My final year!

This long abandoned blog...oh my. Bless any of you still looking at it!

Well, it's finally here! I will begin my third and final year of graduate school in just a few weeks. My summer has been filled with classes, practicum, work, and training. This has been a far cry from my restful summer last year! I have taken 2 classes this summer. The first one is my class that goes along with my practicum. Practicum is really just a short version of my internship that I will do next year. Ideally, I would have done my practicum at the end of the school year at the school where I will be doing my internship. However, my supervisor there had a baby in April and took maternity leave for the remainder of the school year. I wasn't sure that I would even be able to do any of my practicum this summer, and my advisor assured me that it would be fine. In June I applied for a counseling intern position with a summer acceleration program in CPS. The program is for students who have aged out of 8th grade and have to either pass the program and move on to high school or go to alternative school. Many of these students have behavioral issues, so my first couple of weeks were incredibly difficult. Thankfully, it's gotten much better and I feel like I've really formed good relationships with many of them!

My second class ends in two weeks. It's a Human Development course where I have to teach a chapter and make a Lifespan Portfolio of an adult over the age of 65. Not too bad really. In the middle of all of this, I've moved twice, done a summer project job, and started training for my new residence life position. It's been somewhat of a whirlwind!

I've decided that I will be moving back to Nashville once I graduate and finish my job here. I've spent a lot of time praying about this and trying to be rational. CPS has cut close to 2,000 jobs over the summer and closed more than 50 schools. I could stay and "hope" to find a job, move to the suburbs, or look elsewhere. The first option just doesn't seem very probable. The second option is just not appealing to me. As for the third...I feel like Nashville has a popultion that I would love to work with. Plus, I truly miss my family and my friends. I have some things I would love to do and accomplish, and having that solid support system is a neccesity.

So, I'm down to my final 15 credits! 3 actual classes and two semesters of internship. Graduation is scheduled for May 2nd. I cannot wait to walk across that stage and get my diploma!