H-BOWL

The Vandals are going to the Humanitarian Bowl!!!

Humanitarian Bowl-Bound: Vandals and Bowling Green State Play Dec. 30

This is the first bowl game since 1998 and I am so stoked for them!! I am a Vandal through and through, I bleed silver and gold!

The Vandals will play Bowling Green State University in the Wednesday, Dec. 30, game at Bronco Stadium ( i.e. the smurf turn) at Boise. Kickoff for the nationally televised ESPN game is 1:30 p.m. P.T./ 2:30 p.m. M.T. The Bowling Green Falcons play in the Mid-American Conference and also are 7-5.

Vandal Fight Song - sing it loud and proud Vandals!!

GO, VANDALS, GO

Came a tribe from the North, brave and bold,
Bearing banners of Silver and Gold;
Tried and true to subdue all their foes!
Vandals! Vandals!

Go, Vandals, go,
Fight on with hearts true and bold.
Foes will fall before your Silver and your Gold
The victory cannot be withheld from thee;
So all bear down for Idaho,
Come on, old Vandals, go!

GO VANDIES!!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!

The Interview

Today I had an interview at a PSR Agency here in Coeur d'alene called A New Hope. PSR is Psychosocial Rehabilitation. What I would be doing as a PSR is helping an individual who has a psychiatric disability (usually a mental disorder) restore their community functioning and well being. We try to make changes in the person's environment and in their ability to deal with their environment. It is combining treatment, independent living and social skills training and some psychological support for the client and their family, help with housing, vocational rehab, social support, network enhancement and helping them with fun activities.

There are a number of people in my Graduate Program that are PSR workers, there is a lot of hype about how much people dislike it and then how much people do enjoy it...I always said that I would never do it...but this opportunity opened for me and I am hoping that I do get the job. I think I can grow a lot as a person and as a counselor/psychologist. I mainly need it to get hours towards my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor), it requires us to have 1,000 hours .... after all of my interning this spring I will be a couple hundred hours short, so this will give me the opportunity to have more hours under my belt, as well as experience which is always needed. As a school counselor or school psychologist you are only seeing one aspect of that child's life, you are not seeing first hand what exactly they are experiencing when they go home or in their day to day life. I unfortunately only get to see a piece of their world. This would allow me to have insight into what these student's are dealing with in a different atmosphere, I would gain an entirely new perspective! Of course these wouldn't be student's that I am working with at school - who knows, maybe? But I would be able to apply what I am learning for my degree to my job and my job to my degree...it's kind of a win win.

Hopefully I will be hearing something soon......

Time to Start Blogging!

Well, I figured so many of my friends have a blog and that this would be a fun way for me to keep in touch with everyone in a simple way! As of right now it is definitely fall here in Coeur d'Alene and I absolutely love it here! I have lived here for over a year and a half now and have loved every minute of it. It is quite a change for me from living in Moscow my entire life but it was a needed change for my career. Attending graduate school has been a challenge, however I am learning more than I could have ever imagined and I cannot WAIT to be out in my career and not having to do so many classes! I graduate in May (hopefully....) with my Masters in Education School Counseling and a year long internship after that (hopefully paid, who knows the location yet?) and after that internship I will have my Education Specialist in School Psychology degree...I am also working on attaining my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor). Needless to say I cannot wait until these huge tests are done, my brain is fried and I find myself finding other things to do all the time instead of studying...everyone needs a break sometimes though!

I have made a lot of amazing friends here in Coeur d'Alene and feel very very blessed. I also get to visit Moscow from time-to-time to visit family, friends and sorority sisters so that is very comforting as well, thank goodness for right now I only life an hour and a half (or less, pending on speed) away. I moved into a new house here in Coeur d'Alene - well the basement of it I guess. The rent is cheaper so that is definitely helpful for a poor graduate student! Lola - aka Lola Lo or "The Chunk" is doing good. She got sick a couple of weeks ago and I had to take her into the vet but she is better now..no more splotchy and swollen neck!!

I am interning at a High School this semester - YEAH A HIGH SCHOOL!!! It's definitely different from interning at an Elementary School - where I was last spring. I love the experiences that I am enduring there thus far! The counselors there are very good, intelligent and a lot of fun. They keep the day to day happenings interesting. However, what I severely dislike about interning at the High School is that I have been asked if I am a TA, where is my ASB card, I am told to get off of my cellphone (which is a no-no for the high school students) and hit on by the high schoolers....agh! No. I am almost 24 people. I mean, who wears nice slacks and nice shirts every day? High Schoolers? I think not!! Maybe by the end of this semester or if I am there next spring the teachers and students will finally realize that I am a counselor interning at the school and NOT a student! I guess time will tell on that one :)

The Vandals are 6-1 right now and we are going bowling!!! That's right!!! The Mighty Vandals are bowl-game eligible and we are all so stoked!!!! I couldn't be more proud to be a Vandal, I mean I have been a vandal for almost 24 years, I cheered for the Vandals and I try to attend all of the games for every sport that I can (living in CDA has it's limits now days)...Hopefully I will be able to attend the Bowl game, I think that is my dream right now.......

I-D-A-H-O IDAHO IDAHO GO GO GO!!!!

I can't really think of much else right now, but figured this would be a good start!