Unintended Hiatus
Wow. I just realized that it's been over a month since I've posted last. A lot has happened since then, much of it good. I'm just going to give a quick summary.
School: I am so very excited for classes this fall. I'm worried about how I'm going to figure out payment, but I'm trying to relax. I'm going to see if I can use my AmeriCorps money to pay for the tuition this fall. St. Ben's promised me we could work together to find a suitable solution to the scheduling conflict, so I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
That being said, Edinboro is infinitely frustrating. Their internship policies are stupid. Their class times are stupid. Their bureaucracy is stupid. Their intelligence is... stupid. They claim this program as one for working professionals. My practicums are always at 1:00 in the afternoon on a WEDNESDAY! Seriously. And they told those of us that work that we'd better get our priorities straight if we want to be real social workers (because new legislation states that someone cannot be designated a social worker without an MSW and a license). Motherf*&^ers.
.
Work: St. Ben's is totally awesome. I've helped bring our stats up significantly since my arrival. Friday, I found someone a $24/hour job. My placement numbers aren't what I'd like and we've had to negatively terminate far too many of my clients from the program, but everyone else has been having the same problems. Stupid economy.
I've also been doing some teaching, subbing for the job readiness classes that St. Ben's offers. I'm attending a training this week for the Work Certified program, which is a program that teaches people how to be good employees. Work Certified is oriented towards people with higher skill levels than my participants, so the idea behind me getting this training is both so I can sub for it and help make it more accessible to the people we serve.
On top of this, last week my job development supervisor offered me the opportunity to manage the subsidized employment, Paid Work Experience*, and community service contracts. I'm not sure how good an idea this is, as I can't really manage my way outside of a paper bag without a detailed checklist, but I'm still tempted to do this. It will just depend on how much else I'm expected to do in addition to managing the contracts.
The down side, of course, is that we've been undergoing some staffing changes. Thus, my caseload is epic. I currently have 25 people in the job placement phase and 35 people in post-placement. Because of this and the way I work, there have been some paperwork snafu's. Despite this, St Ben's is committed to working with me so we can sort out the snags. My bosses still love me anyway and I know we're going to get this figured out. So, in short, work is awesome.
Workout: I have been hitting the gym regularly since late February. I think I may be in the best shape of my life. I'm still a wee bit pudgy, as 8 years of bad eating and no exercise don't disappear quickly, but I've got good strength and endurance, which is what matters. Also, I look damned hot. Heh! It's not like I'm vain or anything.
Social: I still find myself missing Minnesota. I ache for the friendships that I lost and regret the bridges I burned in last spring/summer's manic episode. Today is a beautiful day and all I want to do is go to Sweeney's and watch the Twins. I miss working with the Black Hatters. I'm sad I'm going to miss CONvergence. I've got so much good stuff going on right now, but sometimes it doesn't feel like enough. It doesn't look like I'll get to move back until I'm somewhere in my early thirties. At least I'll have an MSW and a solid work history when I do.
* Paid Work Experience is a program that offers minimum wage for people to work in predetermined supervised work sites so that we can identify problematic work habits and address them.
School: I am so very excited for classes this fall. I'm worried about how I'm going to figure out payment, but I'm trying to relax. I'm going to see if I can use my AmeriCorps money to pay for the tuition this fall. St. Ben's promised me we could work together to find a suitable solution to the scheduling conflict, so I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.
That being said, Edinboro is infinitely frustrating. Their internship policies are stupid. Their class times are stupid. Their bureaucracy is stupid. Their intelligence is... stupid. They claim this program as one for working professionals. My practicums are always at 1:00 in the afternoon on a WEDNESDAY! Seriously. And they told those of us that work that we'd better get our priorities straight if we want to be real social workers (because new legislation states that someone cannot be designated a social worker without an MSW and a license). Motherf*&^ers.
.
Work: St. Ben's is totally awesome. I've helped bring our stats up significantly since my arrival. Friday, I found someone a $24/hour job. My placement numbers aren't what I'd like and we've had to negatively terminate far too many of my clients from the program, but everyone else has been having the same problems. Stupid economy.
I've also been doing some teaching, subbing for the job readiness classes that St. Ben's offers. I'm attending a training this week for the Work Certified program, which is a program that teaches people how to be good employees. Work Certified is oriented towards people with higher skill levels than my participants, so the idea behind me getting this training is both so I can sub for it and help make it more accessible to the people we serve.
On top of this, last week my job development supervisor offered me the opportunity to manage the subsidized employment, Paid Work Experience*, and community service contracts. I'm not sure how good an idea this is, as I can't really manage my way outside of a paper bag without a detailed checklist, but I'm still tempted to do this. It will just depend on how much else I'm expected to do in addition to managing the contracts.
The down side, of course, is that we've been undergoing some staffing changes. Thus, my caseload is epic. I currently have 25 people in the job placement phase and 35 people in post-placement. Because of this and the way I work, there have been some paperwork snafu's. Despite this, St Ben's is committed to working with me so we can sort out the snags. My bosses still love me anyway and I know we're going to get this figured out. So, in short, work is awesome.
Workout: I have been hitting the gym regularly since late February. I think I may be in the best shape of my life. I'm still a wee bit pudgy, as 8 years of bad eating and no exercise don't disappear quickly, but I've got good strength and endurance, which is what matters. Also, I look damned hot. Heh! It's not like I'm vain or anything.
Social: I still find myself missing Minnesota. I ache for the friendships that I lost and regret the bridges I burned in last spring/summer's manic episode. Today is a beautiful day and all I want to do is go to Sweeney's and watch the Twins. I miss working with the Black Hatters. I'm sad I'm going to miss CONvergence. I've got so much good stuff going on right now, but sometimes it doesn't feel like enough. It doesn't look like I'll get to move back until I'm somewhere in my early thirties. At least I'll have an MSW and a solid work history when I do.
* Paid Work Experience is a program that offers minimum wage for people to work in predetermined supervised work sites so that we can identify problematic work habits and address them.