Ozomatli Performance

Great group of gents that performed at my internships gala event.

Actions > Words

Sorry, No can do, I'm busy. Mil Disculpas.

How busy am I these days? Let's have a look.

Monday - 6am wake up. Internship 8a-4pm, get home around 430-5. Go for a run(self care), shower, eat dinner/snack. Done by 7(give or take). Study, read articles, book readings, write papers or take online quizzes take place here. (Done by 11-12pm)

Tuesday - 530am wake up, School 8:30 am to 4pm, Work 5-8pm, Get home around 9. Go for a run(self care), 1030 Study, read articles, book readings, write papers or take online quizzes take place here. (Done by 11-12pm)

Wednesday- 6am wake up. Internship 8a-4pm, get home around 430-5. Go for a run(self care), shower, eat dinner/snack. Done by 7(give or take). Study, read articles, book readings, write papers or take online quizzes take place here. (Done by 11-12pm)

Thursday- 530am wake up, School 8:30 am to 4pm, Work 5-8pm, Get home around 9. Go for a run(self care), 1030 Study, read articles, read book readings, write papers or take online quizzes take place here. (Done by 11-12pm)

Friday- 8am-11am Study, read articles, book readings, write papers or take online quizzes take place here. (Done by 11-12pm)work from 2pm to 830.

Saturday- 6am wake up, 8am work to 4pm. Home by 5pm. Go for run(self care) Lunch/dinner. 7pm Study, read articles, read book readings, write papers or take online quizzes take place here. (Done by 11-12pm)

Sunday - Free fucking day.

This vicious cycle will come to an end soon. For now, I must endure and survive.

4 Weeks Notice

This past Thursday I decided to pick up my paycheck and submit my resignation letter. I'm giving them up to 4 weeks to replace me on the cases that remain on my schedule. As I approached HR to discuss this, I was first asked if I was considering an offer to have my BCBA funded by them. In my head I thought, "HAH! You mean add to my load?" I let her know that it was a great idea but not for me. In fact, here's my letter resignation. To which she replied, "oh no". I plead my case and it made sense to her. I'm simple being honest with myself. After all, I know me best and you know you best(at least I'd hope). I'm unable to give my best effort at the MSW program, internship at MAOF AND behavior specialist work.

She pulled in our CEO/President next door and I explained the same situation to him. Luckily, my approach has left me with an open door, if I so choose to return. Even though there have been tons of tribulant times as a behavior specialist, it was great to hear that I'm wanted. Am I the best specialist out there? Heck no. But I give my clients an opportunity to succeed and address any concerns their(I wrote my which shows how attached I become) parents may have. I think for some I may have been a laughing stock when I started this year. I had NO experience and had a background in business administration. Yet, my ability to speak fluent Spanish and my PATIENCE served me well and supported me while I learned about the ABA therapy performed at my agency.  I've evolved as person, in large part due to my experiences in this field and job. I feel better prepared to become a parent(someday), I sympathize with the plight of the family's that have to fight to structural hardships AND their child's disability. But as I've learned in my courses thus far, they're not victims, they're survivors. After I finish my MSW program, my hope is to be able to advocate for these children and family's on any level.

I'm very grateful for this opportunity that was given to me and after November 11, 2013 I will end my life's chapter as a behavior specialist.

Gut Check. Week 5 Complete.

These last few weeks have been testing my grit. I'm a full time graduate student, part time worker as a Behavior Specialist and an intern at a local non profit. Each role is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. Particularly now that I have to juggle them and assign priorities in an interchanged manner. This doesn't account for the social life that is slowly diminishing as the fall semester progresses.

Is it worth it? Yes! Of course it is. I'm loving the expansion of my knowledge base in the field of social work. What troubles me is knowing that I will have to make more sacrifices. What to sacrifice? that deduction remains to be seen.

Also, I covered (yet another) new client's session last night. Little guy was escaping or attempting to often and I happened to get head butted as I redirected him back to the couch. Feels like I was punched in the nose. Luckily, it was only bloody mucus and a sore nose that I had to worry about this morning.

Gold Mine for Behavior Specialists

Dollar Tree: an inexpensive resource for every Behavior Specialist.

Life Without Timekeeping

“Try to imagine a life without timekeeping. You probably can’t. You know the month, the year, the day of the week. There is a clock on your wall or the dashboard of your car. You have a schedule, a calendar, a time for dinner or a movie. Yet all around you, timekeeping is ignored. Birds are not late. A dog does not check its watch. Deer do not fret over passing birthdays. an alone measures time. Man alone chimes the hour. And, because of this, man alone suffers a paralyzing fear that no other creature endures. A fear of time running out.” 
― Mitch Albom, The Time Keeper

Cracking the Codes

This past Thursday during my Social Welfare Policy class we were introduced to "Cracking the Codes". It was a chilling look at how we erroneously believe we "now live in a “post-racial” America". Admittedly, I fell into that line of thought when Obama won the election back in 2008. Even when I saw an interracial couple, I would think to myself, "Wow, we've progressed so much!". But after four weeks of being immersed into my MSW program at Cal State Dominguez Hills, that couldn't be further from the truth. While it's true that some progress has been achieved, we still find ourselves being divided on key social issues such as LGBTQ rights and immigration. Even though we're living in the 21st century, hate continues to manifest itself within our "progressive" society.

Something the film touched on that was quite revealing is the notion of Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome(PTSS). What is PTSS? PTSS describes a set of behaviors, beliefs and actions associated with or, related to multi-generational trauma experienced by African Americans that may be inclusive of but not limited to undiagnosed and untreated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in enslaved Africans.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Traumatic_Slave_Syndrome] How did "Cracking the Codes" address PTSS? They had an African American mother discuss a prior experience where she was at a school meeting for her son. At that meeting, she was having a conversation with a Caucasian mother that happened to be her son's best friends' mother. The Caucasian mother was delighted to acknowledge her son's outstanding achievements and yet managed to reflect on the fact that the African American mother's son had actually performed better. However, the African American mother didn't acknowledge or praise her own son's performance. Why didn't she want to show any praise for her son? Because during slavery a colored mother would do so to protect her son or daughter from the slave owner and instead of praising or acknowledging praise they would devalue their own children. It's amazing how decades later, (some) African American mother's unconsciously react the same way when their son/daughter is receiving any form of praise. It's not that they aren't proud, it's just an instinct to protect their child. What's the big deal? These children NEED that praise. They need it so that they can feel appreciated by their OWN mother and family.

I'm just spilling my thoughts on this but I highly recommend that everyone watches this film and takes some time to think about it. Quite insightful!

MSW Program - Week 3

It's week 3 and I'm still adjusting to being a student once more. The main complaint from my cohort is the never ending assigned readings, I agree. Still, I'm enthralled by the discussions in class and find myself participating more often than I would during my undergrad. It's refreshing to (finally) be able to have conversations about issues that matter to me.

Alternately, working part-time at around 15 hours a week feels drastically different. The workload is manageable thus far but I expect things to pick up soon. I'm anticipating that by December I will no longer be a Behavior Specialist. Sad times.

Actually, I posted a picture of my badge from work this weekend on my Facebook. I was intending to poke fun at the fact that I've been working there for 9 months and I finally have my badge. However, poor phrasing made it seem as if I was just hired or promoted. After so many congratulations were had, I didn't have the heart to tell friends and family that it was supposed to be a joke.

Time to go read me some more social work related articles.

Julie Delpy's - A Waltz For A Night