Parental Unit weekend

The parental unit came to visit! I got off work early on friday and met the parents at my (not so humble) abode! We watched around the 'hood and looked at famous peoples houses and got accustomed to my surroundings. When we went downtown to a sweet pub and ate yummy food. I showed them the 'bean' and other tourist things in the freezing cold.
Then saturday we woke up early and went to the science museum! I don't think I had ever been there and it was pretty impressive in structure and content. Then we headed downtown again for the snow craving competition, dog sled demonstration and snowboard show. Cooool and cooooold. Then we headed back and made some food and watched planet earth and Grandma's funeral recording, since I was not able to attend.
It was really good to show the parentals my new home and catch up a bit. Today I am planning on tackling some grad school applications and catching up on Heroes. Then another week of work will be upon me but maybe this weekend will end with a trip back to Gtown...we'll see depending on if people are arrround.
Love to all

sick but productive

I've been sick all week. Got my voice almost back tonight but we'll see how I sound tomorrow. It was fun having to call clients all day and squeaking to them. Ha.
I finished and submitted my americorps application today and researched some grad schools in chicago. I think grad school may be a possibility for next year. Or I could be just tired and delirious.

Boring work update....

Today I worked with case managers who work with clients with drug/alcohol abuse. Their appointments get canceled so we just worked on the paperwork aspect of the job today. We closed a file, did AMO copying of files for the auditors, and entered someone else into their ORCA program from the AMO program. I also did called clients and scheduled appointments for next week. The case manager will not be coming into work next Tuesday so I will be meeting with the clients by myself. So, we talked a little about what needs to be done at the meetings and planned for that. I also talked to the staff about different aspects of the agency for my paper that was due to my supervisor today. It was really helpful to hear some of my co-workers viewpoints of policy and what could be improved, etc. The overwhelming response was that they thought the agency was run very well and that they would not change much of anything. This seems like a very positive thing for an organization as a whole. I think it would be problematic if all the workers had lists of things they would change about the organization that they work for. So, that was very affirming.
In other news, I have my car here. So I will be driving to the veteran hospital tomorrow morning at 8am to meet with the case manager that works with veterans. It will be a new adventure. Then my supervisor is coming into my work to meet with my site supervisor to make sure I'm doing what I should be doing. I'm a bit nervous.... he is a bit...offensive and crazy..to say the least. Then my parents are arriving on friday! So this week is packed!
I may be a city girl now but I will never wear leggings and just a long shirt.

Poor & Priviledged

Friday was an intense day at work. I did one-on-one client sessions for the first time and it was intense. There was two noteworthy clients that I wrote in depth about in my social work journal buuut because confidentially law keeps me from writing such details on the internet. I will say that I got snapped at by an client over the age of 60. They were feisty, to say the least. And I had my first encounter with the heart breaking client that I want to give my lunch and $100 dollars and my house... Yet, had to be professional. I came home drained and hyped all at the same time.
Molly spent the weekend with me, which was really nice to have a friend here to talk to and show her around my new life here. It made me realize how much I miss my friends though.
Today was pretty uneventful at work. I did a lot of client calls and sat in on one client session. It was two girls that were friends that came in together about the same age at me. They both had a son and were homeless. It really hits me how different my life is from the clients I see. My privileged life seems so easy now. Just the luck of growing up in a nice town, with two parents, middle class, good school system, etc. I found myself thinking, if my situation were different, that could be me.
I have not started my paper that is due tomorrow so that is whats on my agenda for the evening.

Day in the life.....

