So as many of you may know, my post-college life has developed in a way that I did not completely expect. Remember when all I could think about was getting into the Peace Corps? My whole world revolved around my internship, finishing college, and becoming a professional volunteer. For some reason I used to be under the impression that I would be happy to leave college and move on with my life. Well, as August wraps up, it seems like an important and dependable part of my life is somehow missing. This is the first August in 17 years that I won’t be buying new notebooks, mechanical pencils, textbooks, and binders in preparation of another school year. This is also the first time it has hit me just how important academic work has been in my life. I almost envy Laurissa for being able to return to a school this fall. Almost.
My life seems to be defined by one word. Transition. In the last 8 months I have applied for the Peace Corps and decided not to join. I’ve moved into and out of 3 different apartments. I’ve finished an internship and graduated from college. I’ve started a full time social work job which means I have to get used to a new commute, new co-workers, new policies, and new clients. I’ve met, fell in love with, and moved in with the man I want to be with forever. I’ve said hello and goodbye to friends and family. Transitions, transitions.
I used to have a pretty clear picture about how my post college life would be. While it hasn’t all been a carefree and easy road, I can honestly say that I am happy. All I can see right now is pure potential. My life is what I make it and I aim to create a masterpiece.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Graduation does not equal closure
I drove 9 hours from Illinois to Dordt upon my mother’s request because I truly do appreciate all the support that she has given me throughout my 17 years of education. It has taken this long for me to truly realize not only the financial support she has given me, but also the pure love of academic work that she helped me develop early on. So thanks Mom :) Where would I be without your constant encouragement and interest in my pursuit of learning?
But truly, I do not see the importance of traditions like a graduation ceremony as much as she does. I’m pinning it on the generation gap that separates us, because while seeing me matriculate was a big event for mom, it held absolutely no significance for me. In my eyes, I got up early on one of my first days off in a long time, in order to cover up my nicely straightened hair and pretty new dress and shoes with an oversized black shoulder padded gown and hat/tassle combo. I lined up next to students I didn’t know and then sat down on a brightly lit stage. I heard an unknown professor of exercise science give a bland speech about how I must now integrate a mission into whatever profession I choose. I heard my name called, walked across the stage into the spotlight, shook the hand of an overpaid figurehead and then was handed a fake diploma. I took pictures, hugged a few remaining friends, took more pictures, and then it was over.
I don’t feel differently now that I officially graduated. I am not more qualified for a job. And I am no closer to finding my “calling.” Now all I have is a signed piece of paper, a 9 month grace period on my student loans, and an empty place in my heart where academic work once resided (yes, I loved it that much). I definitely did not get the closure that I wanted.
But truly, I do not see the importance of traditions like a graduation ceremony as much as she does. I’m pinning it on the generation gap that separates us, because while seeing me matriculate was a big event for mom, it held absolutely no significance for me. In my eyes, I got up early on one of my first days off in a long time, in order to cover up my nicely straightened hair and pretty new dress and shoes with an oversized black shoulder padded gown and hat/tassle combo. I lined up next to students I didn’t know and then sat down on a brightly lit stage. I heard an unknown professor of exercise science give a bland speech about how I must now integrate a mission into whatever profession I choose. I heard my name called, walked across the stage into the spotlight, shook the hand of an overpaid figurehead and then was handed a fake diploma. I took pictures, hugged a few remaining friends, took more pictures, and then it was over.
I don’t feel differently now that I officially graduated. I am not more qualified for a job. And I am no closer to finding my “calling.” Now all I have is a signed piece of paper, a 9 month grace period on my student loans, and an empty place in my heart where academic work once resided (yes, I loved it that much). I definitely did not get the closure that I wanted.
Endings
I know I’ve failed at this blogging thing. Remember at the beginning of the semester when I promised to write once a week?? I guess this is one of those times when life has gotten in the way of some of my plans. I’m sorry that it’s been awhile, but over the next few posts I’ll try describe the end of my semester and some of my future plans now that I’ve graduated.
Part of the reason why I find it incredibly difficult to sum up my semester is due to the fact that my experiences have varied so widely. Honestly I cannot begin to accurately describe everything I have seen, the people I have met, and the “firsts” that I have experienced.
I would have to say that the last half of my internship was a more diverse, satisfying, and challenging experience than the beginning of the semester. I was doing much of the same work (which I detailed in earlier posts), but I was able to have more personal responsibility. During my mid-term evaluations, my supervisor, Lisa, and I were able to develop new goals related to working with groups and completing brief research projects. Some of these responsibilities included:
1. Participating in client home visits by providing educational materials
2. Researching and developing a presentation on STDs/HIV which I gave during the Health Support Team’s monthly meeting.
3. Finalizing the updated resource list, including new listings I compiled for furniture, legal aid, clothing, and food banks.
4. Researching TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) that impacts my specific client population. Paid special attention to the ways that the policy enables/prohibits my clients from achieving their goals.
5. Presenting a case study and resource materials during the MSW group supervision time.
6. Compiled results from the Centering prenatal support group in massive spreadsheets. Subsequently made appropriate recommendations for improvement.
I found these new work responsibilities very fulfilling because of the chance that I had to develop several different social work competencies. Now I think I understand the importance of things I learned about in college like research informed practice and practice informed research. I have begun to develop a level of cultural competence that I never developed due to the lack of diversity I experienced growing up. I also feel much more comfortable working with groups due to the opportunity I had to put my practice skills into action this semester.
Looking back, I know recognize that my attention was focused mainly on improving my interpersonal style by observing the experienced workers interact with clients during the beginning of the semester. I learned a lot about the different characteristics that I want to incorporate in my own practice. One of the main things I need to work on is speaking slowly. Honestly, you have no idea how much the rate of speech can impact a social worker’s practice. In my opinion, speaking slowly and deliberately allows the client to understand that I truly care, I’m not rushing anything or making choices for them. I also hope to learn to convey empathy, genuineness, trust, openness, and honestly through those interactions. Sorry this is a very “social-workey” way to describe the things I’ve learned, but hopefully you get the main point.
