Practicum = Awesome

So tomorrow is my final day of practicum. It was supposed to be today, but I had Tuesday off unexpectedly, so I said I'd come in on Thursday to make up for it.

How do you know you're fortunate to be working at a wonderful practicum? When they get you a cake to thank you for all of the hard work you did. <3 <3 <3 They're totally awesome, I was really touched that they did that for me. They were having a staff meeting when they brought it out, and then my supervisor and a couple other staff members said some wonderfully kind things about how they appreciated the work I did for them and how they were happy to have me there. They said I "set the bar" for future practicum students, which flattered me.

But as sad as I am to finish tomorrow, I will be returning in mid-May for SlutWalk in Vancouver, and I hope to stay in touch with them so I can continue to do volunteer work (of some kind) with them.

If anyone from YouthCO is reading this, thank you so much for the opportunity to do my practicum with you. I was so grateful and felt so blessed to meet everyone and do the work that I did, and I will definitely keep in touch so I can work with you guys again in the future. Thank you thank you thank you for everything. <3

Final 3 days!

I can't believe the end is almost here! I have 3 more days (after today) at my practicum, and then I'll be done! :( I will be coming back for SlutWalk in mid-May, however, and I hope to keep in touch with them to do future work and volunteering for them.

I'm talking to my practicum about potentially setting up a satellite office in another part of the province. I'm hoping that will generate some work for me, so I have something to jump to once I graduate.

3 more days, 3 more days!

Going Into Week 10

Please pardon any typos, my keyboard is a little glitchy right now... ^^;

So I can't believe I'm starting Week 10 now! My first day will be on Tuesday, but still! Wow does time ever fly. I had a slow week last week, missed 2 days and spent half my on-site time punching buttons for an event on campus. :/ So I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of things this week.

Research (Mostly) Completed, Break Time!

Oh thank god it's Monday today. I can sleep in and get caught up on homework, something I've desperately needed to do and haven't done the last couple of nights because I've just been so tired.

I've completed my second research project at work, at least for the most part. I'm still going to do some extra work on Tuesday, but otherwise I will be moving on to another resource project hopefully. So I'm really looking forward to that. :) I received very positive feedback for the project that I just completed, and I was really flattered about that.

This weekend I also completed YouthCo's facilitation training, to help those of use who are going to perhaps one day be facilitating or co-facilitating workshops of our own. I was fine until the very end, when I bombed the practice run in front of the rest of the group, but they still thought I did a good job in other aspects, which was a relief.

I'm still having my family issues, and am distancing myself from my immediate family. As usual, everyone else can see it except for them. Thankfully today was a short visit, in lieu of a full visit tomorrow due to the crappy weather we got recently (snow! >_<). Now I can have a full day off at some, getting caught up on homework and running errands. Then it's back to Vancouver on Tuesday.

That's about it that's new with me for now. More articles to come soon as I find them. Something tells me it's not going to end anytime soon. :/

First Workshop Shadowing

Today I got to sit in on a workshop presented by one of the other staff members working with my supervisor in YouthCo's sexual health program. They each did the HIV 101 workshop, which I got to see in core training, but this was my first time seeing it in the actual school setting. I believe the class was a class of grade 8 students, and my supervisor (in the class next door) had a class of grade 9s.

I Get to Do This As My Practicum? Sweet!

I'm so psyched. Right now I'm doing research for a YouthCo staff member about sexual lubricants - types, viscosities, marketing, etc. I'm also working on trivia, which encompasses questions about HIV/Hep. C, harm reduction, general health and wellness, and sexual health (including birth control, condoms, STIs, etc). It's so awesome! :D Everything right up my alley.

I'm looking at the website Scarleteen.com (http://www.scarleteen.com/), and I've decided to try to join as a volunteer, or maybe even a staff member. That would be a long way away of course, but this is the field I'd like to get into, and if I can get my foot in the door somehow, I'm hoping it will benefit me in the near future. Especially if I end up moving to be near my partner's family again, but that's another tangent in itself.

Aside from that, not much else is new. Still tired, still stressed, still dealing with family BS that will probably never resolve itself. I'm into week 6 of my practicum, and I can't believe we're almost half done! Can't wait to get it over with so I can grad and move on with life!

Sick, sick, better, sick

For those who've seen me post a whole bunch of articles recently, and are wondering whether this blog will still be about my practicum, rest assured it will be. I've just had a super busy couple of weeks, and I was sick on top of it. I still haven't really adjusted to getting up at 6am either, so I'm still functioning on about 4 hours of sleep a night, which makes for uber long days.

My practicum is going well, minus the fact that I'm way behind in hours (due to only being there 3/4 days a week, and then being sick) and my paperwork is overdue. So I'm a little stressed about that.

I finally finished up the first phase of a research project I was working on for my supervisor, and will be working on something for another staff member when I return next week. I am hoping to get in a full 4 days next week, because I'm pretty far behind on hours.