Yesterday I was with the case manager that works with individuals who have HIV/AIDS. We went to one of the apartments to do regular client check-in counseling. We met with two clients and the sessions were quick and straightforward. I could tell that the case manager knew a lot about the clients already and it seemed normal and comfortable to be in their home for a visit. Yet, I found out that one of the clients (who was a recovering addict) tested positive for cocaine from a random drug screen. Therefore an 'intervention' was needed.
The housing manager joined myself and the case manager to confront the client about the issue and results of their behavior. The housing manager was very controlling and unprofessional, making the client feel subordinate in attempt to produce positive behavior. The case manager and I discussed this afterward.
We got back to the main office (at 3pm! without lunch!) I ate lunch then had a meeting with my supervisor. I put in a complaint about the unprofessional housing manager which I found many case managers have done about her before. We also talked about my experience and future plans at the organization. I feel like I am getting exposure to a lot of great experiences and am loving the challenges.
Today I had a meeting with another client that I will be working with throughout his time at the agency, which went rather smoothly. I have yet to have a client comment on my age even though I am younger than most of the clients, which is nice. I talked and scheduled lots of appointments with clients for next week and I will be meeting and working with the clients coming in on wednesday.
This week went by super fast. I am loving my job.
Happy friday!

Challenges and Accomplishments

I was thinking....and must share:

Over the past few months I have learned how to...

-EAT SPICY FOOD, it hurts at first but now I love it. My brother gave me a bunch of spicy things for xmas, I am using them all everyday and loving it. I have even 'out spiced' people.
-COOK, I have made banana bread, garbanzo tomato stew, indian food, peanut butter soup, just to name a few.
GAIN MORE INDEPENDENT, living in the remote mountains of Peru will do that. And I feel like I have still kept a good mindset afterward in making decisions and plans for myself.
-CONQUER HEIGHTS, ....well kind of. I'm working on it. I walked on a clear floor on the 2nd floor of the library today. Skillz.
-SEW, as of yesterday; my coat and a pair of pants.

Soon I might even tackle world peace.

I have a dream...

Happy MLK day. We spent the day at Northwestern listening to different speakers talk about MLK and the talks also focused on healthcare social justice. Then we did some shopping downtown and now I'm catching up with Heroes. Anyway, I'll give a quick summary since my last post.
Thursday I had a meeting with my supervisor and the director of Featherfist. We discussed what I will be doing for the next few weeks and what I want out of the practicum. It was great to sit down and get some concrete plans and thoughts down. I am feeling more ready than ever for the challenges ahead.
Friday I worked with two case managers that work with people who have a history of substance abuse or mental illness. I had a meeting with them to go through allllll the paperwork that is involved in getting a new client on your caseload. I then sat in/assisted with a few clients that were going through that process with the case manager. We then sat down and discussed the cases of the two clients we just worked with. It's tough stuff but I think I have a passion for it.
Saturday night I went out to a bar with some co-workers. Isn't that what old people do? Weird. I feel old. Anyway, that was fun to hang out with people not in the workplace setting. I think I'm getting the 'in' at work. haha
Then sunday my housemate and I went to the Unitarian Universalist church a few blocks from our house. I liked it and they serve snacks (including cheese) afterward. That evening two of our friends that graduated from our college a few years ago and live in Chicago came over! It was really fun to be able to show people our mansion of an apartment and our amazing neighborhood. It really does make you feel old when you start having friends with real jobs at universities. At least they aren't married..
Which brings me to today. It was good to have a long weekend and I think I am ready to face another week at work. I think Molly is coming to visit me next weekend which I am stoked for! Then the weekend after I think my parents are coming up/I am probably going to visit g-town for kick-off too. Then the other social work students will come so there is lots to look forward to!

Intakes & Co-worker bonding

I feel like I have learned initial gathering of clients, intake, and the case manager assignment aspects of the organization very well. I am excited to learn more about the rest of the client process past the intake interviews and assignments. I have also really enjoyed getting to know the staff better through lunches and just chatting throughout the day. It reminds me how important a strong sense of community and support is in workplace when working in stressful/busy work situations, like many social service agencies.
Today there were also numerous ‘white’ jokes flying around. For example, I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch. I was made fun for this and told it was a ‘white girl’ food. I also was standing in between two co-workers of mine and was called out by another co-worker passing by that we must like zebras.. I already love my co-workers.

first day!

