I'd move in tomorrow ;)

My other dream home

A creek that runs near my town

Butterfly Garden in Smedley Park

The park near the freeway - it was surprisingly quiet

A trail I found








I've definitely been having fun exploring. A few girls from my program and I went to a local bar the other weekend. It was nice to go out and get to know people. Media also has a very relaxed, yet busy, nightlife. A lot of cute bars, some even had live music.
It is slowly starting to become Fall here - the weather is getting brisker and we have had a few rainstorms. As I was driving home from school the other day I decided to stop at the store to grab a few things. I was only in the store for 5 minutes and when I came out it was down pouring. It was literally a sheet of rain - you could barely see what was across the parking lot. I took the short drive home, and by the time I had reached my apartment, the rain had stopped. Crazy weather!

As stressed out as I am becoming, I am still very happy. Its been a great experience so far and I can't wait to learn more. Miss you all! I'll be coming home for Christmas and New Years so mark your calendars! I get in Dec 17th and leave on Jan 9th. I'll also be bringing my little bundle of joy with me so you all can meet him. Mushu is getting so big - already over 3 pounds and so insanely spoiled.He does sleep a lot, but when he wakes up, man does he have some energy! He keeps me very entertained. Love you all and I can't wait to see you in a few months!

XOXO Sam and Mushu

My first official week

So this week marked my "official" start of my graduate program (even though I already completed one course - which I am so happy I did, 6 classes would have been unmanageable).

Monday and Tuesday consisted of orientation for my field placement. As part of my program, the school places you in an area of interest and you must complete 480 working hours in that field. I have been placed at the Widener Charter School and will be working exclusively with 7th graders. Monday was extremely overwhelming, mainly because we were receiving loads of information without much detail. I was also stressed out because my debit card number had been stolen before I moved, and due to poor customer service from State Farm, I still had not received my replacement card. Due to this, I am unable to withdraw cash, which I needed in order to mail out a child abuse clearance, and receive my new PA license to register my car. The child abuse clearance can take up to 14 days to process, and until that comes in, I cannot work with the students at the Charter School.

On Tuesday we had a training session from 9am-4pm on a program called "Incredible Years". It is a program that is designed for Kindergarten and 1st grade students with behavioral and social difficulties. It was very interesting, but since I will not be working with that age group, it was not applicable to majority of the group. We also found out more about what we will be doing in the school - for my age group, I will be facilitating one-on-one sessions with students that myself, and the school staff believe could benefit from counseling. There is also a possibility of forming groups and holding sessions, but that is still being worked out. I thought I would be working alongside someone that is a practicing Social Worker for the school, but that is not the case. I will be the practicing Social Worker for the 7th graders, and I have two supervisors I can refer to. This is very scary and exciting. I am excited about getting a ton of experience, but I am also learning all of this myself. I have no background in social work, so I don't know the first thing about counseling anybody. I am confident in my supervisors and know I will receive a lot of support and guidance from them.
On Wednesday and Thursday I attended formal class. Wednesdays I have one class - Human Behavior and Development. My professor seems very laid back and has a lot of experience and knowledge in a variety of fields. She has done a lot of international work and coordinates annual overseas trips. Every Spring holiday she takes students to Thailand for 14 days. I am definitely looking into this for my elective, which doesn't occur until my 3rd year. It seems like a great trip, and I've always wanted to go there.

On Thursdays I have two classes - Field Practice and Social and Economic Justice. My field practice course provides and outlet for the students to discuss what they are doing in the field and how they can apply certain theories and knowledge to their work. Its going to be a great class and will help me greatly at the Charter school. My Social and Economic Justice class is taught by a very passionate teacher. She has a background in policy and makes learning about it very enjoyable.
I love that all of my teachers have a MSW and can relate to what we are going through as graduate students. They are very empathetic (and that might also come from them being social workers) and are willing to help us any way they can. I am very excited about all of my classes.
I took some pictures while on campus (its very tiny) but I wanted to show you all how beautiful it is:

Normally, I will be at the Charter school on Fridays (in addition to Monday and Tuesday), but school hasn't started for them yet so I have a long 4 day weekend. I have made friends with many people in my classes, but so far I only hang out with one person outside of school - and she went home for the weekend. I plan on exploring a bit, getting some laundry done, and reading for next weeks classes. I am definitely feeling lonely, but I am trying to keep myself busy so I don't dwell on it too much. Wish it were easier for me to come home or send you all here.
I also learned something new about living in PA - you cannot buy liquor in convenient stores or gas stations. I went to 4 different places last week trying to find some wine, and discovered that you can only purchase liquor at "wine and spirit" stores. Luckily, I found one 2 blocks from my house! They have a huge variety of wine brands and since I don't have a "favorite" brand I tend to pick the ones with cool names. I found a lot of funny names that I plan on trying soon - I settled on "Monkey Bay" a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand that is wonderful!

Mushu had to see what I was drinking of course but did not enjoy the smell. He quickly moved on to attempting to eat my food. What a crazy kitty he is.
I hope everyone has a fun Labor Day weekend - its supposed to rain here on Monday :( hope you all have good weather!

xoxo
Sam and Mushu