grad school update!

Edwin updated everyone on school, so I thought I would board that train and add my two cents about grad school. I'm currently drinking an iced latte and watching the Today Show in my pajamas, which pretty much sums up how much I'm enjoying my new life. Before you judge me as a slug, let me promise you I am working very hard!!!

I have four classes this semester: Professional Issues & Ethics, Counseling Theories, Approaches to Intervention, and Measurement & Evaluation. I have each class once a week from 4:30-7:30. It's been an adjustment, since Edwin and I have opposite schedules now. My typical day starts by getting up with Edwin and making him breakfast for the road, and then going back to bed until 7-8ish. The workload was a bit light the first few weeks, so I had a lot of free time. It's picking up now, so my days are mostly filled with reading and studying.

I really enjoy what I'm learning and know I'm in the right place. My professor for Theories and Ethics (2 classes, same prof) is a Marriage and Family Therapist among other things. She shares a lot of stories from her work as a therapist that are really fascinating. My Approaches to Intervention class is really interesting as well. We are talking about prevention and our textbook told a story of a person sitting on the bank of a river, enjoying the day. He saw someone fall into the river, struggling to stay afloat. He dove in, rescued the person, and went back to sitting on the bank. Later, the same thing happened and he saved another person. After several successful rescues, an onlooker came over to the man and said, "Wouldn't it be easier if you just went to the beach over there and taught people to swim?" The point being that through prevention efforts you can reach a lot more people than through individual counseling. I thought that was really thought provoking... although I don't think you could possibly prevent everything that brings people to counseling. Freud would probably agree, since he thought all of your problems stem from issues with your parents during the first few years of life!

Beyond my classes, I've been working a few hours per week at the career center on campus as an Outreach Assistant. Basically I will give tours of the center and explain our services. Pretty simple! I'm enjoying myself so far and it's nice to learn about the workings of a career center, since that is what I am most interested in at this point.

My cohort has 14 people in it- 6 (including me) on the higher ed track and 8 on the school counseling track. We have people straight from undergrad, and I think the oldest is about 30. We have 2 guys and the rest are ladies. I'm enjoying getting to know everyone! We all went to lunch this past Tuesday and I think are going to make it a weekly thing.

Edwin is really, really appreciate of thoughts and prayers, so thanks for thinking of him!! It's almost the weekend :) On another note, we are going to assemble our wedding invitations this weekend (we are making them ourselves)! Woo hoo!!