I remember my first Practice Methods class in college which focused on micro practice (with individuals mainly). Honestly, I sucked at that class. My internship supervisor once laughed at me when I told her how painfully awkward my role play interviews with pretend “clients” were during the class. The thing is that I have no problem interacting with people when I do not have the pressure of the requirements and limitations of a professional relationship. I’m sure that it’s mostly a head thing for me, but I can be really really awkward in those types of situations. I highly value the time I had at the beginning of the semester to observe experienced workers and reflect on the characteristics that I want to incorporate in my own practice.
I had a lot of time to reflect on my internship experience at the end of the semester, and once again it’s hard to sum up everything that I have gained during my work. I came to Chicago a scared country girl, with very little real world experience. Throughout my experience here, I was challenged to develop skills, pushed to focus on core competencies, stretched to broaden my perspective of the needs of my clients, and generally forced to open my eyes and ears to a world I didn’t really know existed. It’s impossible to even begin to thank my supervisors for providing me with the diverse work responsibilities I had a chance to be involved in and the general guidance they provided for me daily.
Even though my internship didn’t necessarily clarify my future goals, I believe it gave me a pretty strong practice foundation that will be useful in whatever I do. I just want to point out the fact that I worked for an entire semester with pregnant women and children! Um, if you know me at all, that in itself is amazing. I have always found children mildly revolting. Now, I feel like I have developed a pretty strong interest in Maternal Health, especially as it is related to international development efforts and female empowerment. I actually went into Chicago Semester thinking that I would work at a major urban hospital. I was a little disappointed by my internship options during my interviews because they both dealt with maternal health. Little did I know that this experience would spark an interest that I now want to develop into a career. Sometimes these things just fall into our laps for a reason.
Finally I would like to thank the people that made my internship so enriching. A big thanks goes out to my supervisors, Lisa, Adrienne, and Nicole. Thanks also to my co-workers who welcomed me from the start, answered my many questions, and were a constant source of support and encouragement: Christina, Rebekah, Lupeda, Nichole, Dara, Allyson, Erin, Joscelyn, Lance, Amalia, Leticia, Carrie, Taz, and Celia. I know everyone reading this has no idea who these people are, but they have all been invaluable to my development during this past semester.
Part of the reason why I find it incredibly difficult to sum up my semester is due to the fact that my experiences have varied so widely. Honestly I cannot begin to accurately describe everything I have seen, the people I have met, and the “firsts” that I have experienced.
I would have to say that the last half of my internship was a more diverse, satisfying, and challenging experience than the beginning of the semester. I was doing much of the same work (which I detailed in earlier posts), but I was able to have more personal responsibility. During my mid-term evaluations, my supervisor, Lisa, and I were able to develop new goals related to working with groups and completing brief research projects. Some of these responsibilities included:
1. Participating in client home visits by providing educational materials
2. Researching and developing a presentation on STDs/HIV which I gave during the Health Support Team’s monthly meeting.
3. Finalizing the updated resource list, including new listings I compiled for furniture, legal aid, clothing, and food banks.
4. Researching TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) that impacts my specific client population. Paid special attention to the ways that the policy enables/prohibits my clients from achieving their goals.
5. Presenting a case study and resource materials during the MSW group supervision time.
6. Compiled results from the Centering prenatal support group in massive spreadsheets. Subsequently made appropriate recommendations for improvement.
I found these new work responsibilities very fulfilling because of the chance that I had to develop several different social work competencies. Now I think I understand the importance of things I learned about in college like research informed practice and practice informed research. I have begun to develop a level of cultural competence that I never developed due to the lack of diversity I experienced growing up. I also feel much more comfortable working with groups due to the opportunity I had to put my practice skills into action this semester.
Looking back, I know recognize that my attention was focused mainly on improving my interpersonal style by observing the experienced workers interact with clients during the beginning of the semester. I learned a lot about the different characteristics that I want to incorporate in my own practice. One of the main things I need to work on is speaking slowly. Honestly, you have no idea how much the rate of speech can impact a social worker’s practice. In my opinion, speaking slowly and deliberately allows the client to understand that I truly care, I’m not rushing anything or making choices for them. I also hope to learn to convey empathy, genuineness, trust, openness, and honestly through those interactions. Sorry this is a very “social-workey” way to describe the things I’ve learned, but hopefully you get the main point.
I remember my first Practice Methods class in college which focused on micro practice (with individuals mainly). Honestly, I sucked at that class. My internship supervisor once laughed at me when I told her how painfully awkward my role play interviews with pretend “clients” were during the class. The thing is that I have no problem interacting with people when I do not have the pressure of the requirements and limitations of a professional relationship. I’m sure that it’s mostly a head thing for me, but I can be really really awkward in those types of situations. I highly value the time I had at the beginning of the semester to observe experienced workers and reflect on the characteristics that I want to incorporate in my own practice.
I had a lot of time to reflect on my internship experience at the end of the semester, and once again it’s hard to sum up everything that I have gained during my work. I came to Chicago a scared country girl, with very little real world experience. Throughout my experience here, I was challenged to develop skills, pushed to focus on core competencies, stretched to broaden my perspective of the needs of my clients, and generally forced to open my eyes and ears to a world I didn’t really know existed. It’s impossible to even begin to thank my supervisors for providing me with the diverse work responsibilities I had a chance to be involved in and the general guidance they provided for me daily.
Even though my internship didn’t necessarily clarify my future goals, I believe it gave me a pretty strong practice foundation that will be useful in whatever I do. I just want to point out the fact that I worked for an entire semester with pregnant women and children! Um, if you know me at all, that in itself is amazing. I have always found children mildly revolting. Now, I feel like I have developed a pretty strong interest in Maternal Health, especially as it is related to international development efforts and female empowerment. I actually went into Chicago Semester thinking that I would work at a major urban hospital. I was a little disappointed by my internship options during my interviews because they both dealt with maternal health. Little did I know that this experience would spark an interest that I now want to develop into a career. Sometimes these things just fall into our laps for a reason.