First day at work! When I got there I talked with my supervisor for about 20 minutes about the organization, about myself, and my requirements for the practicum. She then got a phone call that reminded her that she had home visit for a client evaluation in five minutes. She explained that the police had called her because they needed to evict an individual but the individual had a physical disability so they felt bad just throwing them out of their home. My supervisor explained that she never really got in touch with this individual for more than a few minutes to schedule this appointment so she really had no idea what was going on. So, needless to say, in the first 30 minutes of the practicum, I went on a home visit. It was a great experience to be able to tag along and see how home visits are done.

After that, we came back and she introduced me to the whole staff. There are so many people and I am so bad with names but I will learn soon enough. She then assigned me to one of the intake counselors to shadow for the rest of the day. He taught me how to assign different clients to the different case managers depending on their situation, how the whole intake process works and all the paperwork that goes along with that. I sat in on about 5 or 6 intake interviews. So, I basically learned the whole process that the client and the clients’ files go through before it goes to the case manager.

My first impression is very positive. Everyone was very friendly and helpful to me. I love the variety that I will be able to experience because the organization is so big and has so many different programs that it offers to its clients. It seems to have a great reputation around the city and has great statistics of getting homeless individuals into stable permanent housing. I think that I will be able to gain a lot of knowledge and experience even through just talking to the different people that work at the organization. I already feel like I have learned so much and I have only begun to get an idea of all the aspects and different programs involved in this organization. The only thing that was a little strange to me was that one of the lady’s that worked there did not want me to be outside to take the bus home. So she said I could come along and get a ride too. So they took me home. I don’t want to rely on always getting a ride so I am hoping that it will be safe for me to take the bus in general. I was not too worried about waiting for the bus outside until the lady made a big deal about it. We will see.

weekend?

Is it the weekend?
Yesterday my advisor took us on a tour of the southside. We saw housing projects and extreme poverty all the way to Columbia College, where he teaches Economics. Although he is the most intimidating individual I have ever met in first impression, I am learning to love his weird personality and absolutely outlandish sense of humor. After that we were able to fix a quick dinner, then we had to head off to a young playwrights festival. The plays left us laughing, reflective, and tired.

Today we went to a 3 and a half hour 'catholic' mass. It was more like an evangelical predominately black service with catholic rituals mixed in. It certainly was a cultural event...that made my ears hurt. During the service, I calculated that these people spend about 150+ hours in mass a year. We then went grocery shopping and I made dinner for the house. Now I am faced with journals to write, homework to do, applications to finish, and mental preparation for the first day on my practicum tomorrow!
I am meeting an ex-Chicago Center student at the bus-stop who did the same practicum I am doing and got hired afterward. He and I will go to work together, which will be very helpful. Am I nervous? Yes. But I am also very excited to see what I got myself into! In less than 12 hours I will be starting my first day as a social worker.

The weather continues to be in the 1 digits and the windchill even worse.

Transportation System--tackled.

Today we learned and traveled through the public transportation system. I learned so much. I got really frusterating about it while I was out trying to figure the bus system out but I realized I was upset about things unrelated to the transportation and was able to articulate that. My family is traveling to PA for my grandmother's funeral service tomorrow and I realize I cannot go with all I need to do here. So I am upset about that. It was a really good thing that I was able to step back and realize that was where my stress was coming from and was able to separate 'business' from my personal life. Also, some people have no city smarts. I have realized this is my first serious city-living petpeve.
Also, we went to a 2 hour self-defense training. I learned violence. Oh how the bubble is gone and the real world is upon me. How freeing. How diverse.
So busy that we did not return home to eat dinner till 10pm.
I am so exhausted.

First Thoughts

1.This house is too big- the 4 of us have moved into one bedroom(which is the size of my house in Gt0wn) and closed off the downstairs because it's just too much space.

2.I don't have any free time- it's orientation week so we are constantly doing activities to get to know the city, the transportation system, and social things to get involved in. Tonight we are going to an 'open mic night' on the southside.

3.I love the city already-the weather hasn't been too bad yet. We are suppose to get a foot of snow or something tomorrow...sooo we'll see.

4.It is not what I expected at all.

5.Time will fly. I am realizing to the extent of how busy I will be this semester and I am hoping I can keep sane and maybe even have a slight social life. One can dream.