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