Finally I would like to thank the people that made my internship so enriching. A big thanks goes out to my supervisors, Lisa, Adrienne, and Nicole. Thanks also to my co-workers who welcomed me from the start, answered my many questions, and were a constant source of support and encouragement: Christina, Rebekah, Lupeda, Nichole, Dara, Allyson, Erin, Joscelyn, Lance, Amalia, Leticia, Carrie, Taz, and Celia. I know everyone reading this has no idea who these people are, but they have all been invaluable to my development during this past semester.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Van Dam Chicago visit
That’s right people, the parents AND Becca made it out for a visit this past week. I find it more than slightly hilarious that my parents visited on the one week (ahem month) when all Chicagoans go green crazy, drink themselves senseless, dye an entire river fluorescent, and generally act like frat boys. Oh and did I mention that I live directly above one of the most popular Irish pubs in the entire city? Just picture huge lines of green clad bros and hoes lining the sidewalk with the general smell of stale beer and vomit in the air and that’s what I’ve lived with for awhile now thanks to St. Paddy’s. Becca, I am so sorry for exposing you to that hot mess! Gladly, I was able to make sure my parents missed out on most of it.
The parents were here from Saturday until Wednesday and we were able to get a lot of touristy sightseeing and shopping time in while also hanging out a bit with Uncle Gerry, Aunt Tami and some of the cousins. We also stopped by some of my favorite restaurants in the city including Epic Burger, The Original Pancake House, Giordano’s Pizza, and Portillo’s. It was a little exhausting since I still had to work on Monday, get my homework done, and go to class on Wednesday morning, but it was fun to show them the sights. At times it has been hard to convey the experiences that I have had here because it is so far removed from everything I grew up with back in Montana. I could tell that my parents were a little shocked by city life and all that comes with it (ie: noise, traffic, lots of crazy rushed people, and public transportation). I hope that they enjoyed the visit though since this might be the only time they have a child living in Chicago, but who knows? I have really enjoyed my time in the city, so maybe at some point I’ll come back.
Becca stayed for almost her entire spring break which was a lot of fun. Just so you all know, my sister is the coolest, quirkiest little shit you’ll ever meet and I love her. We were able to hang out quite a bit while she was here since I only worked on Friday. We went to an Irish music performance, shopping, running at the park, saw a movie, watched our favorite TV shows, and bought some awesome shoes! Becca, you complete me. You are my home. And we are definitely soul mates and bosom friends (please tell me you get these references!). Thanks to my family for visiting, and now I’m really looking forward to seeing Jake and Jackie this summer at home.
Here are a few favorites from the Van Dam Chicago trip:
A few from Epic Burger
Millennium Park – The Bean
Shedd Aquarium
Butt Munch, you ruined my picture
Who’s your daddy!? Classic Becca face, I could show you a picture of baby Becca with this same expression on her face
--------------------------------------------------------------
I have this high need for reflection time when I am trying to process difficult decisions. I’m up against pretty much the toughest decision ever and my options are pretty much endless. Needless to say, I’m going a bit crazy thinking about my life options after graduation, so I’m taking some blog space to talk it out.
All of my future plans pretty much depend on when I will be leaving for Peace Corps. The most frustrating thing ever is that I might get an invitation to leave on August 1 but the departure date might get pushed back into 2011! I might not even hear from the placement office for several months and what do I do in the meantime? As a result, my post graduation plans are not clear and I don’t have any way of telling when I will be invited. Sigh
Ok so, let’s try be at least a little constructive. I used to go over my life options with Laurissa as sort of a joke, but now I am getting scarily close to the time when I actually have to chose one and go for it. Here are some ideas:
Option 1: Continue living and working in Chicago until I receive a PC invitation. Go home a month before departure in order to get everything in order and packed up etc.
+ keeps me from being the post grad who still lives in my parents basement
+ I honestly cannot take another boring summer at home, especially after living in the city
+gain some more social work experience and keep building up my resume
+Chicago in the summertime is apparently awesome
-I need a roommate! and affordable housing! and a job that I can possibly leave within a few months!
-Need to be in Iowa and Minnesota for weddings
-Jake and Jackie are coming home in June and I WANT/NEED to be there
-Is this a financially viable option? Good question…
Option 2: Live at home, work at the greenhouse and possible at Hearts and Homes. Save up some money for a few trips during Peace Corps. See my family and friends from home and wait for a PC invitation
+Able to save more $$ since I won’t be paying for food, housing, and probably not gas
+Easier to get a ride to the weddings and I will be around when Jake and Jackie visit
+Easier to take an extended trip to see Katie and roadtrip through California possibly. I need a post grad trip right?
+Get to see friends and do cool summery stuff in Montana. Can’t beat it.
-Living at home as a post grad. Ick, please no. We don’t need to repeat last summer, huh mom :)
-I’m thinking it will be pretty horrible to go from Chicago to Churchill. Yea ouch. Just the thought of it hurts me.
-Finances are kind of the least of my worries. I mean, I just got a degree and now I’m going to be an unpaid volunteer for two years.
Option 3 and 4: Either live in Bozeman in an apartment or beg a place to live with Katie in Seattle. Work and wait to get a call from Peace Corps.
+Solves the problem of being the post grad living at home
+I would love to be in Seattle or Montana for the summer
+3 words: Post Grad Roadtrip
+According to Katie, barista jobs are easy to come by so easy temporary employment is a possibility
-Still need a job for this summer. Not sure if I’m up for another manual labor type job
-Still need to be in IA, MN, and MT for wedding and to see Jake and Jackie
-Paying for food and housing, not able to save as much $$
Do you see my predicament? If you have advice or suggestions for me regarding this topic just let me know. I honestly don’t know what to do. Peace Corps is messing up my life. But I’ve accepted that fact and I am still looking forward to entering service sometime soon. You’ll probably hear me screaming hundreds of miles away when/if I get my invitation packet in the mail. I’m that excited about it!
