Detroit!

November 4, 2004
Yesterday I arrived in Detroit. It was a long travel day, and I was beat when we got here, but the flights were good, and not too long, which was nice. Amanda and her boyfriend picked me up at my apartment around 6:30am, and we headed to Manchester Airport. Our flight left on time and we got to Chicago at about 12:45, Eastern time (11:45 there). Then we took off about 2 hours later, and the flight from Chicago to Detroit is only about 35 minutes long, which was VERY nice. Then we had to take a terminal to terminal shuttle to our shuttle that would take us to our hotel. We’re staying in the Marriott Renaissance Center. The whole conference is here, and this hotel is HUGE. Like… HUGE. There is a food court, a shopping mall… the lobby is on the 3rd floor of the building! There are 70 floors! Our room is on the 37th, and we’ve got a pretty decent view from here. It’s neat. Last night there was the Opening Plenary Session, with Maryann Mahaffey, ACSW (none of that probably means much to anyone else, but she has had an AMAZING life). She has done all sorts of advocate work, received many academic and achievement awards, oh, it was amazing to hear her speak. She was so funny, too, because she kept getting off on tangents. It was great.
I called my parents and John when I got here, it was good to finally get to talk to them and let them know I made it safe and sound. I was feeling a little homesick last night, but I'm doing much better today. I knew I would when I got going with stuff. Now I’m just looking forward to going to bed! *laughs*

Today I went to the BPD Student Mini Conference, which was really interesting. Our first session went from 8-9am, and it was a round table discussion about what student social work organizations are doing for activities and recruitment ideas. I got some really great ideas about what to do with our organization. Then at 9:15-10:15 we did a session on where the jobs are for BSW students. That was really cool to hear, even though I already am pretty sure I know what I want to do. However, the biggest thing they were talking about is how important it is to get licensed, which is fine, but then they’re like “you HAVE to have an MSW to do anything” and that got me worried. But we’ll see. I’m going to look up requirements for things that I’m interested in when I get back home and have internet access (since it costs $9.95 a DAY here at the hotel). Then they talked about some of the fields of Social Work practice, being: aging, alcohol/substance abuse, child welfare, community/neighborhood work, corrections/criminal justice, disabilities (physical/mental), income maintenance, medical/healthcare, mental health, planning (macro level), statistics/analysis… There are a lot more too, I have them all listed in a hand out I got, along with current (as of 2001) pay rates for social workers.
The next session went from 10:30-12:00. That was on the present social policies. It was interesting, in that there were so many points of view on the panel. The best quote from that panel came from Thelma Gould from Asbury College: “We have to work within the system while we work to change the system.” She talked about the move towards privatization (in prisons, healthcare, etc.) and the emphasis on compassionate conservatism and faith based services. Deneece Ferrales from Our Lady of the Lake talked about TANF policies and policies surrounding Gays and Lesbians. She gave a hand out about TANF, which I’m going to read over again tonight. Sudershan Pasupulti talke about children in foster care, and put together a great handout about some of the negative effects of foster care and parental neglect of children. Gerald Mathews talked about … well… basically his political views on everything. I have to admit, I agreed with a lot of the things he said, but some of the things he said just made my blood boil, such as how if you didn’t support a woman’s right to choose, maybe you shouldn’t be a social worker (me being pro-life). I don’t remember everything he talked about, but he had a couple of handouts about the differences between Bush and Kerry, and basically how mad he was about the outcome of the election.
From 12:15-1:15 we had a luncheon session on Social Work in the Future. That was interesting, because they talked about the use of bilingual social workers, and also about the greater need for technology in our line of work. They talked about how great immersion programs could be in becoming somewhat fluent in another language, and starting to understand other cultures, especially where Caucasians are not ever forced to become “bicultural” like Black Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans.
From 2:45 – 4:15 we had a panel talk about the disabled, what their needs are and what social workers are doing for them. It was ironic, actually, because one of the Dr. Rebecca Bolinger, the first speaker, is in a wheelchair and she couldn’t access the platform, there were only stairs to get up to it! To sum up what she said, she said that we need to know resources for the disabled, just like for any other part of our practice. Dr. Bonnie Zetick from LaSalle University discussed cognitive disabilities. She explained that the strengths perspective was developed because of cognitive disabilities. She also mentioned Howard Gardner’s multiple learning styles. Dr. Janice Wells from Winthrop University talked about social work students who themselves have a disability of some sort and what sort of resources we should access. The ADA states that an “Individual must have a physical or mental disability that substantially limits major life activies.” She said that students must have proper documentation, but that students are often afraid to seek resources (fear of it being on their record, fear of discrimination, they may not see themselves as having a disability, they don’t see the benefits, and they don’t want to be patronized). Dr. Ike Adams from Asbury College gave a great case study about a woman named Linda, who was of Korean decent (parents immigrated to the US), she was totally blind and had a guide dog named Nacho. It was an amazing case, to say the least.
The last session of the day was on Spirituality and the Code of Ethics. Dr. Bruce Schleider (Union College) basically said that religion is “the horse that gets us to the water,” and that spirituality is our connection with God, as we understand Him. In social work, the code of ethics is the horse. He said that the main principles of the code of ethics are: service, social justice, dignity and worth, importance of human relations, integrity, competence, self determination and responsibility to clients, colleges, agency, profession and society. Deb Daehn Zellmer recommended the book Spirituality Diversity in Social Work. I don’t think I’m going to get it, but it could be interesting. She talked about a study she did that was done with masters level students all over the age of 26, and she found that they were more likely to agree with the statement “I am a spiritual person” than “I am a religious person” and more likely to examine ones on spirituality than be religious when working with others. Sandra Doe said that we have to allow spirituality to become a part of the helping process.
Tonight I bought a book at the exhibitors tables called Days in the Lives of Social Workers, which is one that I’d been wanting to get since January, so that’s cool….
Now I’m just gonna do some homework and crash. Night.

