My quarter is finally over! I can return to the land of the living :)
This was probably the hardest quarter I have ever had. First of all, I doubled up on classes so I will be able to attend the Dallas residency in June (my second and last residency!). Then I added morning sickness to the mix (not quite sure whose idea that was ;) ). One of the classes turned out to be the most difficult class I have ever taken at any of the schools I've attended. Then in the middle of the quarter we made an impromptu visit to UT for Rob's grandfather's funeral. To top it all off, we discovered a week ago at my 12 wk OB appt that I had pneumonia (and had it for a couple of weeks before we found out about it). Overall, it was not a fun couple of months.
The two classes I took were Group Counseling and Infancy through Adolescence. Group Counseling was an awesome class and due to my experience working with 12 step groups, one of the easiest I've taken thus far (definitely a blessing considering how hard the other class was). I loved the teacher, the assignments were things like "attend a support group" (and he let me count my work with the 12 step group) and reading a novel called "The Schopenhauer Cure". We only had a few assignments and for the longest written assignment, my teacher told the class it should be between 4-6 pages and he would stop reading at 8 pages. Our final project was a powerpoint presentation. It wasn't easy, but it was interesting as we got to design our own group (8-10 weeks long) and could pick the topic and format. I haven't gotten my grade back for the PPT yet, but as long as I get above a 60 on it, I have an A in the class :)
Infancy through Adolescence initially seemed an interesting class. As we discussed each stage of childhood and how to appropriately provide treatment, I found it was helpful to have five children :) I understood what children were like at each stage and what they would respond to. Then our first of five assignments were due. I got a 60 on the paper. I have never gotten a grade that low. I work really hard on my schoolwork and do not turn in assignments that deserve 60's. I asked for specific feedback so I could fix what I needed to. She responded by telling me that she wanted the analysis we did to be divided by five developmental domains. Upon researching developmental domains, I found that not only did not everyone agree on what they were, but they didn't even agree on how many there were, yet the teacher hadn't told us to use developmental domains anywhere in the directions, never mind telling us which version she wanted us to use. I'll spare the details of the rest of the class, but I ended up having to throw out and completely rewrite two out of the four "smaller" papers, meaning I wrote 7 papers in 10 weeks. According to the directions, the papers should have been about 7-10 pages, but she only gave A's when the papers were over 20 pages long. My final paper for that class was 44 pages. I managed to get a 100 on that paper somehow and pulled off an A in the class. Usually I spend between 10-15 hours a week on a class. For this class I spent at least 40 hours a week. The teacher was a nice person, but a horrible teacher. I will never take another class from her again unless I absolutely have to. Fortunately, I only have 3 classes left in the program!
We have decided that for now, I'm not going to worry about getting either certificate (Addictive Behaviors or Mental Health Counseling). Instead I'm going to focus on finishing my degree. I can always go back and get the certificates after I'm done. I have three classes left. I have to take one this next quarter so I can do the residency in June, then I have a post residency class that needs to be taken the quarter after the residency. I'm taking fall quarter off (the first break I'll have taken since starting the program in March 2009). I'll take my last class winter quarter of 2013, then start my 9 months of internships in April of 2013. I'll graduate in December 2013! I have a nanny set up to help with the summer of 2013 (Ashley) and already have a supervisor (a friend from my PDI work), so I just need to find places to do my hours at (about 25 hours a week total). As it will be volunteer, I should have too much of a problem finding somewhere :)
Anyway, enough about me :)
Pictures from the last few months ~
Eva loves ice cream :)
Elder Duke (who had been here for 6 months) was transferred to another area. Rob gave him his handshake, which thrilled him :)
Jack started soccer. Here he is all ready for his first team practice ~
A friend of mine from Bonneville HS (in IF, ID), Cynthia Hand, wrote a book (actually a series) that has hit the NY Times Bestsellers list! (The first book is "Unearthly", the second is "Hallowed", and the third hasn't been released yet - they are awesome books if you get a chance to read them!) She went on a tour that included a Barnes & Noble that is 15 mins away, so I got to go see her :)
As we were driving home from the grocery store one day, I got a call from Brittney. She asked where I was and announced she was waiting on our doorstep! She had flown out from UT to spend with week with us. She and Rob managed to keep it a surprise for about a month, which I am very impressed by! We had a wonderful time with her :) The weather was gorgeous and Brittney spent a lot of time tanning in the backyard while playing with the kids.
Jack got his soccer uniform. He was hoping for yellow, but light blue is good too :) He is #6 just like Kylie! His team is the Fliers. He wanted to be a goalie like Kylie, but they don't do goalies for the 4 year olds.