Peace
Beth
The parents were here from Saturday until Wednesday and we were able to get a lot of touristy sightseeing and shopping time in while also hanging out a bit with Uncle Gerry, Aunt Tami and some of the cousins. We also stopped by some of my favorite restaurants in the city including Epic Burger, The Original Pancake House, Giordano’s Pizza, and Portillo’s. It was a little exhausting since I still had to work on Monday, get my homework done, and go to class on Wednesday morning, but it was fun to show them the sights. At times it has been hard to convey the experiences that I have had here because it is so far removed from everything I grew up with back in Montana. I could tell that my parents were a little shocked by city life and all that comes with it (ie: noise, traffic, lots of crazy rushed people, and public transportation). I hope that they enjoyed the visit though since this might be the only time they have a child living in Chicago, but who knows? I have really enjoyed my time in the city, so maybe at some point I’ll come back.
Becca stayed for almost her entire spring break which was a lot of fun. Just so you all know, my sister is the coolest, quirkiest little shit you’ll ever meet and I love her. We were able to hang out quite a bit while she was here since I only worked on Friday. We went to an Irish music performance, shopping, running at the park, saw a movie, watched our favorite TV shows, and bought some awesome shoes! Becca, you complete me. You are my home. And we are definitely soul mates and bosom friends (please tell me you get these references!). Thanks to my family for visiting, and now I’m really looking forward to seeing Jake and Jackie this summer at home.
Here are a few favorites from the Van Dam Chicago trip:
A few from Epic Burger
Millennium Park – The Bean
Shedd Aquarium
Butt Munch, you ruined my picture
Who’s your daddy!? Classic Becca face, I could show you a picture of baby Becca with this same expression on her face
--------------------------------------------------------------
I have this high need for reflection time when I am trying to process difficult decisions. I’m up against pretty much the toughest decision ever and my options are pretty much endless. Needless to say, I’m going a bit crazy thinking about my life options after graduation, so I’m taking some blog space to talk it out.
All of my future plans pretty much depend on when I will be leaving for Peace Corps. The most frustrating thing ever is that I might get an invitation to leave on August 1 but the departure date might get pushed back into 2011! I might not even hear from the placement office for several months and what do I do in the meantime? As a result, my post graduation plans are not clear and I don’t have any way of telling when I will be invited. Sigh
Ok so, let’s try be at least a little constructive. I used to go over my life options with Laurissa as sort of a joke, but now I am getting scarily close to the time when I actually have to chose one and go for it. Here are some ideas:
Option 1: Continue living and working in Chicago until I receive a PC invitation. Go home a month before departure in order to get everything in order and packed up etc.
+ keeps me from being the post grad who still lives in my parents basement
+ I honestly cannot take another boring summer at home, especially after living in the city
+gain some more social work experience and keep building up my resume
+Chicago in the summertime is apparently awesome
-I need a roommate! and affordable housing! and a job that I can possibly leave within a few months!
-Need to be in Iowa and Minnesota for weddings
-Jake and Jackie are coming home in June and I WANT/NEED to be there
-Is this a financially viable option? Good question…
Option 2: Live at home, work at the greenhouse and possible at Hearts and Homes. Save up some money for a few trips during Peace Corps. See my family and friends from home and wait for a PC invitation
+Able to save more $$ since I won’t be paying for food, housing, and probably not gas
+Easier to get a ride to the weddings and I will be around when Jake and Jackie visit
+Easier to take an extended trip to see Katie and roadtrip through California possibly. I need a post grad trip right?
+Get to see friends and do cool summery stuff in Montana. Can’t beat it.
-Living at home as a post grad. Ick, please no. We don’t need to repeat last summer, huh mom :)
-I’m thinking it will be pretty horrible to go from Chicago to Churchill. Yea ouch. Just the thought of it hurts me.
-Finances are kind of the least of my worries. I mean, I just got a degree and now I’m going to be an unpaid volunteer for two years.
Option 3 and 4: Either live in Bozeman in an apartment or beg a place to live with Katie in Seattle. Work and wait to get a call from Peace Corps.
+Solves the problem of being the post grad living at home
+I would love to be in Seattle or Montana for the summer
+3 words: Post Grad Roadtrip
+According to Katie, barista jobs are easy to come by so easy temporary employment is a possibility
-Still need a job for this summer. Not sure if I’m up for another manual labor type job
-Still need to be in IA, MN, and MT for wedding and to see Jake and Jackie
-Paying for food and housing, not able to save as much $$
Do you see my predicament? If you have advice or suggestions for me regarding this topic just let me know. I honestly don’t know what to do. Peace Corps is messing up my life. But I’ve accepted that fact and I am still looking forward to entering service sometime soon. You’ll probably hear me screaming hundreds of miles away when/if I get my invitation packet in the mail. I’m that excited about it!
Peace
Beth
Monday, March 1, 2010
Fridays
You may be wondering why I haven’t talked more in depth about the work that I do. Well the biggest reason is that as a social worker, I am limited in what I can share because of the confidential nature of my work. As a result, I can’t go into specifics at anytime outside of my co-workers and practicum group. I can talk in very general terms about what I do though, so I’ll try and describe my favorite day --Friday.
This might be a little complicated, so I’ll give you a little bit of a background about what social workers (and related professionals) do at our clinics:
Low risk health worker: Social workers who have only a bachelors degree (usually). Work with pregnant women enrolled in our case management program. Provide services such as home and clinic visits, referrals, education, facilitate parenting and Centering support groups.
High Risk health worker: Social workers who have at least a Master’s degree. Work with pregnant women who are high risk due to certain factors (age of mother, twins, substance abuse, domestic violence, health conditions etc). Provides same services as above.
Pediatric worker: Social workers who work with the Moms once they deliver their babies. The Mom and baby are eligible for case management services until the baby’s first birthday.
Clerk: Often no college education. Responsible for case management enrollments, Medicaid Enrollments (medical cards), and MPE (short term medical coverage for pregnant women until real medical card can be processed).
Ok so on Friday I work with a MSW (master’s social work) intern who acts as the only permanent social worker at the clinic. She is responsible for doing pretty much everything a low risk worker, pediatric worker, and a clerk would normally do. The clinic is small, but at times there are too many clients for one person to see. That’s where I come in.