November 6, 2004
Yesterday, the conference went well. I sat in on a session from 8-9 am about learning rural behavior through music. It was an interesting idea, in that if you really take time to listen to the lyrics of songs, that one can learn a lot about what is considered “the norm” in rural communities. I didn’t see how it related to today’s rural communities though, because the songs we were listening to were dated back (at most) 150 years or so. After that, I did my volunteer time, steering people from Brulé A and B to either Nicolet B or DaVinci. For 2 hours. Fortunately, my time doing that was not all bad, because, despite the sign posted in front of Brulé, people were still going in! Go figure. So I was able to steer them in the right direction. And for that, I got a certificate of appreciation! I should frame it. It says my name, the dates and “Baccalaureate Program Directors” on it, so it looks impressive.  After that, I took a little bit of time to vege, then I found Martha, and we grabbed lunch. It was nice to have time to sit and chat with her. We talked about things we had learned at the conference, and we also talked about our program, and how I was doing in it and some of my personal beliefs on things. It was a good lunch with her. After that, I sat in on a session about a study done on corporal punishment, which was really interesting. Nothing found was too much of a shock, but one of the things I did find interesting was she had the definitions of what was considered mild corporal punishment ranging to severe physical abuse. After that session, I skipped out on the next one, because I was tired, so I just wandered around the building and started getting my stuff together for the trip home today. Then I changed before the last session I went to for the day, and that was on an organization called Active Minds. This organization is currently on 14 college campuses, and they work to promote the awareness of mental disorders, and advocate for those who have them. It was a very interesting program to hear about, and if I weren’t graduating at the end of the year, it would have been something I would have pursued getting at UNH. After the last session, Amanda and I went up to the room, did a little more packing, I called Dave T. and John, and then she and I headed out for our “big night out on the town” (a.k.a. going to Hard Rock Café Detroit). We had a good time, the food was excellent (as always), but unfortunately, it didn’t work out to get together with Dave. That was a bummer, but at least he’ll be home for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks. I am hopefully going to get to see him one of those times, because it’s been quite a while since I saw him. Anyway, Amanda and I took the people mover to the restaurant. The people mover is basically and elevated train, like they have in Chicago (you know, you seem them on E.R. all the time!). Then we walked back from the restaurant to the hotel, and pretty much vegged for the rest of the night. I was passed out by a little after 10, which was good, because we were getting up early today to meet Martha for breakfast at the River Café.
It was nice of Martha to suggest that, she even paid for us to have breakfast, which was awesome. The food was excellent, so I was very grateful. It was the healthiest meal I’d eaten this entire trip, another reason to be grateful! After that, Martha took off for a session, and Amanda and I wandered around Detroit for a while. We walked up to Greektown, took a few more pictures, and then headed off to the hotel again, because I wanted to go to an 11am session on marketing the program, since Martha wanted to go to a different one. That was an interesting session, I got some really good ideas to pass on to her, so I can wait to sit down with her and have a little one on one chat with her about it.
Now I’m on the plane from Chicago to Manchester, and I can’t wait to get home. We left the hotel at noon, got to the hotel at around 12:30, and our flight didn’t take off until 3:10. That was not fun. So I wandered around the terminal for a little while, called John and my parents to tell them I was at the airport, then snacked on some peanut butter crackers and Snapple. The flight was fine, just about an hour long into Chicago. Then we had an hour and a half wait at Midway, so I called my mom and John again to tell them I was in Chicago, then just started working on my book report that I have due on Wednesday on Turning Stones, and got to talking to the people that were waiting to get on the same flight who were originally from Finland! Now they live just north of Bath, ME.
So far, the flight home has been uneventful. I need to get back to work on my book report before my battery runs too low, so I’m gonna get back to that now. Peace!

