USC football is here!!!

I'm with the banner: "LEAVE NO DOUBT!"

I'm tired of my team just barely missing the mark. I believe it's time for another national championship. None of this Rose Bowl stuff anymore. I want  some hardware going on a shelf in Heritage Hall next January! Who's with me????

USC @ Virginia, 12:30 pm Saturday!

camp with cancer kids:



Teen Impact, the program at CHLA that I'm working for this year is amazing! I just spent three days in Lake Arrowhead having a great time with some great teens! We watched movies, shared meals, and shared fun activities, like swimming at the pool (complete with waterslides), horseback riding, boating in kayaks and canoes on a small lake, and climbing the indoor rock wall! Somehow in there we also managed to develop stronger bonds and do some therapeutic psychosocial activities (like painting sticks to represent good and bad parts of ourselves and then burning the bad sticks).

It was an interesting weekend of pushing therapeutic boundaries that I have grown accustomed to at my school. I shared my goofiness, my serious side, and sometimes just listened to the stories of teens who have seen way too much of the horrible side of life way too early.

I think my favorite part of the whole weekend was having dinner with a group of guys, all of whom had no hair except for one, and he had just recently begun to grow his back following the completion of his chemotherapy. It was so neat to be let into their world and see how something so small as losing your hair could be one of the hardest parts of having childhood cancer. It really makes me appreciate what I do have and makes the little things not seem to matter as much in perspective.

sucks!

commuting es no bueno!

I have decided that in my 1.5 hour commute each way to/from Hollywood three days a week I will try to be productive. I have borrowed Spanish CDs from my sister (April). The progress so far: Quiero comer a hora porque tango hambre. Muy hambre.    ( I want to eat now because I'm hungry. Very hungry) At least they're teaching me things that apply to most minutes of my day. I spend most of it either eating or thinking about how I can get my hands on the next meal/snack. Muy hambre. Muy.   

Good advice for us all.

Last man standing

So I had my first day of orientation at CHLA yesterday and it turns out I'm the only male among the 9 interns/externs this year. Last year at the VA I was one of three men out of 12 interns/externs. What is the world coming to? Where have all the men gone! We men seem to be a rare breed in the world of psychology. What do you think ladies, do men need to get more in touch with their feelings? Maybe if they did, I wouldn't keep running into this issue at practicum sites! I don't know, maybe it's best that way. It gives me a chance this year to continue getting in touch with my feminine side, as well as the kid within, and we all know how much I need that (riiiiiight!).

Speaking of which, I leave this Friday for a trip to Lake Arrowhead with 20 of the kids from the HOPE program at CHLA. IT's going to be 3 days of Adventure Therapy, which seems to be church camp without the church part. We replace the churchy stuff with social skills groups and psychosocial activities. No awesome band and speaker, just me, 20 kids, and the womenfolk. I'll let you know if I survive...

I'm officially a scientist

So I'm officially a scientist now. I accompanied Kira to her lab after church today and she had me help out. I labeled some plastic tray things and used a pipette (long suction tubey thing that looks like a menorah) to put "media" (bacteria food) in the tray things. Super fun! Ok, at least different. It's nice to have a view into the life of Kira. Saving the world one experiment at a time. It was a  proud day in the Pate household.

scared of the kids

So, I start at the Children's Hospital in Los Angeles (hereafter referred to only as CHLA) on Monday. I'll basically be doing a half-time internship for no pay ("the experience is the pay" and all that bull-spit) (20 hours a week plus up to 12 hours drive time to and from Irvine). Alright, so I'm not really scared of the kids. I think it will be loads of (stretching) fun. I'm more scared of new people and doing types of therapy I've never done before and being critiqued on it. But, as with all things I've done thus far in my training, I'm sure God has got me there for a reason. We'll see come Monday. I hope the kids don't eat me...

Well, it's finally happened...

I have caved in to the peer pressure of my FCC peeps (K. & H.) and created my very own blog. An interesting concept, blogging. Basically an online journal, but what to write? journal for the world to know our secrets? Why not (within reason of course). One can find out interesting things in this blogosphere. I look forward to giving and receiving with whomever traipses across my little piece of the world and cares enough to glance at my words. Please respond if you feel like it. It's always nice to know people have been to your corner of the woods.