School!!

School. This is a loaded word and has been my life for 24 of the last 29 years. Even the years that I wasn’t a student, I was a Special Needs Educational Assistant (EA) in the school systems. The strange thing is that in 2 ½ to 3 months, it will no longer be part of my personal life. WOW!!!

What has school been to me? This semester has been better than last and I have felt above water, and swimming finally! It is hard work still and there is much left to do. At the centre where I am, there are hour stipulations and session stipulations. We are required to have 525 hours and a specific number of client sessions, supervision sessions, observation and reflections. I will be done over 600 hours when I am done the school year but at the moment my other numbers are still behind, even after working over part of the Christmas holidays. That has been a worry for me, but I am hopping that I will be able to get those hours up now so that I am not as worried in April. I am also thinking that I will have to take a few extra weeks after school to keep up. It is hard but it’s nice to talk to others, as I have noticed that I am not the only one. We have talked about this school year as people struggling down a rapid river. There wasn’t a lot of swimming to begin with, just a lot of holding onto the life jacket. This semester I have found that I can swim with the current and I am no longer being dragged along. There are still pieces that are hard: there are a lot of assignments left to do, a lot of books left to read, and a portfolio to finish and integration to show. Above and beyond that, I also have to start working on my resume or CV as it is now called… ;) and I need to be applying for jobs.

What does this change mean to me? It means that I am supposed to know what I am doing now. I need to make sure that I can do this on my own. The therapy is getting better to do and I am feeling capable of helping others on my own, I have supervision at times because I want to and not because I need to. I know questions to ask and directions that I can take. I have learned theories and ways to go about using those theories.

I am ready for the next stage in life… Hopefully!

But I have no clue what it will bring ;)