Lunch Hour Fun

You are Tigger. T-i-double guh-er and you don't let
them forget it. You are energetic, fun-loving,
brash and have a generous nature. People like
you for your enthusiasm and ability to bounce
from situation to situation with ease. You tend
to overwhelm timid people but your eagerness to
please puts them at ease (eventually).


Which Winnie the Pooh character are you?
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Your an ice dragon! Congrats! Out of all the
dragons, you are most powerful but do not like
to show it. A rare and special creture, you
have artistic style and are great at expressing
yourself. You think friends and Familly are the
most important, and are a hopeless romantic.
But of course, as ice goes, you can be a little
cold or harsh at times. But not to worry, you
always apoligize later!


What elemental dragon are you?
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You are a faerie of the flame. You tend to lose
your temper at the littlest thing, hot-headed.
You're a loyal friend to those who can
understand your raging moods. You're social
though claim not to be. You are no one else but
yourself and sometimes you try to hard to be
just that. You're a passionate friend, and
would do almost anything for those you care
for.


What's your inner Faerie?
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You are one of the few out there whose wings are
truly ANGELIC. Selfless, powerful, and
divine, you are one blessed with a certain
cosmic grace. You are unequalled in
peacefulness, love, and beauty. As a Being of
Light your wings are massive and a soft white
or silver. Countless feathers grace them and
radiate the light within you for all the world
to see. You are a defender, protector, and
caretaker. Comforter of the weak and forgiver
of the wrong, chances are you are taken
advantage of once in awhile, maybe quite often.
But your innocence and wisdom sees the good in
everyone and so this mistreatment does not make
you colder. Merciful to the extreme, you will
try to help misguided souls find themselves and
peace. However not all Angelics allow
themselves to be gotten the better of - the
Seraphim for example will be driven to fighting
for the sake of Justice and protection of those
less powerful. Congratulations - and don't ever
change - the world needs more people like you.

Image Copyright Sheila Wolk (prints available
through treefreegreetings.com) - words added by
myself.


*~*~*Claim Your Wings - Pics and Long Answers*~*~*
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New Job - Day 1

Well, I'm not going to say I have the best job ever, but I do really like it. It's paying me really well, and the people are all really helpful and friendly. There was one girl there that I wasn't sure I was going to get along with, but we ended up being cool by the end of the day.
So I'm working in medical records at Seacoast Orthopedics and Sports Medicine (yes, for you UNH freaks out there, the same office that handles the UNH sports teams). It's a lot of filing, which is fine with me, because I like that stuff, and I'm good at it. The only thing about it that I don't like is that it's a lot of up and down and crawling on the floor and stuff, so I came home and my feet didn't hurt at all, but my back is KILLING me. The shelves of records are over 6 feet high, and go all the way to the floor, so it makes for a lot of physical stress as far as that is concerned. But I think it's going to be good. It's nice, because it's one of those jobs where the only people I deal with are the people I work with, and I can leave it all at work when I leave - I don't have to think about it at all once I'm gone, so it's a nice feeling.

As far as everything else goes, things are going well. John and I went to Six Flags on Saturday to celebrate our 6 month anniversary, so that was a TON of fun. We had a great time - well, I know I sure had a great time, and I'm guessing that John had as good a time as I did :-) We went on a bunch of the roller coasters, so that was fun, and I went on that ride, Scream, the one that's the huge tower in the middle of the park. It was soooooo scary, but a lot of fun :-).

Now I'm just getting ready to put away some laundry, and then get ready for bed. My 8 am class was canceled, but I'm going to go over to campus early so I can work on a project either in the mub or at the library. Then I have class, class, study session, class, then over to Johns house :-D

I guess that's all for tonight!
Peace!

