So there have been some exciting developments as of late! Firstly, I was offered a different research assistantship that was actually for the psychology department (as opposed to the sociology department) and it involves children! The project was too great an opportunity to turn down, so I dropped the sociology position that I had already accepted and switched to this psych. one. I am still volunteering to help with the editing of the manuscript on the sociology project-- so this will give me even more to put on my resume for PhD programs (working on two different research projects in grad school). What is neat is that my professor is going to help me get together a presentation for the New England Psychological Association's conference that is here in MA. I am going to analyze some of the qualitative data that I never got to use for my initial senior thesis presentations and then submit that one to the conference (the deadline is sept. 23rd). Then we (the prof. I am the RA for) are going to get something together to present at the Eastern Psychological Association's conference in NYC. The deadline for submission for that is in November.
I was also called (the next day after I found out I was offered the psych. research assistantship) by a practicum placement! They want to meet this saturday! So I will hopefully have a practicum site all set up. I know someone from the same program did their practicum there last year. It is called the Pyramid Builders Association and they work with kids, adolescents, and adults (I specified that I wanted to work with kids/adolescents).
As for PhD programs, the deadlines are approaching for application submission (most by December). My offical list of schools is now:
University of Maine,
University of Denver,
University of Northern Illinois,
Temple University (in Phillidelphia, and fun story? The prof I am working for graduated from Temple!), University of Rochester,
A couple of PsyD programs (doctorate of psychology) have been added to my list as backup because they are easier to get into... the main difference between a PhD and a PsyD is that PhD is more research focused while PsyD focuses on practice. The PsyD programs that I am thinking I will apply to are: Rutgers University (New Jersey),
and University of Hartford (Connecticut).
I was toying with the idea of applying to Baylor's PsyD program, but I really don't want to live in Texas and the school isnt THAT much easier to get into than PhD programs anyway. I'm definitely going to start saving up money to be able to apply to all of these places! Plus I need to save money to present at the conference in MA (because it is my senior thesis from undergrad and has nothing to do with my research assistantship, it won't be funded by the school-- so I have to pay for my own poster which can get up to $100 to print!). If only money seriously grew on trees! Speaking of which, my friends and I arre planning to go apple picking this fall! And pumpkin picking too!
In other news, after I met with the psych. professor, I discovered a psych. book give-away table (awesome!) and am now the owner of three new psych. textbooks: "case studies in abnormal behaviors", "human sexuality", and "abnormal psychology". These are in REALLY good shape! And they are the instructor's review copies! The "case studies.." book has a 2013 copyright, and the other two are 2008 and 2013 respectively! I wonder why they were given away??
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Hello, Blog world!
I think it is time for an update! I am finishing up my last weeks at work. All of the youth that I was a job coach for have graduated (save one who left the program). The graduation went really well! I helped make a video with pictures of the youth and quotes from their supervisors (from their job sites)-- two co-workers and I stayed in the office until 9:30pm working on it!
I am glad work has slowed down a bit. I also finished my second summer class. I got an A! In my last paper I wrote how the government should sterilize single women after their 4th child they have if they are not in any committed relationships (think 4 children but 3 or 4 dads) or after their 3rd child if their children have already been taken away from them. I was half in jest, of course... as I do not think the government should be in charge of sterilizing people (again), but I agree with the sentiment that these women should voluntarily get their tubes tied...I mean, if you don't use birth control and continue to sleep around with every man you meet, then you seriously need to make sure you don't bring children into that mess!
Last night I went out to the river and climbed trees and wrote in a journal. It was so lovely! Then the sun began to set and HOLY MOLY!!! IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GORGEOUS!!! Check out the links to my pics (on the side bar) to see what I mean. It just kept getting even more breathtaking. I was sitting under a large willow tree that was next to two other willow trees, creating a perfect fort. The tree was right on the edge of the water. Another fun part of this experience? There was a lady that had brought her cat out on a leash! I was literally thinking of bringing Chai, but I didn't want to carry him screaming bloody murder all the way there. This lady's cat was certainly enjoying herself, she was exploring and didn't hide at all when strangers came up to pet her!
In other news, my grad school list has narrowed even more: University of Rochester, University of Denver, University of Northern Illinois, and Temple University. University of Kansas is a maybe-- I haven't been able to get ahold of the mentor I'd like to work with.
