Changing lives

I believe the one time I felt I made a difference in someone’s life was when we painted the schools in Jamaica and gave them school supplies. When we first arrived at the schools we had to clean out the two buildings (two rooms) which we were painting. I had never seen a cockroach before that and I tried not to freak out when they came out from beneath the books or their play things. I didn’t want to make them feel abnormal for having them there. Some of the children even came in the room and helped kill the insects. When we were done with the rooms, there weren’t any cockroach that’s for sure. We had cleaned everything and painted the walls and painted shelves and tables. We also had recreated some of their classroom learning tools that could not be reused after our transformation. When we came back to see the children in their classrooms after they were finished, they seemed proud and so did the teachers. They sang for us and while they were singing I think that’s when I realized how such a little change made by us made such a big difference in their lives. That moment made me decide that I have to take opportunities like more often which is why I am going to Russia in the summer.

How Am I Doing?

I'm not going to lie, I am stressed out. I'm a little behind on hours for field class which isn't horrible just because there are different ways for me to make up that time but I'm starting to check off things I've gotten done and things that need to be done and it's a little unbalanced. First, I'm trying to raise money for this Russia trip and I've been given the opportunity to raffle off some quilts at the international fair at NTC...in 2 weeks. I am trying to complete 3 quilts by myself and my cousin is going to do 2. That's a lot of fabric let me tell you. So on top of that I have all of my other classes and I have a presentation in a couple weeks that I would like to get done before the due date. I haven't gotten to my interview with a practicing professional yet. I need to update my cover letter and resume. I need to write myself a letter of recommendation. I'm hoping I get into all of the classes I need to next semester to graduate and I can't believe it's almost Christmas! Need I say more? : ) Anyway that's how it's going right now but I think I'm going to make it just a few more weeks and I'll be free for a month. On a lighter note, my mom booked us tickets to Florida for February so it's something to look forward to. We are going to be the family that's too old to be in Disney World and all of the little kids are wondering what the heck we are doing there. I will survive.

My Puppy : )

So I was discussing in an assignment about my puppy so I figured I would post the picture on here so everyone could see him. His name is Tucker and he is almost 11 months old. He is a Poochin which is 1/2 toy poodle and 1/2 Japanese chin. I love him!!!

Supervisor Feedback

Feedback is a very important part of this internship. I get feedback every time I go to my internship because we are constantly in people's homes and it requires a lot of travel. I consult with Dawn when we are leaving homes to ask questions and she helps me understand everything that's going on with laws, ethics, and just these people in general. I feel that with what I'm doing right now I am receiving an adequate amount of feedback and good feedback as well. Dawn is constantly trying to fill me with information as well as helping me develop contacts in the profession. I really appreciate all that she does to help me.

Self Care

Well this week self care was very important. It was a busy week to say the least between school, internship, and work. I don't know how I'm surviving yet. However thanks to my self care plan I had ideas to de-stress right at my fingertips. The one thing that I found the most helpful with my stress level was reading. I started a new book this week and I hope to finish it this week. By reading a book it's like I escape to a different world where school does not exist. I wish that was true right now :). Anyway, I found this to be the most helpful and I ordered some more books off ebay so I'm prepared for another week like this one. I also have been researching idea for fundraising for Russia since that is going to sneak up on me I just know it. I'm meeting with the dean of international education so that I can find scholarships that may be available to me also. I just can't wait until this week is DONE!!!

Interview Plans

As a part of my field class, we must interview a practicing professional by the end of the semester. I feel this is very important because it can definitely open doorways if done the right way. That is actually part of the reason I got my placement for this semester is because my current supervisor was the professional I interviewed my first semester in the program. For my informational interview this time I will be interviewing the international adoption worker at Lutheran Social Services because that is where my heart really lies. I want to be an international adoption worker in the long run and I would really like to know how she became involved in it herself. I have been starting to tweak my resume and cover letter to reflect my internship because I believe that adds important skills that employers will look at. I use a resume that reflects my skills instead of job experience because I don’t have a lot of job experience that relates to the field. However, I feel that the tech is definitely helping me build on the job experience so that in the near future I may be able to switch that. I am definitely becoming a better working professional through my time at the tech and was able to help with case files last week at my internship because I was taught how to put them together in my case management class. Pretty soon I will be learning how to do a home study which is essential in adoption!

