So as you may already know, this past week was Thanksgiving break, and it was a well deserved vacation for everyone! Sadly, this vacation included working on papers for both group class and interventions class, because no vacation is complete without homework. But that's just part of the student life.
Thanksgiving was so much fun! I traveled to New York to spend the weekend with my family, most of whom I hadn't seen since before I left for Philadelphia in August, so it was really good to get to spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Especially fun was the game night I went to on Saturday night, where my cousins and I played a whole bunch of games together at one cousin's house. Since my first cousins are all much older than I am, I haven't had a lot of opportunities to spend time with them, so I was especially grateful to be able to hang out with them, even if just for a few hours. One of the big benefits of being in Philadelphia is that my family is only a few hours away, so I can go visit whenever I want.
What I really wanted to talk about in this post, however, is what I'm thankful for here at Penn GSE:
1. Meeting and getting to know the other members of my cohort. It seems like just yesterday we were strangers, but in just a short amount of time I have met people with whom I hope to remain friends long after this program concludes. We've stuck by each other through hard times and celebrated with each other through the good times, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am for that.
2. Realizing how perfect a fit this program is for me. Mind you, I applied only to this program, and I did not visit the campus before accepting my offer of admission. I realized I might want to be a counselor deep into my fourth year of college, and I just went with that whim, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Every day in this program, I realize how much I love counseling, and how ready I am to start making a difference in the lives of the clients with whom I work.
3. The African American community. I never thought I would feel so welcome and so comfortable in my own skin, because my whole life I've been told that I was an "Oreo". I wasn't "black enough". But coming here to Penn has taught me that I can be who I am; that doesn't change my identity. That is a lesson I am going to keep with me for as long as I live.
4. The professors. You just can't find people like Dr. Marsha Richardson and Dr. Ariane Thomas anywhere else, or Dr. Christina Washington (who is probably 36 but appears to be 22). These professors have made every class a joy to attend, and have shown me that being a professional with a doctorate degree does not mean you have to lose your sense of humor. They are all role models who I aspire to be like in the future.
As I look back on the past few months, I see how lucky I have been to be a part of this program and this school, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store.
Sunday, November 30, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
You CAN Sit With Us! (And You Should)
So today I want to write a post about spending time with the other members of the cohort, and to do so I have channeled my inner Mean Girl...except in reverse. So instead of telling people "You can't sit with us!" I'm saying " You CAN sit with us!" And you also SHOULD.
Last week on Friday, we had a karaoke night planned by the leaders of our division, Applied Psychology and Human Development. It was so much fun! A few of us met up beforehand and then went down to the karaoke bar together, and when we got there we sang songs loudly and with reckless abandon. Sadly though, there were only 5 of us there (the usual suspects).
This makes me so sad! I wish more members of the cohort would come out and chill with us. I love getting to hang out with the usual crowd, but it would be such a nice change of pace to hang out with someone new, and I would really enjoy getting to know the members of the cohort with whom I haven't yet had a chance to interact.Also, we have so much fun when we hang out! I know some of our cohort members have other friends and obligations in the area that keep them from hanging out with us, but others are sitting at home alone when they could be chilling with the Kounseling Krew (I know you like that new slang).
Welp...hopefully more people will come out to the Friendsgiving we're having on Friday. Look out for pictures next week!
Last week on Friday, we had a karaoke night planned by the leaders of our division, Applied Psychology and Human Development. It was so much fun! A few of us met up beforehand and then went down to the karaoke bar together, and when we got there we sang songs loudly and with reckless abandon. Sadly though, there were only 5 of us there (the usual suspects).
This makes me so sad! I wish more members of the cohort would come out and chill with us. I love getting to hang out with the usual crowd, but it would be such a nice change of pace to hang out with someone new, and I would really enjoy getting to know the members of the cohort with whom I haven't yet had a chance to interact.Also, we have so much fun when we hang out! I know some of our cohort members have other friends and obligations in the area that keep them from hanging out with us, but others are sitting at home alone when they could be chilling with the Kounseling Krew (I know you like that new slang).
Welp...hopefully more people will come out to the Friendsgiving we're having on Friday. Look out for pictures next week!
Friday, November 14, 2014
Do You Wanna Be An Analyst?
This week has been a psychoanalytic kind of week.
