*BrainNinja

Semester on the wind down

As December begins it gets colder outside and our semester begins its final descent into the holiday break. I have been pretty busy for the last few weeks trying to get everything in order and getting all of my assignments completed and turned in.  The end of the semester has gone by smoother than expected and I am please to say that i am officially done with Graduate School classes and have only one more final to turn in before I can call my Master's Degrees complete. It is actually so close that I can touch it and I am very excited about that. 

We are having a holiday celebration in the Grad Admissions office today so that is sure to be a pleasant experience. I brought a delcious layered dessert as my contribution. I also made pumpkin cupcakes. I had a recipe for them but found myself haphazardly throwing things into the mixing bowl.  I hope that my experiments prove to be worth it and that people enjoy them.

Christmas is my favorite time of year for so many reasons: 1) I get to buy presents for people. 2) I get to reflect on the year as a whole and my experiences. 3) After my reflections I have the opportunity to be grateful for all of the things that I am blessed to have. 4) Boston lights the giant Christmas tree (One year Brian McKnight performed at the ceremony and he is quite a handsome man which was pleasant to my eyes).  5) It snows! 6) I get a break from school and have time to relax with my family and friends.

Right now we are in the process of moving so my house is in quite a bit of disarray. We are not really decorating for Christmas this year because our closing date on the new house is December 27th (We are awesome planners I know). So I will be switching from school to packing. I am not sure which is more stressful for me. I am not a fan of moving. We have also been in my house for almost 25 years and in that time we have accumulated a lot more stuff than we probably ever needed to begin with. I will be starting that major project as soon as my finals are done.

 

Stay tuned for more updates as I finish my degrees! :D 

 

They call it Cyber Monday....

Being back after a long weekend is hard... but the fact that the semester is so close to over makes it a bit easier. Thankgiving was fabulous and we got to visit with lots of family and friends which was quite enjoyable. One not so fabulous thing was the heating system in my car deciding to die on the Wednesday before the Thankgiving holiday, leaving me to freeze while driving for the entire weekend. I have the best luck in the world... no doubt.

After eating more than I would have thought humanly possible on Thursday, my mother and I went out shopping for "Black Friday." For those of you who are unfamiliar "Black Friday" is a term given to the Friday after Thanksgiving where most stores offer ridiculous sales beginning at ridiculous times in the morning. Target for example began their sale at 4am. WalMart, not to be outdone by any other store, started their sale on thursday night... because they just couldn't wait any longer.  While my step-sister and her friends were out shopping for the best deals for their kids for Christmas, I was in my usual spot when I have free time... my bed. My mom and I went out about noon, shopped at a few stores, bought a bunch of Christmas presents for myself (including Honey Roasted Cashews) and had lunch.  By this time the stores were much quieter than I had expected which was totally fine with me.

I am getting all these emails about Cyber Monday... which I assume is the Monday after Thanksgiving where tons of things go on sale online. I will definitely be perusing those advertisements even though I do not need one more piece of clothing.. or shoes... or earrings... But hey it never hurts to look right? right? I love Christmas shopping though and will be excited to finish my Christmas shopping early. 

After Friday though, I had to come back to reality and prioritize the last few assignments of the semester. Only four assignments stand between me and my Master's Degree and I could not be less motivated to completed them. I have a bad case of Senioritis.... if that even exists in graduate school. I have applied for graduation and been approved so I am almost there! Just need to finish the semester!

Stay tuned for more as the semester comes to a close.

Turkey Time!

It has been quite some time since my last post.. but rest assured I am still here. November is coming to a close and soon December and Christmas will be here.  The best Christmas present I can get this year is my diploma! :) All of my assignments for the month of October were completed without incident and now only 4 things stand in my way of graduation. I have one presentation, one paper and two final exams. Bring it on December... I am ready.  The second half of the semester always seems like one thing after another but this semester everything really felt like it fell into place.

I was hopeful last week that we would get some grades back for exams and the paper I did but unfortunately most of the grades were not done yet. I did get one grade back from my Ethics midterm and I was pleasantly suprised with what my grade was. I can't wait to see what my other grades will be but I will have to wait until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

This week is a really short week because of Thanksgiving. The University closes early on Wednesday so we reall only have two and a half days this week. Thanksgiving will be quiet but enjoyable and I have Friday this week off as well. The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year and I plan on taking full advantage of a day dedicated to shopping. My friend encouraged me to try Gingerbread coffee from Dunkin Donuts and told me that it was "much better than pumpkin."  Well I am not so sure about that but I tried it anyway. It is nice but does not exactly taste like Gingerbread to me.

We are in the process of moving so there are boxes everywhere in my house. We are hoping to close on the new house right after Christmas which means we need to find space for 24 years of accumulated things... which is not an easy task. Packing is also not one of my favorite activities so I am not looking forward to that. Better get myself in gear and start working. I don't know when I will find time to pack between full time work, part time work, full time classes and homework but hey... I'll figure it out right haha

I wonder what the largest size coffee from Dunkin Donuts is and if they sell it in bulk...