Online vs. Face-to-face

The difference between an online class and a face to face class is definitely a difficult thing to adapt to. I personally believe that I contribute more in an online class because I am guaranteed a time to talk and say what I want. In a face-to-face class it is more difficult to have your voice be heard especially if everyone has something to say about the subject. Online discussion is also much more organized rather than people spouting out whatever they feel at the moment. However, It’s more work discussing in an online class because you have to go on multiple times a week and use different response techniques. I personally like to use open ended questions because it allows for a lot of discussion and detailed responses rather than closed end questions that end with yes or no. I also like to try and expand on topics by picking out a few things in the initial post that I find interesting.
This week was a little more difficult to commit to my online classes because my grandfather passed away on Thursday. It has been a long weekend and there will be many more long weeks to follow I’m sure as things need to be sorted and the house cleaned out. However, I’m glad that my grandfather was finally able to join my grandmother whom he has been missing terribly for 7 years.

Week 1: My Goals

Well this week marked the actual beginning of my internship and I now have a better idea of what my semester may look like so I have thought of a few goals I would like to achieve. The first of these goals would be to establish good connections within the adoption services community. I would like to do this because as I am learning there are a very limited amount of jobs out there and if I can have some insider connections it could help me get a job when I am done with school and need the assistance. Another goal I have is to master the skill of writing a home study. Well maybe not master it but get a good feel for how to do it so that I have that skill for the future when I enter the workforce. A goal I have for the class part of the internship would be to document in my work logs as much as possible so that I have an excellent collection to put into a portfolio. I also would like to do this because in the first two days at my internship I have heard the phrase, “Make sure you document that,” enough times that I now see the true importance of being on top of that. And my last goal would be to become knowledgeable in not just my supervisors position, but also get a basic knowledge of what other people do at Lutheran Social Services as well. Dawn took me around to meet the staff the other day and a lot of people offered to be interviewed about their positions as well as take me along on some of their visits and job experiences. Everyone seems really nice and I can’t wait to get to know everyone a little better. As far as importance goes, I have them listed as how important they are to me. Networking first, then home study skills, good work log documentation, and lastly obtain knowledge in related fields in the agency. Now as far as this week has been going, it has been going awesome! On Monday I was able to go along with Dawn on a home visit and it was a great experience talking to a family. Tuesday I was able to sit in on a staff phone conference and also a panel review. Thursday I am going to a state staff meeting with Dawn to meet other adoption workers in the state so that should help me with goal 1! I’m so excited! I can tell that Dawn will be an excellent supervisor and she is making sure I get the most out of this internship. Well that’s about all I have now so I will give you an update next week.

The Beginning!

Hey everyone! It's time for me to start a new blog! I haven't been on here since my Jamaica trip so I'm trying to get used to all this again. This blog will be focused on my fall semester field experience with Lutheran Social Services (LSS). First of all, let me tell you how extremely excited I am! I have an awesome supervisor and an amazing placement that I wouldn't have dreamed would have been possible through Northcentral Technical College (NTC). I will be working with a woman who does special needs adoption and will be working along with her and shadowing her through her daily routine for 144 hours this semester (maybe more?). When I am done with all my schooling I hope to work in adoptions so this is quite the opportunity. As fun as the internship may be there is always a downside to everything..homework. I believe that the homework is necessary but I have a feeling it is going to be a lot to handle. Let's just say listening to it in class made me feel like hyperventilating from the stress. However, I am up for a challenge. I am looking forward to the work logs, as demented as that may seem, because then I will always be able to look back and see what I did and how it applied to me and how I obtained the knowledge. One thing that I have learned this week is that I am very fortunate to be placed in an agency where I have so much interest. Some people are not as lucky as I am and may have been placed in an agency they did not initially imagine themselves in. I am grateful for the opportunity and I am going to fully apply myself to the experience and get everything I possibly can out of the internship. Something good that happened to me this week is I got to reconnect with some friends I had not seen all summer and it made me glad to be back in school and it makes me happy to know that I have that support system if I ever feel like going Britney Spears and shaving my head. Overall, I can't wait to get started and I know I am going to be great at this. I hope all my fellow students are as excited as I am! I start next week so I'll make sure to fill you in on how it goes!
http://www.lsswis.org/Services/Adoption