Quizzes

Your beauty is plain but you completely make up for
it in a pleasant personality. You may not be
the supermodel in the magazine or the woman
with unusual hair, but you have a great way of
making people feel at home and comfortable.
Because of the normality of your looks, people
feel like they can talk to you easier or ask
for help without feeling as embarassed. Your
personality is easy going and can be
represented by a warm smile. People like how
undemanding you are and your great at keeping
secrets. (If you can't see tje pics, go to my
homepage and look near the bottom and find your
result)


What kind of Beauty should you have? (girl) (PICS)
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Your aura shines Red!


What Color Is Your Aura?
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You're a "Green Angel". You're one person
who is extremely protective of people around
you (especially your friends) and you'd end up
as a gaudian angel. You're stronger than most
and aren't ashamed to show it. People know how
tough you are and don't dare to mess with you
when you get mad. You're real close with your
friends and couldn't live wihout them so even
in heaven, you want to help them. You know
they'd want you as a gaudian angel and you'd
love to be able to ensure safety of your
friends for yourself because you're on of those
"If you want something done right, do it
yourself" kind of person. (If you can't see
the pics, go to my homepage and look near the
bottom and find your result)


You are pure love. Pure and deep. You not only want
to but NEED to find your one true love. You are
not afraid of any challenge for your love, and
it is something to truly treasure.


What kind of love are you?
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You're like a dragon. Dragons where the terrible
creatures that lived in large caves and often
swooped down out of the sky and stole sheep,
cows, and even people from the countryside to
eat. They were gigantic with spikes along the
back and tail. Some had wings, legs, and the
ability to breathe fire. Even in the Bible, the
Levithian resembled something like a dragon so
they may have actually existed. Dragons were
loyal protectors that were more powerful that
any other animal that ever lived. Some where
peaceful and others just wanted to destroy. The
pest control for dragons were Knights who were
appointed the task of killing a dragon. Some
stories tell us that eating the dragon heart
let you claim victory in any battle or eating
the tongue would allow you to win any debate.
(If you cannot see the picture, go to my
userpage and look near the bottom. There should
be the picture and description for all the
results)


What Mystical Creature Are You? (Pictures)
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HOORAY!!!

So after a very long and somewhat bizarre week, here's what I have to report on: MONDAY - John had the day off due to the holiday, so we spend most of the day chillin' at his house. I did a LOT of homework that day. But that was good, because it got me all prepped for the week. I didn't have to do much of anything for this week after the weekend I put myself through. TUESDAY - Wake up early to find an e-mail from someone wanting me to come in for a job interview at Seacoast Orthopedic & Sports Medicine, to work in their medical records department, e-mailed back to say I could come in on Thursday. Class (really bad presentation on the legalization of drugs), class (fight with the professor about my schedule, got a homework assignment that was due Thursday), class (got back a test that I got around an 80-85 on, when all's said and done - which it's not yet), lunch (yay break!, class (get back a test that I got an A- on... Every once in a while, I kick some serious ass!), come home and grab the mail and see that my present for John for our 6 month anniversary arrived, and also our tickets to 6 Flags that my parents sent us arrived. Then I went over to Johns for the night, laptop in hand, and played around online at his house for a while while finishing a paper. Then we watched some of the Sox/Yankees game (a real disappointment...), I came home, did some stuff around my room, watched the rest of the game and called it a night. WEDNESDAY - Got up at 6:50 to get ready for my new job. Sounds great right? Well, after commuting 35 minutes and 19.4 miles to get there, I found out that they didn't even have enough work for me to stay my whole shift and that she didn't even know if I would have to come in on Friday or next week. Some new job! I was pissed when I left. Good thing I had a job interview on Thursday. Class (handed in 2 papers, chatted a lot, that's about it - I like my child welfare class), dinner/reading in the MUB (You know, the book Turning Stones by Marc Parent will blow you away - READ IT!), seminar for my VI-E grant (sat and listened to people gripe about their internships). I stopped at Johns house on my way home, that was nice, because I didn't think I would get to see him. Came home and watched the Sox/Yankees game... it's getting old guys. THURSDAY - Class (class for Tuesday got canceled so my presentation got pushed back to Thursday!!! YIPPEE!!!), class (nothing exciting - I still wish they hired someone different for this job), class (exam on Tuesday got moved to a take-home that we're getting on Thursday! YIPPEE!!!), SOSW meeting (stuff happened, then we left), trek to the holistic health fair (free reiki session - that is so great!, free spine screening - no wonder I need to crack my back all the time...), Class (okay, I arrived SLIGHTLY late because of my free reiki session, but who cares - it was so great! Other than that, nothing eventful.). Then headed back to Seacoast Orthopedic & Sports Medicine for my interview, at which I was hired and offered hours from 8-5 on Mondays and Fridays with an hour lunch, and hours on Wednesday from 8-2 or 2:30. YAAAAAY!!!! Things are FINALLY starting to come into place.
So my new job (the one I'm quitting) e-mailed tonight and said they definitely don't need me tomorrow, so I'm going to do all the junkloads of homework that I was going to do on Sunday and then I won't have to think about it! Then Saturday comes and (should the weather hold out) it's 6 FLAGS DAY!!! I can't wait! It'll be so much fun, seeing as how the last time I went was in the summer of 2001.
RCIA is going well, and I like it a lot. I got a new Bible tonight. Deacon Bob made a really neat note of what the Bible is on the blackboard in the room:
Basic
Instruction
Before
Leaving
Earth
I think that's kind of neat.
Okay, that's all the news from this end of town. Bedtime for this kid! Happy trails all!