As a BSW intern, I am pretty much not qualified to do anything except what a clerk would normally do. So on Fridays, I have been mainly just observing enrollments and pregnancy testing, reading over the paper work, and being forced to do role plays with the MSW intern to get used to asking really personal questions of people I have just met. This is where the skills I learned in Practice Methods are supposed to come in, but I still find it difficult at times. For example, try to think of an appropriate/unembarrasing way to ask a client if they have ever had an STD? And which one specifically? And how many times have they had it? I have to remember that there is often a difference between how many children my clients have and the number of times they have been pregnant. And during the enrollment I have to try figure out what happened with the other pregnancies. I have to know the appropriate way to ask about health conditions, domestic violence, drug abuse, citizenship status, sexual partners etc. The list goes on and on. So needless to say, I’m learning a lot.
This past Friday I ended up flying solo because the MSW intern wasn’t able to come in to work. I was a little scared at first, unsure of my ability to take over for the day. The thing about my work is that even though I might have feel massively unqualified, my clients are real people with real needs, real problems, and real obstacles. It is pretty motivating to look at the appointment schedule and know I can be the one to ensure that some of those needs are met. Sometimes my clients are struggling with very basic things like food and housing. Things that I have taken for granted for 21 years. These are the things that motivate me.
And by the way, by the end of this semester I’m going to be an expert on subjects like the birthing process, breastfeeding, nutrition during pregnancy, and infant developmental stages. Who knew!
Sorry this post is long, but I have some really awesome and random pictures/stories from the past few weeks.
Picture #1 is the Central Park L stop near one of the clinics.
Picture #2 is a little sign I found at the High School clinic. It made me laugh. Now you know a really helpful phrase in Spanish!
Picture #3 is a very common sign seen on the streets downtown. The first time I saw it I immediately looked up searching for a deadly icicle ready to sneak attack me from above. After awhile I guess I realized that looking up won’t help anything so why even post a warning? I also recently saw some interesting modifications to this sign including “falling lice” “falling is nice” and “falling twice” :)
Picture #4 is my favorite hamburger ever!! If any of you come for a visit, we’ll have to make a stop at Epic Burger for one of these tasty tummy fillers.
Picture #5 can anyone guess this one? Look at the hat carefully.
Well, I am usually the only white person on the train by the time I get out to the clinic stop, but the other day I saw this big white guy get on the train a few stops before I had to get off. He was all beardy and rough looking and the first thought that came into my head was “he looks like he could be from Bozeman.” And so I was really really shocked when I realized he was wearing a Montana State blue and gold stocking cap!!! AND he sat right in front of me on the train, so I sneakily took a quick picture to show you all. Random huh?
Until next time…
Beth
This might be a little complicated, so I’ll give you a little bit of a background about what social workers (and related professionals) do at our clinics:
Low risk health worker: Social workers who have only a bachelors degree (usually). Work with pregnant women enrolled in our case management program. Provide services such as home and clinic visits, referrals, education, facilitate parenting and Centering support groups.
High Risk health worker: Social workers who have at least a Master’s degree. Work with pregnant women who are high risk due to certain factors (age of mother, twins, substance abuse, domestic violence, health conditions etc). Provides same services as above.
Pediatric worker: Social workers who work with the Moms once they deliver their babies. The Mom and baby are eligible for case management services until the baby’s first birthday.
Clerk: Often no college education. Responsible for case management enrollments, Medicaid Enrollments (medical cards), and MPE (short term medical coverage for pregnant women until real medical card can be processed).
Ok so on Friday I work with a MSW (master’s social work) intern who acts as the only permanent social worker at the clinic. She is responsible for doing pretty much everything a low risk worker, pediatric worker, and a clerk would normally do. The clinic is small, but at times there are too many clients for one person to see. That’s where I come in.
As a BSW intern, I am pretty much not qualified to do anything except what a clerk would normally do. So on Fridays, I have been mainly just observing enrollments and pregnancy testing, reading over the paper work, and being forced to do role plays with the MSW intern to get used to asking really personal questions of people I have just met. This is where the skills I learned in Practice Methods are supposed to come in, but I still find it difficult at times. For example, try to think of an appropriate/unembarrasing way to ask a client if they have ever had an STD? And which one specifically? And how many times have they had it? I have to remember that there is often a difference between how many children my clients have and the number of times they have been pregnant. And during the enrollment I have to try figure out what happened with the other pregnancies. I have to know the appropriate way to ask about health conditions, domestic violence, drug abuse, citizenship status, sexual partners etc. The list goes on and on. So needless to say, I’m learning a lot.
This past Friday I ended up flying solo because the MSW intern wasn’t able to come in to work. I was a little scared at first, unsure of my ability to take over for the day. The thing about my work is that even though I might have feel massively unqualified, my clients are real people with real needs, real problems, and real obstacles. It is pretty motivating to look at the appointment schedule and know I can be the one to ensure that some of those needs are met. Sometimes my clients are struggling with very basic things like food and housing. Things that I have taken for granted for 21 years. These are the things that motivate me.
And by the way, by the end of this semester I’m going to be an expert on subjects like the birthing process, breastfeeding, nutrition during pregnancy, and infant developmental stages. Who knew!
Sorry this post is long, but I have some really awesome and random pictures/stories from the past few weeks.
Picture #1 is the Central Park L stop near one of the clinics.
Picture #2 is a little sign I found at the High School clinic. It made me laugh. Now you know a really helpful phrase in Spanish!
Picture #3 is a very common sign seen on the streets downtown. The first time I saw it I immediately looked up searching for a deadly icicle ready to sneak attack me from above. After awhile I guess I realized that looking up won’t help anything so why even post a warning? I also recently saw some interesting modifications to this sign including “falling lice” “falling is nice” and “falling twice” :)
Picture #4 is my favorite hamburger ever!! If any of you come for a visit, we’ll have to make a stop at Epic Burger for one of these tasty tummy fillers.
Picture #5 can anyone guess this one? Look at the hat carefully.