It's hard to believe it's already February - the last month has gone by so fast! I can't wait for this semester to be over though, so I can graduate and move on with life. :)

Practicum Pictures on Facebook

I've set up an album on Facebook for pictures I take at my practicum.

You can view the album even if you don't have a FB account. To view the album, click here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=613909&id=575805173&l=dc78eb52c0


** Caution: Some pictures may be a little unsettling due to their content (lots of STI, HIV, & Hep. C awareness). Please view at your own risk. I don't plan on uploading anything disturbing or upsetting, but just in case, since some people have different sensitivities.

Follow YouthCo on Twitter

YouthCo, the place where I'm doing my final practicum, has a Twitter account.

They are having their launch party this upcoming Saturday (Jan. 22) to celebrate the launch of their new community engagement campaign. They plan to focus on how many people think HIV and AIDS is "a thing of the past" because treatments and other help are available, and to try to get the gay community in Vancouver (and others) to either volunteer, donate, help spread the word, etc.

To follow them on Twitter, click here: http://twitter.com/YouthCO

First Day Down

So yesterday's first day at YouthCo was a success!

It was a very quiet day, with only a few members coming in throughout the course of the day. Otherwise it was just the staff and I working on stuff. I was given a research project to start, so I spent my shift on my laptop working and listening to music. 8D Totally awesome way to spend my practicum hours, if you ask me.

Confirmed Final Practicum

First post of the new year - My final practicum has been confirmed for YouthCo HIV & Hep. C Community Outreach in Vancouver! I'm to start on the 11th and I'm very excited. :D

I'm going to look into getting my student loan repaid by the end of the month too, so I can reapply for another grant and bursaries in this semester.

Good News at Last

Quick 3:30am post from me. Practicum, money and travel issues to blog about.

Money and Practicum Updates

Well, I finally got the paperwork for my loans submitted a few days ago. Apparently it'll be fast-tracked to the loan office, but then the paperwork will take a couple of weeks to be processed and for the money to be sent out. I need the grant, so the sooner the better! The loan will be put aside and I don't plan on using it. I'll be repaying it at the end of the year.

Mishmash of Updates

Trying this again. *shakes her fist at Blogger*

Lots has been going on with me, what with school and my side projects and volunteering going on.

The biggest thing was my participation in Kaycee Jane's presentation at the Burnaby Public Library on Nov. 18th. She was so gracious as to let me participate in her presentation, giving me a small segment at the end in which I presented on criteria I created for teens about dating and becoming sexually active. At the end of my bit, I presented a list of personal criteria I created for myself when I was a teenager and growing up.

Practicum & Bursary Update

Hola! I'm still alive. It's been a super busy semester - I have a ton on my plate.

I received an e-mail from my practicum co-0rdinator for the social work program, saying that my original practicum choice wasn't accepting students, but that she'd found me two other locations in Vancouver instead. One is for Options for Sexual Health (on East Hastings), and the other is for a sister organization called YouthCo HIV/AIDS Society. I'd prefer to work at the first option, but it's quite a ways away from Waterfront Station, and it would be quite a trek to get there I think. So, chances are I will end up at YouthCo because it's closer to Waterfront Station and thus far easier to get to (cutting down on my travel time). I just have to re-write a cover letter for both locations and send it in to my co-ordinator, and hopefully something will pan out.

Re: my bursaries, I've completed the online paperwork for my student loan and bursaries. I'll know the details/status of my applications next week when I check back in with Financial Aid. I don't like having a loan, but I'm planning to pay it back at the end of the semester. I just need the bursaries, and/or even a grant would be helpful (since I'm looking at $1,200 for the costs of transit during my Winter 2011 semester). Then I'll repay my loan at the end of the semester, and do the whole thing again in Jan/Feb.

Practicum Dilemma

I'm faced with a dilemma for my final practicum in my degree (Bachelor of Social Work - BSW). I've asked our field co-ordinator to try to get me a practicum with a place I found in Vancouver. It's *exactly* what I want to be doing with myself, and I'd be so happy if the practicum led into a job with the organization.

The catch? Transit costs. I don't drive, so even just taking the WCE (West Coast Express) train to and from Vancouver, I'm looking at $80/week ($320/month) for transit costs... probably close to $1,000 by the time I'm done. Which is ridiculous. I may have additional costs for bus once I'm in Vancouver, but that's something I'll have to check into.

The issue is that I've had pressure to move back home before Jan., so I'm closer to Vancouver and won't have to use the WCE train. That way I can just use Translink transit, and not have to commute from where I live now. The downside is I don't like that option, plus it's based on a short term scenario and doesn't accomodate for my partner living with me once he comes back to live with me in Nov.

So I'm not sure what to do if my field co-ordinator tells me they'll take me after all. I want to stay where I am and not have to move twice in 6 months or twice in a year, but at the same time those are really really high transit costs, and I'll have to come up with the money somehow.