On Sunday, I went with a few other members of my cohort to a roundtable with the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. The discussion was all about how we can use our personal experiences to benefit the client. It was interesting because we've been learning a lot about how disclosing our personal information can be problematic in therapy, and because we have learned that psychoanalysis is the theory most adamantly against self-disclosure in therapy. According to Freud, the therapist has to be a blank slate with no experiences of their own so that the client can transfer images of their family members onto the therapist.
At the roundtable, however, we learned that countertransference (when the therapist transfers images of people in their own life onto the client) can actually help us in a lot of ways, for example it can allow us to better understand the client's experience. One member of the roundtable spoke about how he had a hard time coming out as gay to his parents. In therapy, after inadvertently bringing up a center for gay men that the therapist frequents, the client revealed that his son was gay. This brought up an entirely new aspect of the client's life that the therapist could help with.
I thought of another view on the use of self-disclosure in therapy when I spoke to a friend who has actually worked with a legitimate Freudian psychoanalyst, one who, unlike the professionals at the roundtable, believes in the therapist as a blank soundboard who supplies no real input in the therapy session. Just the thought of such a therapeutic relationship seems so dry and meaningless! I definitely subscribe much more to theories that place importance on a mutual and collaborative therapeutic relationship, and on at least some measure of therapist self-disclosure. Of course, we still have to make sure that our own disclosure doesn't take away from the client's work. It's the client's therapy after all, not yours!
But one big thing I think everyone should know about this psychoanalytic roundtable is the opportunity it provided for us to meet people from other grad school programs and practicing psychologists in the area. We actually connected with someone getting their PsyD at Widener and I hope we get to hang out with him again and attend other events on the use of different techniques in psychotherapy. After all, how else are we going to become the best therapists we can be?
On Sunday, I went with a few other members of my cohort to a roundtable with the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. The discussion was all about how we can use our personal experiences to benefit the client. It was interesting because we've been learning a lot about how disclosing our personal information can be problematic in therapy, and because we have learned that psychoanalysis is the theory most adamantly against self-disclosure in therapy. According to Freud, the therapist has to be a blank slate with no experiences of their own so that the client can transfer images of their family members onto the therapist.
At the roundtable, however, we learned that countertransference (when the therapist transfers images of people in their own life onto the client) can actually help us in a lot of ways, for example it can allow us to better understand the client's experience. One member of the roundtable spoke about how he had a hard time coming out as gay to his parents. In therapy, after inadvertently bringing up a center for gay men that the therapist frequents, the client revealed that his son was gay. This brought up an entirely new aspect of the client's life that the therapist could help with.
I thought of another view on the use of self-disclosure in therapy when I spoke to a friend who has actually worked with a legitimate Freudian psychoanalyst, one who, unlike the professionals at the roundtable, believes in the therapist as a blank soundboard who supplies no real input in the therapy session. Just the thought of such a therapeutic relationship seems so dry and meaningless! I definitely subscribe much more to theories that place importance on a mutual and collaborative therapeutic relationship, and on at least some measure of therapist self-disclosure. Of course, we still have to make sure that our own disclosure doesn't take away from the client's work. It's the client's therapy after all, not yours!
But one big thing I think everyone should know about this psychoanalytic roundtable is the opportunity it provided for us to meet people from other grad school programs and practicing psychologists in the area. We actually connected with someone getting their PsyD at Widener and I hope we get to hang out with him again and attend other events on the use of different techniques in psychotherapy. After all, how else are we going to become the best therapists we can be?
Saturday, November 8, 2014
The Open House!
Today was a very big day for the admissions office: Open House Day!!
I think it's safe to say we were all OVERWHELMED by how many people came out. We had such an amazing turnout, about 126 people! This was my first big admissions event, so I had no idea what to expect. I actually didn't get a chance to visit the university before I accepted my offer of admission, so this event made me wish that I had. It was so nice to be able to interact with the prospective students and show them my passion for GSE and for my program.
I feel like coming out to the open house is, if anything, the perfect way to go from being unsure of whether you're going to apply to GSE to turning in your completed application. I so wish I'd had the chance to talk to people in my program and see how they felt about it and what it was like to live in Philadelphia. I kind of got lucky (here and in my undergrad) because I didn't visit before accepting my admission offer.
I think one thing I took from this event that made a lot of sense is how important it is to ensure that the graduate program you apply for FITS. You don't have much of a chance to decide whether GSE fits you unless you come for a visit. And I hope we helped the prospective students who visited today to decide whether GSE is a good fit or not.