Well, I am usually the only white person on the train by the time I get out to the clinic stop, but the other day I saw this big white guy get on the train a few stops before I had to get off. He was all beardy and rough looking and the first thought that came into my head was “he looks like he could be from Bozeman.” And so I was really really shocked when I realized he was wearing a Montana State blue and gold stocking cap!!! AND he sat right in front of me on the train, so I sneakily took a quick picture to show you all. Random huh?
Until next time…
Beth
Monday, February 22, 2010
Medical Clearance
Peace Corps Medical Clearance!! Check it out....
So this means that I am just waiting to hear from the Placement office to find out about my official invite for service. If I get the position I was nominated for (Pacific Islands, Health volunteer), I will be leaving in August at the earliest. It seems so close all of a sudden! Kinda scary and kinda exciting to think that I might be leaving within the next 6 months. Nothing is guaranteed, so I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait some more....
Beth
P.S. Sorry I've been slacking on my blog posts! I'll do better this week I promise...
So this means that I am just waiting to hear from the Placement office to find out about my official invite for service. If I get the position I was nominated for (Pacific Islands, Health volunteer), I will be leaving in August at the earliest. It seems so close all of a sudden! Kinda scary and kinda exciting to think that I might be leaving within the next 6 months. Nothing is guaranteed, so I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait some more....
Beth
P.S. Sorry I've been slacking on my blog posts! I'll do better this week I promise...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The happy post re: CTA
I just reread my post on CTA and decided to do a continuation on the same topic because I definitely did not do it justice. I was pretty frustrated with my own CTA fail the other day and only described some of the negative aspects of the trains. So today, I’m just going to talk about what I like about CTA and why it makes my daily commute an interesting experience.
Here’s a list of positives about CTA:
1. It’s convenient and cheap.
2. I get to people watch!
3. I’m learning to live with less personal space (I’m thinking this will be handy for PC!)
4. I get time every morning to listen to music, read, homework, finish a crossword puzzle, and most importantly, WAKE UP before I get to work.
5. I feel a sense of accomplishment every time I do not get lost.
6. I’m learning to have “train legs” and maintain my balance when there is standing room only.
There are certain things that I really really love about my commute each morning and evening. For example, I love using the blue line twice a week because it pops out from the subway tunnel onto ground level all of a sudden. I don’t know why I think it’s cool but the bright natural light surprises me every time. I like seeing the huge mix of people on each train. The businessmen and women, college students, moms with their kids, people with really loud music playing on their ipods, stressed people, little people, old people and everyone bundled up from head to toe. I like the fact that the announcer says that the doors are closing a good ten seconds or more before the doors actually slide shut. I like seeing people running down the stairs to make it to the train that’s about to leave. I like seeing young guys willingly giving up their seats for older people. I like watching people lose their balance when the train jerks to a halt unexpectedly. I like pretending that I’m texting or staring at people’s shoes when I have to stand or sit really close to strangers. I like reading the advertisements on each side of the train walls. I like traveling alone because I feel like a capable adult. I like it how a lot of people feel it is necessary to get up to stand by the door about a stop before they are actually going to depart. Honestly, there’s more, but you get the point right? Good :)
_________________________________
I thought I would add a little bit of an update about my Peace Corps application since it’s been on my mind a lot lately. So I completed my medical application during the fall semester and it was received on October 14, 2009. Technically, I was supposed to get a decision from the medical office between 8 and 12 weeks after I submitted the information. Well you can do the math and yea it’s been about 16 weeks since I got the paperwork in. I called my medical assistant a few weeks ago only to find that the Nurse in charge had a supplementary form regarding my “fainting and/or blackout spells.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that PC is thorough about the medical aspect because I want to be sure I’m physically fit to serve. The thing is, I fainted twice about 15 YEARS AGO! The first time, I was 4 or 5 and I watched as my brother accidentally sliced a finger with his new knife and then proceeded to puke. Who wouldn’t faint at that huh? Then in 1st grade when I was 6, I must have overheated during P.E. or something and fainted while in line for a drink of water. I was never seen by a doctor, and it never happened again. Needless to say, I’m really really frustrated that this hang up occurred right now when I’ve been waiting patiently for a month longer than expected. And to top it off, the envelope was mailed to my home address in Montana AND somehow the supplementary info form was not even included!! AND it’s incredibly hard to get in touch with anyone at the PC medical office, so I haven’t gotten through to tell them my new address or that the form was missing. ARG !!
I guess the good news is that no one has been invited for positions that leave during my nomination period which is early August. I still have about a month before those invitation go out. I am really really hoping to get clearance by then, but I’ve learned long ago not to hold high expectations for anything. Honestly I just want to leave sometime in 2010. I’ll keep you updated on how this medical clearance debacle is going…
Let me know if you have ideas/questions for a future post!
Beth
Here’s a list of positives about CTA:
1. It’s convenient and cheap.
2. I get to people watch!
3. I’m learning to live with less personal space (I’m thinking this will be handy for PC!)
4. I get time every morning to listen to music, read, homework, finish a crossword puzzle, and most importantly, WAKE UP before I get to work.
