January 14th marks 4 more months until graduation- I am psyched and scared at the same time. This is the most intense semester of the program, a whopping 9 credits, 2 nights a week on the other side of the state- thank goodness for Kristin, my trusty commuting companion! This semester also requires 240 clinical hours- fortunately, I was able to get 60 hours of my specialty hours honored from previous coursework that I had completed in 2007-8, and I hustled to get additional hours over semester break. Between my time at the correctional facility, and my new clinical site, I accumulated 78 hours over semester break! (It would have been more, but I had to call in with a GI bug one day, and a snow day on another). In addition, I was able to finish my capstone proposal- and I thought I would rest on semester break, NOT!
Finishing up at the correctional facility was bittersweet for me. I knew I needed a more broad clinical experience- there are not many little old ladies or men in prison that I saw- and after a while, I was seeing the same kinds of patients over and over. However at Christmastime, the staff hung decorations and stockings on the wall, and they made one for me! I wasn’t a staffer, but the staff was so good to me they included me in their holiday party and cookie exchange- and I did not feel worthy, after all I was only a lowly student! To see a stocking with my name on it in glitter just blew me away.
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