This week offered a lot of insight into the things that I want in the future, things that I need to begin preparing for and things that scare the hell out of me, all of which are related.
I wasn't overly productive this week due to some set backs in motivation and car troubles that led me to sulk. I'm working on a project for my internship that keeps me in front of a computer on an excel spreadsheet for eight hours a day. I'm not complaining because it keeps me busy but I find myself getting easily distracted and off task frequently. I don't know how people do that all day and stay productive. Thankfully there will be breaks from time to time for meetings and supervision and whatnot. That is the one downfall of macro social work, spreadsheets. Microsoft Excel and I are bitter enemies.
The other days of the week I spent at class and got really excited to get the semester fully underway. Especially my policy class which is going to be me spending a lot of time of the TN legislation website. Nerdgasm. In my seminar class on Friday my adviser brought in a speaker to talk about her role at legal aid in Nashville and I fell in love. Not so much with her (she seems like a nice lady) but with the things she gets to do on a daily basis. She gets to meet with attorneys (the good kind), track legislation and advocate. So, in my haste to find a field placement for next year I looked for legal aid in Louisville as well. Turns out there is one and a licensed social worker on staff. Sounds like I'm going to be putting my adviser to work on making connections in Louisville. I'm really excited at the prospect of working at legal aid. When I was considering law school that's where I wanted to be eventually too. Now I need to work my butt off to impress them so they'll let me come intern. I think the 4.0 the first semester will help too. It feels good to make a decision on placement so it's one less thing I need to worry about during the semester.
This week I also babysat and got to see my friend and catch up over terrible beer and people watching. I also finally got a professional haircut, which probably shouldn't warrant the excitation I felt about it. I'm poor and can't afford real haircuts often. I found a stylist in Murfreesboro that was really cool and easy to talk to. I told her what I'm doing in school and we talked a lot about random things that strangers talk about. She said that its apparent why I want to be a social worker because I'm easy going and enjoyable to talk to. One-on-one I could talk to just about anyone that has a good grasp on the English language. That and I love asking questions partly because I'm interested in people and partly because I don't like talking about myself. It works well.
I got to have a long talk with my best lady friend last night and I'm really excited about the things she told me. I'm excited for her and her outlook on things. I think 2012 is going to be a fantastic year for me and the people I love.
Today I was approached by a man at Starbucks that spoke broken English. From what I gathered after rephrasing my questions several times was that he was looking for a family to talk to so he could improve his English. He said he would pay $400 a month to stay with them. As enticing as the offer was to bring a complete stranger into my sister's and her boyfriend's home I reluctantly passed but told him that I'm at Starbucks often and if he wanted to talk to me to practice his English that would be ok. I told him to look online for someone to stay with, he wasn't keen on the idea. I think there was still a language barrier and misunderstanding on what he was looking for. I still don't know what the hell he was looking for to be honest but I really wanted to be helpful. I suggested ESL classes. He said he wanted a family. I suggested craigslist. He said he wanted to stay with my family. I told him we had a dog and didn't have room for him but that I could help him find a place online. He looked defeated and told me he'll see me again at Starbucks. I'm not sure what to make of any of it. I'm going to call that whole interaction unsuccessful. Hopefully the next random girl he asks for a family can provide him with something he's looking for, maybe a nice fertile womb for his family.
Anyway. Have a fantastic week. I know I will.
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