One thing I really wish I could have done differently would be to spend more time talking to the prospectives who were interested in the counseling program! I know we had ambassadors to help with that part, mingling with them at the beginning of the event, but I think my favorite part of this assistantship with admissions is having the opportunity to interact with people, especially people who are interested in counseling and share my passion for helping people. I did get more of a chance to talk to the prospective students when we led the campus tours after the event, but I hope next time I can take more of a role in telling them how I feel about GSE, CMHS, Philadelphia, and the whole admissions process they're going through.
To anyone reading this blog who is thinking about applying to GSE, I'd say the best way to decide is to come here and see it for yourself! Or talk to one of us and we can help you see the student perspective.
Thinking back to undergrad, THAT'S why it was so easy to warm up to UVA. My cousin went there, and when he spoke about it, he spoke with such genuine affection for the school, and now, when I talk to my own younger cousin about UVA, I have my own genuine affection for it, same for GSE. So anything you want to know, just ask! And (shameless plug) visit www.gse.upenn.edu/rsvp if you're interested in finding out about our open house in the spring or any other events we host. We seriously love seeing and talking to you, and it's really the best way to see whether GSE is the place for you.
I think it's safe to say we were all OVERWHELMED by how many people came out. We had such an amazing turnout, about 126 people! This was my first big admissions event, so I had no idea what to expect. I actually didn't get a chance to visit the university before I accepted my offer of admission, so this event made me wish that I had. It was so nice to be able to interact with the prospective students and show them my passion for GSE and for my program.
I feel like coming out to the open house is, if anything, the perfect way to go from being unsure of whether you're going to apply to GSE to turning in your completed application. I so wish I'd had the chance to talk to people in my program and see how they felt about it and what it was like to live in Philadelphia. I kind of got lucky (here and in my undergrad) because I didn't visit before accepting my admission offer.
I think one thing I took from this event that made a lot of sense is how important it is to ensure that the graduate program you apply for FITS. You don't have much of a chance to decide whether GSE fits you unless you come for a visit. And I hope we helped the prospective students who visited today to decide whether GSE is a good fit or not.
One thing I really wish I could have done differently would be to spend more time talking to the prospectives who were interested in the counseling program! I know we had ambassadors to help with that part, mingling with them at the beginning of the event, but I think my favorite part of this assistantship with admissions is having the opportunity to interact with people, especially people who are interested in counseling and share my passion for helping people. I did get more of a chance to talk to the prospective students when we led the campus tours after the event, but I hope next time I can take more of a role in telling them how I feel about GSE, CMHS, Philadelphia, and the whole admissions process they're going through.
To anyone reading this blog who is thinking about applying to GSE, I'd say the best way to decide is to come here and see it for yourself! Or talk to one of us and we can help you see the student perspective.
Thinking back to undergrad, THAT'S why it was so easy to warm up to UVA. My cousin went there, and when he spoke about it, he spoke with such genuine affection for the school, and now, when I talk to my own younger cousin about UVA, I have my own genuine affection for it, same for GSE. So anything you want to know, just ask! And (shameless plug) visit www.gse.upenn.edu/rsvp if you're interested in finding out about our open house in the spring or any other events we host. We seriously love seeing and talking to you, and it's really the best way to see whether GSE is the place for you.
Thursday, October 30, 2014
Halloween Hijinx
It's almost Halloweekend!! And we all know what that means: it's time for another crazy counseling cohort get-together.
There are a few different things going on with the Counseling Crew (my new name for the cohort, or perhaps Kounseling Krew?) this weekend. The first is the Halloween kickback/party tomorrow night, during which we are going to provide evidence that there ain't no party like a counseling party. I think by now it's apparent that you don't necessarily stop having fun once you graduate from undergrad. Because trust me when I say we have just as much fun (maybe more) as the undergraduates do! Even some of the second year students are stopping by the party, which just goes to show that the students in our program are so down-to-earth and easygoing. That's definitely a major part of what made it so easy to fit in here.
The second thing that's going on for us this weekend is the big group trip to the homecoming football game against Brown on Saturday afternoon. I've heard that football isn't as big here as it was at UVA (I think our team sucks, for lack of a better word). But I'm so excited to learn about the football traditions here! At UVA, I learned all the cheers and the songs, so I guess I'm starting fresh by attending my very first Penn game. One tradition I have heard about, however, is the "toast". According to some of my coworkers and cohort members, the students celebrate with a toast, but since alcohol isn't allowed in the stadium, instead they throw pieces of toast (toasted bread, seriously) into the air at the games. I'm excited to see how that turns out...and to throw my own toast(ed bread) into the air.