This Thanksgiving is sure to be much more enjoyable than last year as I was battling the dreaded "swine flu" last time. It was a much smaller deal than everyone was making it out to be. And to fight back I ate ham for Thanksgiving... take that pigs!

Happy Turkey Day! :D

 

 

Mmmmmm... candy....

Happy November!!! Halloween was this weekend and although I was home sick from work I did not let that stop me from eating my cat's weight in candy. Now however I am back in classes and using all of those calories to study for my midterms. I have two tonight, back to back. We have next week off as a holiday though so I am ok with that. 

I have started counting down the weeks until graduation in hopes that it will help me to remain sane through the rest of the semster. After tonight I will have 6 weeks left and although this is a relatively short period of time I am sure it will feel much longer.  We have learned so much this semster and I feel extremely well prepared to go into the real world and put into practice all of the skills that I have learned during my nearly three years at Suffolk University. 

Thanksgiving is coming up and shortly after that Christmas will be here. I love the holiday season! I love buying presents and seeing everything decorated for the holidays. I love seeing the leaves change color and fall off the trees. Pretty soon the snow will be falling and I will love it.

Stay tuned for more updates! :) 

 

 

 

 

 

Midterms and presentations and term papers... oh my!

This week marks the midpoint of the semester and classes are now proceeding with full force.  The workload has been fairly light so far but it is now  time to start thinking about midterms and begin preparations for final papers and presentations.  The month of November is looking to be a busy one with two midterms (back to back on the same day.... awesome), two group presentations and one term paper due.   Not to worry though, I generally work best under pressure so it should be all good.  The most important thing to remember is that I need to prioritize and complete the assignments in the order that they are due... which can be easier said than done sometimes (read: always.) 

Halloween is coming up this weekend and it is sure to be a night of mischeif and eating.  Any holiday which includes copious amounts of candy consumption is a good night in my book, especially with the late nights that I know are coming up.   

It is continuing to get colder in Boston and I have even heard the meteorologist using the 4 letter s word that some people hate to hear but that you can say on television (yes, I mean snow!) I'm a big fan of the snow and I love winter and the holiday season.  Thanksgiving is coming and soon after will be Christmas. Before I know it, I will be finished with school and trying to decide which direction to take in my life. Wow, that's a scary thought.  I am lucky though that my practicum experience while at Suffolk provided me with the opportunity to take a full time position at the agency that I completed my practicum at. With the job market as it is today, I am very lucky to have been presented with this opportunity.  So for now at least I am ok.   

First stop.... term paper....

That's all for now... Stay tuned for more :D

 

 

My October is half empty already...

There's a lot going on in Boston today. The Patriots won last night... in overtime... but won regardless.  People seemed to have already counted them out for the season but as usual in Boston sports you won't know what is going on until the very end.  We also have the 46th Head of the Charles Regatta coming up this weekend. This two day event is one of the largest in the world for the rowing community and can attract approximately 300,000 spectators.  There are 55 events that take place over the race weekend which include nearly 8,000 athletes from around the world. So the city is going to be much busier than normal this weekend. 

The Office of Graduate Admission has some important deadlines coming up. November 1st is the deadline for applications for the Spring 2011 semester and December 1st is the deadline for the PhD in Clinical Psychology program.  Our office receives hundreds of applications for this program alone... usually on December 1st exactly.... so it can really delay the processing of applications when we have 400 to sort through in one day... but we normally manage to do it with minimal damage and a lot of help. 

I've recently become addicted to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook thanks to one of my classmates.  I definitely need more things to distract me from the already large pile of things that I need to address. But it provides a one minute escape when things get a little bit overwhelming so thats good I suppose and its got shiny gems!

The winter is coming and you can definitely feel the cold in the air.  When the sun is out its gorgeous but when the sun goes down it gets much colder.  The weather in New England, if you are not already aware, can be quite Bipolar sometimes especially when it is unmedicated.  So who knows what tomorrow will bring for us. My advice: Always dress in layers!

And now a word from our sponsors....

 

Week in review...

Happy Thursday! The University was closed on Monday in celebration of the Columbus Day Holiday which meant a day to sleep in for most people.  I was not sleeping in unfortunately... but I compensated by buying myself two really adorable sweaters.  So I guess it worked out for the best.  This week has been calmer than expected though  I know it is really the calm before the storm.  I have a term paper due in two weeks that I have yet to start so that pressure is starting to build.  I rencently filled out my application for graduation which was exciting. Though I am also starting to panic about what I am going to do with my life after graduate school. At least I already have a job... which I am very lucky to have.

I ate a piece of Dove chocolate candy today and the message on the inside of the wrapper read "Believe in yourself and everyone will do the same." It made me feel good so I am going to tape it to my computer monitor. 

