Child Life Internship

It has been a busy last few months!
I took my comprehensive examination for my Master's in the beginning of October. All the long nights of studying must have paid off because I passed all 3 questions on the first try! I was beyond extatic that the exam is behind me!
A week after my exam I had yet another reason to be excited and happy: Matt proposed!
We've had a lot of fun with the early stages of wedding planning so far :)




I will be graduating next weekend with my Master's from NIU! I'm really happy that I was able to complete the program a semester early, although it will be a little weird not going to school anymore. I guess there's always room for a Ph.D if I really start missing school ;)

Now that my degree is completed, I'll be taking the next step towards becoming a Child Life Specialist and I'll be doing a hospital internship. I applied to several programs in various locations and the winner is: CoxHealth in Springfield, Missouri!







CoxHealth is a non-profit, general hospital consisting of 770 beds. I will be working as a Child Life intern in Pediatrics with patients from birth to 15 years of age. The specialty area I've been assigned to is the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. This is where I'll be concentrating most of my internship on. I'm a little nervous as this will require working with children in very serious conditions, but I'm excited for the challenge! I am planning on completing the 500 hour internship in 12 weeks, about a month earlier than it usually takes. I know it'll be long, hard hours but this will allow me to sit for the Child Life Specialist certification exam at the end of May, as opposed to taking it in mid-November.

I wish the internship was located closer to home. I've never lived out of state completely by myself without family or friends and I'll miss everyone a lot, but I'm excited for the opportunity.

Here's a link to good video on a day in the life of a Child Life Specialist:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/40313468#40313468

One chapter ends, a new one begins

As my college career is winding down, the future ahead is still very unclear. There are many paths that I may end up on, but I am not sure yet which paths those will be. Because of this, I figured starting my first blog would be a great way to keep family and friends posted on life after college and my endevours. I have applied for Child Life internships throughout the United States. This means that come August, I may be as close to home as Evanston, IL at Evanston Hospital, as far away from home as Long Beach, California, or somewhere in between like in Iowa, Missouri, or South Carolina. I am a nervous kind of excited about the unknown future ahead of me. I have loved every minute of my time at NIU, and although I will miss it greatly, I am ready for the next chapter in life. Check back to see how it all unfolds :)