Last, and the thing that's stressing out most of the cohort, is that we have a big assignment due Saturday night. It's a comparison paper for our interventions class, where we've been learning about all the different theoretical approaches to conducting psychotherapy. For this paper, we have to compare and contrast three different theories in 5-7 pages, APA style. Compared to all of the other papers we've had so far, this is the most objective and research-based. Rather than discussing our feelings toward what we've been learning or the skills we're using in our practicum experiences, we actually have to look up data to support logical arguments about comparisons between these theories.
I guess because this paper is so different, people are FREAKING OUT. Some level of freakout is understandable, of course, because our professor didn't give us a completely clear explanation of what he wanted for the paper, and until now we've just been writing about our feelings. However, I'm so tired of freaking out (which characterized pretty much everyone's undergraduate experience, I'm sure). I'm ready to just chill and write extensive papers while casually sipping on caffeinated beverages, in stereotypical graduate student fashion. So basically what I'm saying is DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY, which I'm somewhat obligated to say by virtue of my being a Caribbean student with dreadlocks.
I'd just like to say Bob Marley was right when he said that "every little thing is gonna be alright."
There are a few different things going on with the Counseling Crew (my new name for the cohort, or perhaps Kounseling Krew?) this weekend. The first is the Halloween kickback/party tomorrow night, during which we are going to provide evidence that there ain't no party like a counseling party. I think by now it's apparent that you don't necessarily stop having fun once you graduate from undergrad. Because trust me when I say we have just as much fun (maybe more) as the undergraduates do! Even some of the second year students are stopping by the party, which just goes to show that the students in our program are so down-to-earth and easygoing. That's definitely a major part of what made it so easy to fit in here.
The second thing that's going on for us this weekend is the big group trip to the homecoming football game against Brown on Saturday afternoon. I've heard that football isn't as big here as it was at UVA (I think our team sucks, for lack of a better word). But I'm so excited to learn about the football traditions here! At UVA, I learned all the cheers and the songs, so I guess I'm starting fresh by attending my very first Penn game. One tradition I have heard about, however, is the "toast". According to some of my coworkers and cohort members, the students celebrate with a toast, but since alcohol isn't allowed in the stadium, instead they throw pieces of toast (toasted bread, seriously) into the air at the games. I'm excited to see how that turns out...and to throw my own toast(ed bread) into the air.
Last, and the thing that's stressing out most of the cohort, is that we have a big assignment due Saturday night. It's a comparison paper for our interventions class, where we've been learning about all the different theoretical approaches to conducting psychotherapy. For this paper, we have to compare and contrast three different theories in 5-7 pages, APA style. Compared to all of the other papers we've had so far, this is the most objective and research-based. Rather than discussing our feelings toward what we've been learning or the skills we're using in our practicum experiences, we actually have to look up data to support logical arguments about comparisons between these theories.
I guess because this paper is so different, people are FREAKING OUT. Some level of freakout is understandable, of course, because our professor didn't give us a completely clear explanation of what he wanted for the paper, and until now we've just been writing about our feelings. However, I'm so tired of freaking out (which characterized pretty much everyone's undergraduate experience, I'm sure). I'm ready to just chill and write extensive papers while casually sipping on caffeinated beverages, in stereotypical graduate student fashion. So basically what I'm saying is DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY, which I'm somewhat obligated to say by virtue of my being a Caribbean student with dreadlocks.
I'd just like to say Bob Marley was right when he said that "every little thing is gonna be alright."
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Homecoming!
HOMECOMING!!
This is my very first UVA homecoming as an alumnus...It's so sad! But I'm excited to be going back to visit my alma mater this weekend. I think it's interesting the difference between how people treat their undergraduate alma mater and how they treat their post-grad alma mater. Will my cohort members be as excited to come back to visit Penn as I am to go back to UVA? I guess since I spent 4 years there, it's easy for that school to have become my home, but being at Penn for only 2 years isn't really going to allow us to form the same bonds to the area or to the school.
Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my friends from my cohort about going home after finishing this program. He's from California, and he was expressing how he's more than ready to go back. It's funny because, as I told him, I feel like I don't actually have a home to go back to. At least, not in the same way he does. My parents live in Trinidad and Tobago, and while I still have a room and a place there, that hasn't felt like home since I left it 4 years ago to go to UVA.
I feel like, and I don't mean to be cliche, my home is seriously where my heart is. So when I went to UVA, far, far away from my high school and the friends I had there, my home was UVA. And when I made friends there, I wanted to stay because that's where my home was. When I came to Penn, I had exactly the same experience. I just sort of adapted and made new friends and Penn became my home.
