Graduation

After three years of long Tuesday nights and crazy interning schedules,

I finally graduated!

Master's of Science in Psychology
with an emphasis in School Counseling

And I couldn't have done it without the help of all the other Psychos in Salt Lake:

Back: Spencer, Sally, Laura, Amberly, Dan
Front: Christy, Karen, Lindsey, Ian

I love these guys!

Congratulations to the Class of 2012!!!

One Day More

Tomorrow is the last day my internship.

Just one more day.

Finally!

I have loved it, but I am ready for it to be over.

And now that it is, I am not planning on starting a revolution,

But I am planning a whole lot of other fantastic things.

P.S.  Please ignore the fact that that Jonas kid does NOT know how to sing.

My 2-Week Notice

I just submitted the following as my graduation reflection for our graduation program in two weeks.  Can you believe it???  Only two weeks away and then I'll be done!  Hooray!!!  I just didn't know what to write, so I just started writing.  That line of thinking got me through 3 years of graduate school, so it can't be completely terrible, can it?

"To tell the truth, I was incredibly nervous to go to graduate school.  It was new and unknown and I didn’t know what to expect.  I was afraid that it would be more difficult than I had bargained for.  After our first day of classes, however, I was rather surprised when the thought, “This is going to be fun!” crossed my mind.  Looking back, it was fun--and crazy and chaotic and wild and challenging and wonderful all at the same time.  It has been tough, but it has been a great experience.  I have been pushed beyond my comfort zone, I have been pulled and stretched further than I thought possible, and I have accomplished more than I ever dreamed.  What’s more, I have made some really great friends.  Even though school sometimes meant long days and late nights, I was glad that I wasn’t doing it alone, that my friends were right there with me.  The last three years have been amazing.  Yet, I now find myself once more nervous.  I am again afraid of the new and unknown.  This time, however, I have the confidence and skills to face the new challenge head on.  And I know for certain that this adventure, wherever it leads, is going to be fun."

Great Minds Think Alike

Today I met with three kindergarten boys. 

It only took me a minute to realize that we all happened to be wearing blue shirts.

This afternoon I went to work.

I soon became aware that all three of my female coworkers were dressed in green.

It's only slightly comforting to know that

my brain works more like a 5-year old boy than a middle-aged woman.

How To Succeed Without Really Trying

Today I had to take a big test.  As it went better than I had planned, I decided I would share my 10-step plan to having a successful examination.

1. Wake up before your alarm, because you don't want to be too rested.
2. Start the calisthenics.  Run around your bed a few times as you try to find a tissue to kill the bug on your floor.
3. Next, jump in the shower and do NOT shave your legs, even though it's been awhile (think Samson).
4. Eat the Breakfast of Champions: left over Chinese takeout.
5. After breakfast, warm up your fingers by checking out facebook.
6. Get your pencils ready, all three of them, because they make you bring your own.  Be sure to double check the erasers.
7. Don't bother getting any last minute study in.   It's no use trying to cram because you can only retain so much information.
8. Leave before you have to and then drive really slow to the testing center so that you don't arrive too early.
9. Wait until they say "go" and then get to work.  Finish 3 minutes before they call time so that you can at least say you finished early.
10. Because you have worked so hard, buy yourself a winter melon tea with milk and tapioca pearls--a delicacy you've been missing since your days in Taiwan--as a reward. 

So, there you have it.  You can now ace any test thrown your way. 

And when you reach step #10, call me.

'Bums' the Word

At school yesterday, two kindergarten fraternal twins were sitting in the office, waiting for their babysitter to come pick them up.  I had just visited their respective classrooms earlier that day, so they seemed pretty excited to see me in the office.  I decided to hold a conversation with the two:

Me:  Hey, guys!  Are you two brothers? 
Twin #1: Yeah, we're brothers!
Twin #2:  We're twins!
Me:  Wow, twins?!  That's awesome!  You're in Mrs. T's class (to Twin #1), and you're in Miss M's class (to Twin #2), right?
Twin #1:  How did you know that?!  How could you tell us apart?!
Me:  I could tell cause I think you look different.  Do you look different or the same?
Twin #1:  Different!  I look like my dad!!
Twin #2:  And I look like my mom, 'cause my mom has a skinny butt, and I have a skinny butt too!!!

Unfortunately, their babysitter walked in right then, because these kids were hilarious!!!

The Tuesday Drudge, Part XIV

I had my final class tonight.  It was a bit bittersweet--I am so glad that I am finished, but I really am going to miss my classmates.  We've spent every Tuesday night together for the last two years.  Now who am I going to spend my Tuesday nights with?  What am I going to do?

It was also slightly anti-climatic.  I mean, I guess I was just expecting more for our final meeting than what actually happened.  I thought we'd go out with a bang, but instead it was more like a "It's been fun".  Lame.

Speaking of school, some people are far too obsessed with grades.  I mean, is receiving less than an A really that bad?  I got an A- in one of my classes this summer and I was shouting praises and singing hallelujahs.  I was happy. 

Some student must have complained about the grades because one of my teachers sent out an email daring all perfection-seeking students to just once get a B to see if the world really would 'tilt on her axis'.  Her thinly veiled sarcasm made my day.

I met with my internship people today.  They are cool.  I'm going to die this fall.  Remind me why I decided to go to graduate school?

The Tuesday Drudge, Part XIII

Today really has been a drudge. 

I have been stressed, depressed, and rather frenzied. 

I had to scramble to finish a school assignment,

I turned in a project that I was far from satisfied with,

And I received a horrifying glimpse of what fall semester is going to look like.

It just hasn't been the greatest day.

But I heard this song this morning and I remembered that I liked it.