5. I feel a sense of accomplishment every time I do not get lost.
6. I’m learning to have “train legs” and maintain my balance when there is standing room only.
There are certain things that I really really love about my commute each morning and evening. For example, I love using the blue line twice a week because it pops out from the subway tunnel onto ground level all of a sudden. I don’t know why I think it’s cool but the bright natural light surprises me every time. I like seeing the huge mix of people on each train. The businessmen and women, college students, moms with their kids, people with really loud music playing on their ipods, stressed people, little people, old people and everyone bundled up from head to toe. I like the fact that the announcer says that the doors are closing a good ten seconds or more before the doors actually slide shut. I like seeing people running down the stairs to make it to the train that’s about to leave. I like seeing young guys willingly giving up their seats for older people. I like watching people lose their balance when the train jerks to a halt unexpectedly. I like pretending that I’m texting or staring at people’s shoes when I have to stand or sit really close to strangers. I like reading the advertisements on each side of the train walls. I like traveling alone because I feel like a capable adult. I like it how a lot of people feel it is necessary to get up to stand by the door about a stop before they are actually going to depart. Honestly, there’s more, but you get the point right? Good :)
_________________________________
I thought I would add a little bit of an update about my Peace Corps application since it’s been on my mind a lot lately. So I completed my medical application during the fall semester and it was received on October 14, 2009. Technically, I was supposed to get a decision from the medical office between 8 and 12 weeks after I submitted the information. Well you can do the math and yea it’s been about 16 weeks since I got the paperwork in. I called my medical assistant a few weeks ago only to find that the Nurse in charge had a supplementary form regarding my “fainting and/or blackout spells.” Now, don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that PC is thorough about the medical aspect because I want to be sure I’m physically fit to serve. The thing is, I fainted twice about 15 YEARS AGO! The first time, I was 4 or 5 and I watched as my brother accidentally sliced a finger with his new knife and then proceeded to puke. Who wouldn’t faint at that huh? Then in 1st grade when I was 6, I must have overheated during P.E. or something and fainted while in line for a drink of water. I was never seen by a doctor, and it never happened again. Needless to say, I’m really really frustrated that this hang up occurred right now when I’ve been waiting patiently for a month longer than expected. And to top it off, the envelope was mailed to my home address in Montana AND somehow the supplementary info form was not even included!! AND it’s incredibly hard to get in touch with anyone at the PC medical office, so I haven’t gotten through to tell them my new address or that the form was missing. ARG !!
I guess the good news is that no one has been invited for positions that leave during my nomination period which is early August. I still have about a month before those invitation go out. I am really really hoping to get clearance by then, but I’ve learned long ago not to hold high expectations for anything. Honestly I just want to leave sometime in 2010. I’ll keep you updated on how this medical clearance debacle is going…
Let me know if you have ideas/questions for a future post!
Beth
Monday, February 8, 2010
Beth vs. Public Transportation
I decided to start a series of posts about random aspects of my new life in Chicago. Since I spend a good part of every day on CTA (public transportation including the L and bus systems), I thought this topic would be a good one to start on. I’m including a map of the train system because otherwise this post would be unclear for anyone not familiar with CTA. Sidenote: I live north of the Loop near the State/Division stop and I get off at the Central Park stop on the Pink line.
Yesterday as I was starting to write this blog about CTA, I was pretty happy about my new found navigation skills. I felt like I had at least the train system down, granted it is pretty straightforward and user friendly. I had never gotten REALLY lost, maybe a little turned around or unsure of the direction I was facing, but never ever lost. I was pretty proud of my confidence and skill, so today was ultra disappointing because I messed up big….twice. Two times in one day!! And to really top this day off, the CTA put into effect changes just today to cut back on routes (along with about 1000 jobs) which means that the trains are less frequent and more packed than usual. So I got lost on the one day when a mistake will likely cost you 15 minutes instead of 3, and also the day when CTA regulars everywhere in Chicago are freaking out about the cut backs. Awesome.
My first mistake was pretty simple. I usually get off the red train near the bottom of the loop and transfer to the pink line. I like this strategy and it’s only a short climb to get from the red subway to the elevated platform for the pink line. Well I accidentally got off at a stop that is at the top of the loop which I have never used for my transfer. I acted all cool until I realized that I was walking up the stairs marked “exit” against the flow of people traffic composed of frenzied commuters who were very frustrated about the lack of CTA trains today. Oh well right? No, not so much. I ended up standing on the platform for about 20 minutes instead of being able to walk right onto a pink train like I usually do. I don’t know if the lack of pink trains was the result of the cutbacks or just because it was a different stop. Either way, my commute was extra long today…
My second CTA blunder occurred as I was traveling from my internship to the Chicago Semester Office downtown. I had looked up directions quick before leaving work, so I was sure I knew exactly how to get there. All I had to do was transfer from Pink to a southbound Red train, take a left on Addams St., and 50 feet later, I’d be inside the nice warm office building. The tricky thing about the red line is that it runs underground so it’s very important to find the correction exit so you climb up to ground level around the street you want to be on. I’m terrible at this because usually I just follow the crowd until we surface and then I try to figure out what street I’m on. Tonight I found out conformity really is a bad thing! I ended up walking about 7 blocks when I should have been able to cross one street and walk into my office building. I think I came out around in the middle of Monroe and completely forgot the order of street names. It should be kinda easy since they are named after Presidents, but that useful fact also apparently slipped my mind. And then of course I was too embarrassed to just do a 180 and walk back the down the street when I realized my mistake, so I crossed and found a huge map sign on the other side to reorient myself. Pretty sure I looked like an idiot tourist, but eventually I found the office and accepted the fact that maybe I don’t really have CTA down just yet.
Yesterday as I was starting to write this blog about CTA, I was pretty happy about my new found navigation skills. I felt like I had at least the train system down, granted it is pretty straightforward and user friendly. I had never gotten REALLY lost, maybe a little turned around or unsure of the direction I was facing, but never ever lost. I was pretty proud of my confidence and skill, so today was ultra disappointing because I messed up big….twice. Two times in one day!! And to really top this day off, the CTA put into effect changes just today to cut back on routes (along with about 1000 jobs) which means that the trains are less frequent and more packed than usual. So I got lost on the one day when a mistake will likely cost you 15 minutes instead of 3, and also the day when CTA regulars everywhere in Chicago are freaking out about the cut backs. Awesome.
