Winter Break!

I can't believe my first semester of grad school is done. The past few months have flown by so fast. I can't express my gratitude for having such a great semester with wonderful professors, classmates, and learning experiences. That being said, I am excited to have a couple weeks off to unwind, relax, and enjoy the holiday season with family and friends. 

Speaking of the holidays, I wanted to share my experience at one of the best holiday traditions around Philly - the Longwood Gardens Christmas lights. It's about 45 mins to an hour outside of Philly, but the drive is so worth the view of all the beautiful lights and decorations. I went to Longwood Gardens in the summer when I first moved to Philly, when it was filled with flowers in full bloom, but I think the holiday decorations made it even better this time around. There were miles of Christmas lights and greenhouses full of sparkly trees and poinsettias. Obviously, I took photos. 

I love that Philly's location makes it easy to visit such beautiful places outside of the city. I'll be sad to be away for a few weeks, but I'm already looking forward to being back for my second semester next year.

Happy Holidays!

Thankful for Penn

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving! 
Hope your holiday weekend was filled with family, friends, & food, and not schoolwork...

After finally getting some technical difficulties with Blogger resolved, I can finally post again! Thankfully it's been fixed, since I kept writing posts but wasn't able to publish them. If you look at all this weird font differences going on, you can tell my blog is still refusing to cooperate with me.

So, I wanted to talk about my Counseling & Mental Health Services cohort and my incredible classmates. Last weekend, one of my classmates hosted a Friendsgiving for us at her house, which was obviously filled with delicious food, festive drinks, and conversation. While we see so much of each other in class and around campus, it was really great to spend time with everyone in a different atmosphere. I don't think I've laughed that much at a party in years, and I loved getting to know more about my classmates. And just as important, the food was so good. Apparently everyone in my cohort can cook - they made pecan pie cookies, hoppin' john, homemade stuffing, mac n' cheese, green bean casserole, etc. Needless to say, I ate all of it.

Although we only got a few days off from school, it was really great to be home and spend time with my family. The days went by way too fast, but I'm glad we were able to have a short break before final papers and exams begin next week. It's crazy to think that we only have three weeks left in this semester - the past few months have flown by! It has been a crazy, but wonderful semester at Penn, and I'm excited to see where the next one takes me.

Wish me luck as the finals chaos begins!

Counseling & Mental Health Services at Penn

So this is my first time writing a blog, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to represent Penn's Graduate School of Education and write about my experience in the Counseling & Mental Health Services (CMHS) program. Over the past two months, I've really grown to love my new home, classes, professors, and classmates. So far Penn has provided me with a dynamic education, enriching courses, a challenging practicum experience, and many opportunities for essential personal and professional development. 

Right now, as it is the middle of the semester, our workload has been picking up and we have a ton of papers due in the next two weeks. Although it will definitely be a challenge to balance this increase in schoolwork with all my other obligations, it's great that our assignments are actually very interesting and useful for my future as a mental health counselor. For example, in my Group Counseling class, we are creating our own group therapy plan based on a specific theoretical approach. I'm finding it really exciting to be completing hands-on, practical projects that mimic the real world work I will be doing post-graduation. 

Speaking of life after graduation, the professors in our department held an information session on applying to psychology doctoral programs last night. While I had previously researched and already knew a lot of the information they discussed, I know that a lot of students in my program found the panel extremely helpful. The professors come from a myriad of different educational and clinical training backgrounds, so it was interesting to hear their individual perspectives on higher education and career choices in the field of counseling & psychology. The panel was also super helpful in describing the career paths that graduates of the CMHS program have taken in the past. 

This photo is from the informational handout they gave us at the event, and it details the job opportunities that some of our graduates have received. I love that our program is helpful in preparing us for our future, both in graduate school and in the work world.

If any of you are considering Penn's CMHS program and have any questions, feel free to reach out to me - I'd love to help & tell you more about my experience so far at Penn GSE!