So Lethargic

So today is a day that I have the whole day off... no work, no class (and I can say no work because I got hired at a new job on Wednesday!!!!!!!) and all I should be doing is homework. So I'm trying to write a reaction paper about a 10 minute video clip that I saw in my SW 622 class yesterday, and it's like my head is in a fog. My paper is coming out so bad! So it's a good thing is a rough draft that I can e-mail the professor and get back and re-write before it's due. Have you ever had to do that? Write a 2-4 page reaction paper to a 10 minute movie? I mean come on! I didn't get enough out of that movie to write a 1 page reaction paper, let alone 2-4 pages.
So anyway, there's that being worked on right now... The other stuff I have to do today? Read the rest of a chapter in one book, read a chapter in 2 other books, read 2 articles and write another reaction paper. And that's just the stuff I told myself I had to be done with today! That's not including the 2 chapters I blocked out to read on Sunday or the 5 page report on Monday or the 2 chapters I have to read Monday or the NY Times reaction paper I have to write at some point too... Thank God that's the easy one!
Anyway, other than being busy with homework this weekend, things are good. John has a 3 day weekend, which is nice, so I'll get to see him on Monday too. That makes me happy :-D Umm... Oh! Hopefully he and I are going to Six Flags New England next Saturday, but I don't know if that is going to happen, since the tickets my mom had my dad mail haven't made it to me yet... My poor mom is convinced they got lost in the mail. She told me to call my dad and find out when and from where he mailed them, but he's not home. Go figure.
RCIA is going well. I'm still really enjoying the classes, and it's nice because I'm thinking about a lot of things that I either don't give enough time to or hadn't even thought of before. Last night I was handed a picture of a police officer in mourning at a memorial somewhere, and I was told to find God in that picture. Not exactly something I do every day, but it was surprising how fast I was able to find Him when I really thought about it.
Anyway, if I really want to get any of this work done, I need to stop updating my journal and get back to work.
Peace!

Stuff and stuff

I found these on a friend of a friends LJ, and thought they might be kind of fun... and they are. Eerily accurate too... hmm...
Anywho, things are pretty blah right now. I'm still looking for a new job, but I have an interview on Wednesday at a records management company. I wouldn't have to work weekends, which would be cool, I'd just have to work my butt off during the weekend to get all situated for the week as far as homework goes. It wouldn't be bad, I could do it. I spent all day today doing homework, but I had a lot of homework this weekend anyway, so it just made it a pain in the neck. I'm getting stressed again and I don't like that... oh well. Once I get a new job it'll be better, I'm sure.
Anyway, I need to finish getting ready to go to Johns house. People need to send me e-mails and stuff, because I miss everyone.
Shalom, Y'all.



You are the color pink. As a beautiful and sweet
human, you are everybody's favorite person.
Healthy and energetic, you're often seen
spreading the happines. As an unusually
charming and sweet person, you're always ready
to comfort people who are down. You sympathize
with everyone, but not always yourself. Aside
from that, you are light-hearted and cheery.
And you make it your duty to make every cloud
have


What color are you? (Amazingly detailed & accurate--with pics!)
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You're a Spring. You usually are very close-knit
with your friends and value everyone freidnship
you have. You're a real people person and
everyone loves how friendly you are. You're
good with encouraging people but usually don't
like to be the center of attention. You are a
social butterfly and probably are in several
circles of friends but it's just because you're
well liked and you make people comfortable.
You're both fun and wise but you are very
realistic about life.(If you can't see tje
pics, go to my homepage and look near the
bottom and find your result)


What season are you? (pics)
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