It kind of makes it so that I don't know what's going to happen next, but it also makes it easier for me to think about going to a new place. Like how easy it was for me to go to Japan and make new friends when I went two summers ago. I'm considering moving out to California when I finish this program in two years, and I can just imagine how much of an adventure it will be, and how great it'll be to meet new people there and find my place all over again.
So I guess that what I've realized is that, although I wish I was one of those people who had a specific and concrete "home base", I'm glad I'm one of those people who can live wherever her heart goes. But for now, I'm happy with my heart (and my home) at Penn.
This is my very first UVA homecoming as an alumnus...It's so sad! But I'm excited to be going back to visit my alma mater this weekend. I think it's interesting the difference between how people treat their undergraduate alma mater and how they treat their post-grad alma mater. Will my cohort members be as excited to come back to visit Penn as I am to go back to UVA? I guess since I spent 4 years there, it's easy for that school to have become my home, but being at Penn for only 2 years isn't really going to allow us to form the same bonds to the area or to the school.
Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my friends from my cohort about going home after finishing this program. He's from California, and he was expressing how he's more than ready to go back. It's funny because, as I told him, I feel like I don't actually have a home to go back to. At least, not in the same way he does. My parents live in Trinidad and Tobago, and while I still have a room and a place there, that hasn't felt like home since I left it 4 years ago to go to UVA.
I feel like, and I don't mean to be cliche, my home is seriously where my heart is. So when I went to UVA, far, far away from my high school and the friends I had there, my home was UVA. And when I made friends there, I wanted to stay because that's where my home was. When I came to Penn, I had exactly the same experience. I just sort of adapted and made new friends and Penn became my home.
It kind of makes it so that I don't know what's going to happen next, but it also makes it easier for me to think about going to a new place. Like how easy it was for me to go to Japan and make new friends when I went two summers ago. I'm considering moving out to California when I finish this program in two years, and I can just imagine how much of an adventure it will be, and how great it'll be to meet new people there and find my place all over again.
So I guess that what I've realized is that, although I wish I was one of those people who had a specific and concrete "home base", I'm glad I'm one of those people who can live wherever her heart goes. But for now, I'm happy with my heart (and my home) at Penn.
Friday, October 17, 2014
Halfway There??
So this is just a quick check-in... Yesterday Dr. Thomas, our ethics professor, pointed out to us something that clearly no one in our program had realized: we're already halfway through the semester. She was all excited. She said, "GUYS YOU'RE HALFWAY THROUGH YOUR FIRST SEMESTER! AREN'T YOU EXCITED??!" And maybe it's because it was 9am on a Thursday, or maybe it's because no one really counts the weeks (apparently it's week 8 of 16), but our response was a chorus of "oh yeah?" and "huh, I didn't realize..." and "cool". No one was nearly as excited as she was...
Dr. Thomas was adamant that we should be happy that the first half of the semester is over, but I must say, the end of the semester is going to be SOOO much worse than the beginning was. She mentioned how difficult it must have been to go through the transition phase, but I've gotta say, it was the easiest thing in the world, like a fish slipping back into water. We made fast friends, and I feel like I've been in this program my whole life and known these people since childhood.
So in comparison to the beginning of this semester, these next few weeks are about to be terrible...well maybe that's an overstatement. We have three papers due next week (short papers, but I like to exaggerate) and one due the week after that. Yeah, the second half of the semester is when it all goes down...
But like I said, I like to exaggerate. I think most people in this program would agree that the second half of this first semester is only going to be relatively difficult. I think the real difficulty is going to come in the next few semesters or years, but only time will tell...
Dr. Thomas was adamant that we should be happy that the first half of the semester is over, but I must say, the end of the semester is going to be SOOO much worse than the beginning was. She mentioned how difficult it must have been to go through the transition phase, but I've gotta say, it was the easiest thing in the world, like a fish slipping back into water. We made fast friends, and I feel like I've been in this program my whole life and known these people since childhood.
So in comparison to the beginning of this semester, these next few weeks are about to be terrible...well maybe that's an overstatement. We have three papers due next week (short papers, but I like to exaggerate) and one due the week after that. Yeah, the second half of the semester is when it all goes down...
But like I said, I like to exaggerate. I think most people in this program would agree that the second half of this first semester is only going to be relatively difficult. I think the real difficulty is going to come in the next few semesters or years, but only time will tell...
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