It helped to brighten my day just a little.

  

The best part of today?

The in-class potluck.

I love my classmates.  I'm going to miss them.

Almost There

I have spent most of the day doing homework, and I feel no closer to being done with it than when I started.

I have to keep reminding myself that this is the end.  That these last assignments are just that: the last assignments.

But I still don't want to do them.

Living and Dying

My sister asked me the other day if I was dying.

She wondered why I was in such a hurry to cross things off of my Life List.

I told her it was because I need things to blog about.

Plus, there is so much to do in life: why not get started now?

However, Life is about to end--

Because working 40 hours and interning 15 hours a week is going to be death.

Arithmetic According to Me

Four more weeks of school

x

Just a few homework assignments left to complete

=

Doable.

However,

Doable

x

Zero motivation

=

Not much getting done.

Help?

Homework and Hockey

I was going to blog--really blog--but I had to do my homework and I ran out of time.

However, I did talk to my boyfriend and I did watch Game 6 of the Stanley Cup (as I studied, of course).

And even though Vancouver lost, I decided that I like really like Canadians...

...and that I really dislike homework...

...and that I really like one particular Canadian in particular...

But then, you already knew that.  :)

Go Canucks!!!

My Fifteen Minutes (or One Second) of Fame

I just got a text from one of my school friends.

Apparently, I was on TV this morning.

YIKES!!

I had no idea they were actually going to use that footage.

Now, my question is,

Where's my tuition reduction?!

...I knew I should have signed a contract before they started taking pictures.

P.S.  This isn't my first television appearance. 

Years ago, a news camera caught me during a Black Friday shopping frenzy. 

I told you we were hardcore.

The Lunch Ladies

On Monday I bought school lunch.  It was the first time in 12 years.  Okay, really, it was a salad.  Not some gross enchilada or mystery meat.  Just some lettuce and stuff.  It was actually tasted pretty good.  But what made this salad fantastic was the lunch ladies.

I had snuck into the cafeteria between first and second lunch.  The ladies were so nice and kind.  Once they saw I wanted a salad, they got me a bread stick.  After that they made sure I got my milk and a fruit.  And then they gave me some dried cherries for my salad--literally the cherry on top of a perfect lunch time interaction.

Today, I was excited to see the lunch ladies again.  It was a busy day so I didn't make it to the cafeteria until just as second lunch was ending.  This time there was a different lunch lady.  As she was cleaning up I asked, "Can I buy a lunch?"  And you know what she said to me?  She said, "Nope, they're all gone." 

It did not go as planned.  My beautiful lunch ladies who had lavished me with cafeteria food had turned into something grumpy with a hairnet.  And all I could do was go back to the counseling office disappointed.  And hungry. 

It's Like Fifth Grade All Over Again

This last weekend I finished reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. 

Then I started reading Esperanze Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan. 

Both books are for a class assignment.

I love graduate school!

One Down, Two to Go

Can you believe it? 
I have finished my first year of graduate school!
And I'm still alive!

So now I have two weeks of summer before school starts again. 
Basically that means that I still have to go to work during the day,
I just don't have homework to do at night.

What am I going to do with all that free time?

Only two more years to go!

Well, Learning By Osmosis is Out

I remember when I got my first B+.  It was in 10th grade, in Mr. Orme's Human Biology class.  I hated biology.  I then got another B+ the next year, in Pre-Algebra with Mrs. Ratz. I liked Pre-Algebra.  And then I went to college and got a B- in History of Rock and Roll.  And a C in Biology.  In the same semester.  Bad.  And then I lost my scholarship.  Really bad.  And if I hated biology before, I really hated it then.

I just got my grade for my first class this summer.  Um...let's just say it could have been better.  It's a mighty downfall from my lofty 4.0 of last semester.  But, while it isn't the best grade, it definitely could have been much worse.  I mean, I had mono, and I still pulled an above average grade; only, it is below average for me, and is slightly disappointing. 

Do you think if I had actually told my teacher I was sick she would have gone easy on me? 

P.S.  I still hate biology.

Courtroom Psychosis

In reading my Essentials of Intentional Interviewing textbook, I came to the conclusion that professional counselors would make excellent lawyers.

Why?

Because they direct the conversation, ask leading questions, and manipulate client emotions.

Hmm...law school... Tempting.

Isn't it Pretty?

Did you see it?

Perhaps you need it larger.

Click on the picture.

See it now?

Beautiful.

Disregarding What I Learned in Kindergarten

I took my last final of the semester last night. Let's just say it was sort of painful. Physically painful. Last week our teacher told us to bring lined paper and a writing utensil for the test. This week our instructions were to "write down everything you can remember". An hour and 5 pages later, I walked out of there with my hand rather deformed and useless. But I was finished and I was happy, my second semester of graduate school being over.

As we had to scan and email our test to our teacher in Logan, I was told to cut the edges off my papers where I had torn them out of my notebook. I went to the facilitator's office for a pair of scissors and then walked 10 feet down the hall to the garbage can. I quickly cut off the offensive edges and went to return the scissors. Just as I got to the office door, our facilitator Mike walked out. Noticing that the scissors were still in my hand in cutting position, I shrieked when we almost collided.

"Ah!" I said. "I almost impaled you!"

Mike was cool and didn't hold a grudge against me for almost stabbing him. The girl in the office, however, burst out laughing. She thought the word 'impaled' the funniest she had ever heard.

Yes, I am in graduate school. And yes, I use words like 'impaled'. So, how could I forget the first rule of scissor-handling? I should know better; it's not like kindergarten was that long ago.

Afterwards we all went out for hamburgers and milkshakes. Thank heavens I can still count change.