First Week In Review

Since I'm about to start my second full week of the semester, a review of the first full week seems in order.  I've been back at my field placement since 5 January, but classes just started again this past Wednesday.  Field is still pretty good- I love the kids I work with and my supervisor is really awesome, but part of me still really wishes I wasn't in a school.  Between my experiences at JCB last year and the fact that I've never really wanted to be a school social worker, I feel like I might not be getting as much out of this year's placement as I might be.  But, since I'm not actually placed with the DOE, I have access to all of the resources and that trainings that Safe Horizon offers, which is really phenomenal.  (No, seriously, click the link and see how freaking awesome my agency is!)  Next year, I plan on doing something wildly different, but for now I am going to enjoy the people and clients I work with and the opportunities I am getting.

And then there are my actual classes.  Wednesday kicks off with my Social Work Research class, which I was dreading.  Granted, I've only had one class, but it seems like it won't be as deadly boring as I was anticipating.  My professor is quite dynamic and she's keeping the lecture to a minimum.  We're using the bulk of class time to work on our group proposals, which will hopefully limit the amount of times we have to meet as a group outside of class.  I don't know who's in my group yet, but so far that class seems to be shaping up well.  My Wednesday afternoons are HBSE (Human Behavior and the Social Environment), which I had some pretty major issues with last semester.  It is team-taught and every few weeks we get a new professor and a new topic.  The professor we have now is awesome, so I'm hoping the second part of HBSE will be an improvement over the last one.

Thursday mornings I have Direct Practice with Individuals, Families and Groups, which is the follow up class to Foundations of Social Work Practice from last semester.  This class and this professor are much more my style- working from the basic clinical theories and then applying them to micro social work practice.  And, finally, Thursday evenings I have Advocacy in Social Work Practice, which I'm pretty sure is going to be my favorite class.  It's focused on macro practice and social justice.  My professor is a social worker and a lawyer and is so brilliant and passionate about everything he does.  He is involved in so many fabulous projects and causes, which hopefully I will find a way to get involved in.  And, on a not-so-academic note, he looks like a more attractive version of Baltar.

Second semester is shaping up nicely.  Although ask me again around midterms and I may have a different opinion.

Living In An ObamaNation

Yesterday, I took off from field and stayed on the couch all day watching Obama's inauguration.  At the risk of sounding horribly cheesy, I have never been so proud to be an American.  For the first time since I can remember, I have real hope for this country, both in the international and domestic arenas.  To see everyone so fired up about a politician and so involved in the process has been truly amazing.  Even people who didn't vote for him and don't necessarily agree with his politics are supportive and hopeful.  The world literally feels like a different place than it did when I went to bed on Monday night.

OK, enough cheese.

But don't even get me started on how much I love all the Obamas.  Malia and Sasha are just darling and Michelle. . . . oh Michelle. . .  Simply put, I want to be her when I grow up.

Finally, my favorite image from yesterday- (Yes, I was taking pictures of my TV.  My dad the same thing while watching the Apollo 11 landing and I always thought it was a cool idea.)  I happened to catch the perfect frame on CNN:

First Post Of '09

Long overdue update.  Again.

Christmas in Vermont was fantastic.  Great food, lots of booze, Mario Kart on the Wii and, of course, a visit from Santa.  Followed it up with a lovely Christmas day at Mary's.  Spent the rest of the week in Connecticut hanging out with the JCB folks and up in Manchester with Kelly.  Came back to the city just in time to throw a New Year's Eve party.  The crowd was small, but we had a blast.  Josh came down from Boston, which was fabulous, since I hadn't seen him since last February.  The was a massive Taboo tournament and incredible amounts of champagne consumed.  A very nice way to start off the year.

I have a few New Year's Resolutions:

1. Take fewer cabs.  Especially when out in Manhattan and not completely wasted.

2. Get both my Blackberry and computer address books completely updated and synched.  Expect messages begging for phone numbers, addresses, e-mails etc. sometime in the near future.

3. Find a way to get my knees to agree to running on something other than an elliptical.  I want to take advantage of the fact that I live 2 blocks from Central Park.  Also, Tanner needs to take a few pounds off. . . .

4. Be better about updating this thing!  Seriously.

I think that's about it.  2008 was a pretty good year, all around.  No major complaints.  Looking forward to seeing what '09 has in store.

Also: I'm on Twitter now.  Finally gave in.  Username: stunes.  Find me.