When asked by my uncle to describe the week that I’ve had I could only think of one phrase: controlled chaos. I’ve known my general school/work/practicum schedule for some time now but this was a random week. Because of other peoples’ schedules I ended up revamping my entire schedule. I was fully aware of what the week was going to contain. I am also usually good at dealing with this sort of unexpected craziness. I just had no idea how intense and exhausting it would be. Interestingly enough… I love the feeling.

The bulk of the exhaustion was a couple of long days of training in the middle of the week. My back and neck hurt from all of the sitting and my brain is full of binders upon binders of information about the program, the residents, and the site itself. But I get the feeling that although training for my practicum is finally over the real learning has only just begun.

My practicum site is the Stevens Treatment Programs, located in Swansea, MA. Stevens has 27 acres of land that they utilize to help adolescent males with a history of behavioral issues, anger management issues, fire-setting, and sexual offending. Starting first thing Monday morning, I am being thrown into the mix. Right now I am too tired to be nervous. Right now I am actually deliriously excited to start doing something other than sit through hours of training. I have residents to officially meet, clinicians to report to, and projects to get started on. I’m hoping, for the readers’ sake, that my first day is full of amazing incidences and exciting occurrences. Blogging about something interesting is a lot more fun!

I also attended the first Latino Mental Health Program meeting for the year. There was a tasty spread of food, a number of professionals from the field, students returning from their summer trip to Costa Rica (you can read blogs from LMHP students here) and faculty answering questions about the program. It was a great networking experience but that was only the starting point. I am looking to get more involved with the LMHP but that means I need to brush up on my Spanish. Rosetta Stone, here I come.

Once all the meetings were done, the training was done, work was done, and my homework was done I decided to treat myself to another little self-care activity. I went to MixFest at the Hatch Shell on Saturday. It was awesome!

I got to hear Javier Colon, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Michelle Branch, Lifehouse and Sara Bareilles for FREE! Can’t get better than that. There is nothing like having fun and not having to break the bank to do it.

Well, now I have to get back to the homework. Thanks for reading the thoughts in my brain. It is always a pleasure. I promise the next one will be a little more self-reflective and interesting. If not then I’ll tell you a funny joke. How does that sound?

-J