Speaking of professors, I also got hired as a Research Assistant for a Sociology prof. at Suffolk who is working on a project with previously incarcerated women. It is a longitudinal study they have been doing for 5 years now with about 50 women. The prof. I'll be working for is currently writing a book. My job is to give her feedback, edit her manuscript, pick out themes within the qualitative data, play with the data, basically be her soundboard and let her know what I think is most interesting or worthy of her attention and what is not. I already gave her some feedback on the introduction of her book and she replied "This is extremely helpful feedback. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!" :-) It was fun because I was honest about where I disagreed. You see, she is a strict sociologist...i.e. she is against many psych. theories-- which is completely my opposite! I think it will be a really fun job, plus it looks AMAZING on my resume for PhD programs... a lot of the programs look for research experience, not even clinical experience.
As for my clinical experience, I am STILL looking for a practicum site. The one I was going to have (through my summer job) fell through because it was more of a social work position, not mental health. I have contacted a bunch of other places and am waiting to hear back. My prof. also said I can just come to practicum class and there is usually someone who knows of opening spots that I could look into.
Fall classes start on September 4th. I am taking Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Neglect (a counseling course!), Quantitative Analysis (a CJ class), Practicum, and Childhood and Adolescent Development.
That is all for now!
I think it is time for an update! I am finishing up my last weeks at work. All of the youth that I was a job coach for have graduated (save one who left the program). The graduation went really well! I helped make a video with pictures of the youth and quotes from their supervisors (from their job sites)-- two co-workers and I stayed in the office until 9:30pm working on it!
I am glad work has slowed down a bit. I also finished my second summer class. I got an A! In my last paper I wrote how the government should sterilize single women after their 4th child they have if they are not in any committed relationships (think 4 children but 3 or 4 dads) or after their 3rd child if their children have already been taken away from them. I was half in jest, of course... as I do not think the government should be in charge of sterilizing people (again), but I agree with the sentiment that these women should voluntarily get their tubes tied...I mean, if you don't use birth control and continue to sleep around with every man you meet, then you seriously need to make sure you don't bring children into that mess!
Last night I went out to the river and climbed trees and wrote in a journal. It was so lovely! Then the sun began to set and HOLY MOLY!!! IT WAS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GORGEOUS!!! Check out the links to my pics (on the side bar) to see what I mean. It just kept getting even more breathtaking. I was sitting under a large willow tree that was next to two other willow trees, creating a perfect fort. The tree was right on the edge of the water. Another fun part of this experience? There was a lady that had brought her cat out on a leash! I was literally thinking of bringing Chai, but I didn't want to carry him screaming bloody murder all the way there. This lady's cat was certainly enjoying herself, she was exploring and didn't hide at all when strangers came up to pet her!
In other news, my grad school list has narrowed even more: University of Rochester, University of Denver, University of Northern Illinois, and Temple University. University of Kansas is a maybe-- I haven't been able to get ahold of the mentor I'd like to work with.
Speaking of professors, I also got hired as a Research Assistant for a Sociology prof. at Suffolk who is working on a project with previously incarcerated women. It is a longitudinal study they have been doing for 5 years now with about 50 women. The prof. I'll be working for is currently writing a book. My job is to give her feedback, edit her manuscript, pick out themes within the qualitative data, play with the data, basically be her soundboard and let her know what I think is most interesting or worthy of her attention and what is not. I already gave her some feedback on the introduction of her book and she replied "This is extremely helpful feedback. Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you!!!" :-) It was fun because I was honest about where I disagreed. You see, she is a strict sociologist...i.e. she is against many psych. theories-- which is completely my opposite! I think it will be a really fun job, plus it looks AMAZING on my resume for PhD programs... a lot of the programs look for research experience, not even clinical experience.
As for my clinical experience, I am STILL looking for a practicum site. The one I was going to have (through my summer job) fell through because it was more of a social work position, not mental health. I have contacted a bunch of other places and am waiting to hear back. My prof. also said I can just come to practicum class and there is usually someone who knows of opening spots that I could look into.
Fall classes start on September 4th. I am taking Domestic Violence, Abuse, and Neglect (a counseling course!), Quantitative Analysis (a CJ class), Practicum, and Childhood and Adolescent Development.
That is all for now!
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