It's November...

Yeah, sorry about not posting. My life has been the busiest, fullest, and hardest this semester that it ever has been in my entire academic career (don't discount it just because I'm only 22 years old-- I've still spent 18 years in school...and it is most certainly a career!!). And it's only going to get busier in the next few weeks. I decided to update as a reward for a job well done on the 401 debate today. I was so nervous that I read my 4-minute part in about 2 1/2 minutes, and my hands were shaking so badly I had a hard time reading the paper (it didn't help that I didn't have my glasses on either). But I think I spoke pretty clearly, and the other team only had one question about my part of the presentation, so I take that to mean that I did a pretty good job covering the material and backing it up with research. (Just in case you're wondering, the assignment was to come up with a proposal for a "new" SAT-type test for college admissions, or defend the SAT as it stands now. My team chose to combine the two and take parts of the SAT and add culturally and gender unbiased portions to level the playing field and a motivational measure.) Anyway, I'm glad that's over and done with.

I changed my mind about grad schools. I'm no longer going to apply to PsyD programs. Instead, I'm going to get a Masters in Social Work. I'll have to explain why some other time, because I should be getting back to work now.

Umm....I think that's about all that's been going on in my life recently. My internship is going amazingly-- I really could see myself working with early intervention programs in the future. I'm conducting research on imitation and intention in infants (18-36 months old) as part of one of my classes, and my participants will be coming from the kids I work with. Conducting my own original research is kind of a scary thing. It makes me feel old. I decided on a final paper topic for my Community Psychology class. I'll be researching Down's Syndrome and exploring how socioeconomic status (basically, wealth) mediates the outcomes of children with Down's Syndrome. I chose this topic because in my playgroup there are two children around the same age (I think around 18 months) with Down's Syndrome. One, a boy, comes from a middle-upper class family. He goes to Boston for medical treatments (Down's Syndrome kids usually have a bunch of heart and other problems as well as cognitive delays), and has had a very rigorous therapy schedule (5 days a week) since he was an infant. He can walk, grip things with his thumb and pointer finger, and communicate what he needs/wants fairly well, although he cannot talk yet. He's also the sweetest child I think I've ever met. The other child, a girl, comes from a poor family. She was adopted, and lives with adult "siblings", one of which is also mentally retarded. She just moved into the area, and is just now starting to get physical and cognitive therapy. She spends most of her time being carried around by her mentally challenged brother, who holds her much like a child carries a doll (grabbed with both arms around her stomach, with the girl's back against his stomach). She stays there passively until he decides to put her down (because she's a very heavy child). She just learned how to crawl, and has absolutely no vocalizations, other than to cry when she's upset. She can't grasp things, point to things, and has no interest in playing with either toys or people. The contrast between the two kids is so striking. So I'm going to research it. I'm actually kind of excited to start researching. (I feel so nerdy for admitting that!)

Okay, the bells just tolled 10PM, so I should go. I have to read a whole book for tomorrow's Middle Ages class (but it's bipaginated, so I only have to read half of it really....at least, that's what I'm telling myself). It has one page in the original medieval Spanish, and the opposite page is in English. If I had more time, I'd try to read the Spanish, but since I haven't had a good night's sleep in over 2 weeks, I'll save that struggle for Christmas break. After I finish all my applications and send them. And sleep. A lot.