My first mistake was pretty simple. I usually get off the red train near the bottom of the loop and transfer to the pink line. I like this strategy and it’s only a short climb to get from the red subway to the elevated platform for the pink line. Well I accidentally got off at a stop that is at the top of the loop which I have never used for my transfer. I acted all cool until I realized that I was walking up the stairs marked “exit” against the flow of people traffic composed of frenzied commuters who were very frustrated about the lack of CTA trains today. Oh well right? No, not so much. I ended up standing on the platform for about 20 minutes instead of being able to walk right onto a pink train like I usually do. I don’t know if the lack of pink trains was the result of the cutbacks or just because it was a different stop. Either way, my commute was extra long today…
My second CTA blunder occurred as I was traveling from my internship to the Chicago Semester Office downtown. I had looked up directions quick before leaving work, so I was sure I knew exactly how to get there. All I had to do was transfer from Pink to a southbound Red train, take a left on Addams St., and 50 feet later, I’d be inside the nice warm office building. The tricky thing about the red line is that it runs underground so it’s very important to find the correction exit so you climb up to ground level around the street you want to be on. I’m terrible at this because usually I just follow the crowd until we surface and then I try to figure out what street I’m on. Tonight I found out conformity really is a bad thing! I ended up walking about 7 blocks when I should have been able to cross one street and walk into my office building. I think I came out around in the middle of Monroe and completely forgot the order of street names. It should be kinda easy since they are named after Presidents, but that useful fact also apparently slipped my mind. And then of course I was too embarrassed to just do a 180 and walk back the down the street when I realized my mistake, so I crossed and found a huge map sign on the other side to reorient myself. Pretty sure I looked like an idiot tourist, but eventually I found the office and accepted the fact that maybe I don’t really have CTA down just yet.
Monday, February 1, 2010
The first 7 Days
This has been one of the longest weeks of my life, but I mean that in the best way possible. I can't believe that only 7 short days ago I was literally shivering I was so nervous about orientation and starting my internship. This week has gone even better than I imagined it. I love Chicago, I found great roommates and a place to live, and now it's up to me to pack as much living, exploring, and learning as I can into the next 3 months.
This blog post is difficult for me to write because so much happened during my orientation week. It's pretty much impossible to sum up all my initial experiences here, but I'll try and go over some of the highlights:
I found roommates! (Whoah, breathing a sigh of relief)
I knew going into Chicago Semester (CS) that my #1 priority would be to find roommates. And quick. I think we were given about 24 hours total to find roommates. It seemed like an impossible task, but CS is set up really well so that each student has the opportunity to meet a lot of other people in a really short amount of time. I was really nervous the first night because I didn't have any idea who I was going to live with, but by the next morning I had two roommates and an apartment. Not bad.
I have a place to live
Once again, CS took really good care of all of the students and everyone was able to find an apartment within the first two days. As you can see in the pictures above, our one bedroom apartment is pretty small, but I live about two blocks away from Michigan Ave (Chicago's main shopping district). The neighborhood is really great and it's been fun setting up house and exploring the area.
Work
I'm working at a hospital on the west side which serves a mainly low income minority population. My supervisor, Lisa, is the director of the Maternal and Child Health branch. I think at some point I'll put statistics up here from the neighborhood where the health center is located because they will just disturb you! The clinic was developed specifically because the standard of health was one of the worst in the entire Chicago area. Factors such as infant mortality and lead poisoning are more than double the national average and many pregnant women do not obtain appropriate health care during their pregnancy.
I was interested in this site mainly because I knew it would give me the opportunity to work in a few different settings. My schedule is a little hectic because I will be working at 3 branches of the health clinic. My schedule looks like this:
Mon/Tues: Spend the day at the large clinic shadowing a high risk health worker and a midwife
Thurs: Work at the main office with Lisa, work on a research project with the MSW interns, and update resource list
Friday: Work at the High School with an MSW intern who provides preganancy and STD/AIDS tests, counseling services, and referrals to other services.
I spent my first two days just getting oriented to the different offices and clinics. I met about 60 staff people and was thoroughly overwhelmed by the end of the day on Friday. The real work starts this week when I actually get to interact with clients, attend meetings, and start some of my big projects. I'll have a lot more detailed explanation of my internship this week, so stay tuned.
**On a side note, I know this post is somewhat vague because I didn't use the actual name of my internship site. I'm not exactly sure the rules of confidentiality on this one, so just to be safe I won't talk about specifics for now…
See you next week.
Beth
Sunday, January 31, 2010
The Apartment
I just wanted to quick post some pictures of the new apartment. Sorry for the poor picture quality, I actually took these on my webcam because I am currently camera-less.
This is taken from the back corner of the living room. The entryway is the dark-ish area in the center. The hallway to the bedroom and bathroom is off to the left.
To the right of the dining table (in above picture) is our awesome “kitchen in a closet.” No joke there is about a foot and a half of space between the wall and the cabinet. Fun fun :)
The rest of the living room area (as you can see, we haven’t really finalized our furniture arrangement etc.
Yah for tiny spaces. My bed is on the far left and my closet is next to it on the left wall.
View of the hallway from the bathroom facing toward the living room. Bedroom doorway on the right.
Bathroom.
Turquoise toilet!!
This is taken from the back corner of the living room. The entryway is the dark-ish area in the center. The hallway to the bedroom and bathroom is off to the left.
To the right of the dining table (in above picture) is our awesome “kitchen in a closet.” No joke there is about a foot and a half of space between the wall and the cabinet. Fun fun :)
The rest of the living room area (as you can see, we haven’t really finalized our furniture arrangement etc.
Yah for tiny spaces. My bed is on the far left and my closet is next to it on the left wall.
View of the hallway from the bathroom facing toward the living room. Bedroom doorway on the right.
Bathroom.
Turquoise toilet!!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Reality Bites an Idealist
I’ve been thinking about moving to Chicago ever since I was a starry eyed freshmen social work major and found out I could intern in the big city. I imagined myself working in poor neighborhoods, healing people with my expert counseling skills, and maybe even conquering poverty. Throughout that whole time, the reality of CHICAGO and WORK never really hit me. It was all just out there, a blip in the future that I would deal with some other time. Even now, 3 ½ days before I leave, it still doesn’t seem real.
So here I am, a small town Montana girl on the verge of greatness :) I don’t have much to write about yet, but stay tuned. I hope to post here about once a week detailing some of my experiences as a first time social worker and a first time city dweller. Please feel free to post comments, questions, or suggestions for a future post.
I hope idealism wins out on this one.
Peace and Love,
Beth
So here I am, a small town Montana girl on the verge of greatness :) I don’t have much to write about yet, but stay tuned. I hope to post here about once a week detailing some of my experiences as a first time social worker and a first time city dweller. Please feel free to post comments, questions, or suggestions for a future post.
I hope idealism wins out on this one.
Peace and Love,
Beth
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