Six Interviews and a TiVo

So aside from being MIA from work for two weeks because I was sick, it's been a good time. I now have six interviews for internship and got a bunch of great stuff for Christmas. I have interviews remaining at USC Student Counseling Services, Switzer Learning Center, UC Riverside Student Counseling Center, City of Hope Medical Center, and San Bernardino Dept. of Behavioral Health. I'm pretty excited about the first and last ones in particular. For those who pay too close attn., the sixth was Patton from a couple weeks ago (where I got sick on out tour in the rain at 30 degrees).

Some of the highlights of Christmas: getting some cool stuff like a TiVo, portable DVD Player, Gap Jeans, several books on CD, several USC items (car flag, football, ornament, etc.), The Perfect Pushup, and some dates with Kira (giftcards). Also, I got to hang out with my family and Kira's family a lot. Always fun! We had the families over for dinner, which is crazy considering we all squeeze into our 2BD apt. for food and games. I'll try to find some way to upload a video of one of the games we played later.

Hope everyone had (and continues to have) a great holiday season! Oh, and if he's reading this, props to Curtis on a great song at the Christmas Eve services at FCC!

Patton State Hospital

I had my first internship interview yesterday. I think it went pretty well. The director seemed really nice, flexible, and intern-focused. The current interns were helpful. The tour of the grounds was interersting in the pouring rain and 42 degree weather, but it was nice tot walk through one of the wards and say hello to a few of the residents. I really hope this one works out.

The best part, however, was that the director started my interview by saying, "I noticed in one of your essays that you were a field goal kicker. So was I. How did you get into that?" BINGO. The rest of the interview was great. High hopes.

coolest thing ever

I just heard yesterday about a guy who now has the coolest story ever (that he can never tell).

A student who got booted from my graduate programand ended up at Loma Linda's graduate program was with some classmates taking a tour of Patton State Hospital recently (this place houses the real crazies (not guilty by reason of insanity, etc.).

His group was specifically instructed to not wear brown pants and green shirts (patient/inmate colors). He, of course, did. Not a problem initially, but he forgot something in his car. Since he didn't want to miss anything on the tour, he jogged to his car across the grounds. Well, I should say he jogged toward his car. He never got there. About halfway there, he got tackled by some guards and was asked to leave the premises after his identity had been verified.

Awesome. I don't think he'll be applying for a position at Patton again anytime soon.

Sweet satisfaction

If only this happened every time.

So the other day I was leaving the counseling center and I was waiting at a red light. My light turns green to go straight and a car is still in front of me turning left. No big deal, right? Right. That car was not a big deal. However, when I began moving through the intersection, another vehicle (large black F-150) turns left in front of me. I honked instinctively, not really that upset, but just trying to let the person (I'd say guy, but who knows) know that they were being unsafe (and costing me at LEAST two more seconds getting home; totally uncool).

After my brief honk, I moved on, truck driver completed their turn in front of me, and then WHAMMO, sirens and lights come out of nowhere and pull the truck over! A black, unmarked cop car shows off the blue and red and makes my night just a little sweeter. Justice is served. If only that happened every time someone cut me off. :)

Sleep, TV, Games, all return to house of Pate!

WWWheeeeewwwww. Okay, so, where to start. I guess with a qualifier to the following post, that this will be the abbreviated version of the past however long of my life.

I have officially finished the biggest two parts of my year (of just about any year for that matter): internship applications and Professional Qualifying Examination. The internship applications have been a thorn (katana blade) in my side the past three months. I am applying to 19 sites in southern California (because Kira is still attending UCI to complete her PhD in the next couple years) for psychology internships. I have spent a great deal of my time at home writing cover letters, counting hours, and finding new ways to make people impressed with my curriculum vita (resume).

I think this has been one of the more expensive months I can remember in a long time. I really think that Kira and I kept the USPS afloat during the recent recession trend. Fortunately that's all over for now and I just have to wait to hear back from the site directors as to whether I get interviews or not. I anticipate that I'll get between 5 and 10 interviews (most likely around 7). This makes any rejections easier to receive and anything beyond 7 just seem like gravy on my internship mashed potatoes (okay, that's a bit of a wierd analogy, but it's late and I'm a bit hungry...). I'll keep everybody posted as to the interviews I get.

On the Pro Qual side of things, I have also had much stress added daily in the past 4 weeks because of needing to put together a worthy intake report and ongoing therapy case presentation for a committee of three faculty members at Rosemead. The oral exam went well; I felt pretty comfortable after some initial comments by my Chair and getting good responses to my comments and answers in the first half hour or so (the whole meeting was about 1 hour, 50 minutes).

So, apparently, despite occasional goofiness in person, online, on stage, etc., I seem to be able to put together a good body of work and be helpful to clients to the satisfaction of my committee (Thank you to all of you who support me in my professional and sometimes silly personal endeavors :)).

Since I passed my exam without qualifications, I can now graduate after I secure and complete an internship next year and complete my doctoral literature review paper. Basically, passing this exam means that someday I get to be Dr. Pate. (Big sigh of relief). I dreaded that exam for a long time, but it turns out there wasn't much to be scared of. I look forward to lots more fun time with family and friends in the near future, more singing at church (starting this weekend), and MORE SLEEP!!!!!!!

My apologies for the lengthy ramblingness (yes, I will be Dr. pate someday) that was this blog, but I felt obligated to explain my absence from the blogosphere. I look forward to catching up reading all of your blogs and commenting like crazy! See you all soon. I'm coming out of grad school hibernation now...