Suffolk is having a career expo in the next few weeks for graduate students.  Many different companies will be represented and it will give students an opportunity to network with people in their field and hand our resumes. The fall is a busy time for the office as the directors are doing a good deal of travelling. Basically there are 85 things going on at once and I am trying to find a balance :)

It is supposed to start raining tonight... lame

I know my thoughts have been a bit random today... forgive me. I'm running on very little sleep :)

Monday and raining... not a good combination...

As you have probably guessed already it is Monday and raining here in Boston. It looks like it supposed to rain all week. Joy.  My commute was delayed this morning... I am still not sure why.  The Red Line just wasn't in the mood to be time efficient it seems.  But I made it. This weekend was quiet I worked and went out to dinner for my brother's birthday. Olive Garden for the win.  :) I wish everywhere had a never ending pasta bowl.   But the enjoyment ended all too quickly and I had to go to work.  I really enjoy the work that I do and am happy that this opportunity presented itself to me and that I took it.   

October is here and I am excited to say I have made it through my first month of crazy schedule unharmed for the most part.  The workload in my classes is beginning to increase as we move closer to the midpoint in the semester. I have a paper due in October and also some group presentations that I am gearing up for. It seems that every class I am in has a group presentation as a requirement.  As much as I do not like doing presentations I find that it is helpful in a few ways.  I work on a clinincal team at my full time job and group presentations help to develop some interpersonal skills that are useful for this aspect of my job.  It also helps to make me less terrified to talk in front of a group (or it should anyway, but for me it doesn't.) 

I am enjoying my classes and have already learned some valuable information.  I am taking a class in Human Sexuality which I find very interesting.  Part of the course requires us to do short interviews with several people to get a sense of how people feel about different areas of human sexuality.  We've already learned about the history of human sexuality and have moved into sexuality across cultures and across gender identities.  I am not sure how many other schools offer a similar class... but if they don't they should. 

 

Why a joint degree you ask... Prepare youself because here it comes...

So many people ask my why I chose a joint degree.  The simplest answer I can give is that it had everything that I wanted to learn about.  I did a joint degree program as an undergraduate and it just seemed like the right way to continue for me.  I have always been fascinated by the way the mind works especially the criminal mind (yes exactly like the tv show... without the private jet.) When I began my search for a graduate program that had what I was looking for I first found Suffolk then found another school in Boston.  Both schools had nearly identical joint programs but there was a big difference in the price between the two.  I also liked that Suffolk was a lot smaller than the other school. 

The joint Crime and Justice and Mental Health Counseling degree integrated the two disciplines to form a whole new creature.  In the same semester I was taking a Death Pentalty Seminar, completing a clinical practicum and taking a class in Psychological Diagnosis.  It really opened my mind to explore how these disciplines interact, how they are related and how they differ.  I learned a lot about the relationship between criminal activity and psychopathology and impact this relationship has on a person's life.  

I'm, glad that I chose to pursue a joint degree program because it also gives me to opportunity to expand my professional horizons.  I'm am not just qualified in one field of employment.  I could utilize my skills in counseling, criminal justice or something that integrates both.  The difference in completion time was very close as well.  The Master's in Mental Health counseling takes two academic years full time. The Master's in Crime and Justice Studies takes one year full time and two summer classes.  the joint degree programs takes five semesters full time to complete.   So for a mental health counseling student you could get a second degree in one more semester.  Seems like a win win situation to me (but hey maybe I am a little insane myself.)

Everyone is different in what they are looking for but for some people a joint degree program would be a perfect match.  The program can be a challenge but if you are dedicated to learning and getting everything that you can out of it, the I definitely encourage you to look into it.  What is the worst that could happen (Besides owing your first born child to the government?)

 

Bottom line is explore your options.

Cheers! :)   

Introduction

I am a graduate student in the MSCJS/MSMHC program here at Suffolk University.  This is my last semester here and I am looking forward to graduating with my Master's Degree and then promptly taking a nap.   In addition to going to school full-time, I also work part time and work full time so my schedule is a bit hectic. I work as a Grad Fellow for the University as my part time job and in the field doing counseling as my full time job. Don't ask me what I was thinking when I decided I could take it all on... I don't know either.

I love that fall is here because it means I can take advantage of all of the stereotypical enjoyments of the season. Dunkin Donuts has pumpkin iced coffee, the leaves are changing colors and falling everywhere, the Red Sox are still playing (for the moment) and the colder weather is coming.  I can't wait for seasonal apple picking trips where I can eat cider flavored everything and enjoy the foliage.     

Classes are gearing up for the semester and students are settling in to their new schedules.  I am enjoying my classes so far and hope that I will not be too overwhelmed as the semester progresses.  When I start rambling you will know it is time for me to be committed to a mental health facility for a "rest."  That's all for now kids. Stay tuned for more...