Some Ramblings To Begin With

                                                

I feel like Cookie Monster getting a treat every day that I walk into my internship. That's really sappy and annoyingly happy of me to say, but seriously, Children's Mercy Hospital is a wonderful place and I get to witness so much music therapy!! I meant to write this post over the weekend. In fact, I did write this post over the weekend, and then my app crashed, so it never got posted. So here is round two.

Last week was exciting, busy, and super overwhelming. (SIDE NOTE: I just pulled an unwrapped hershey kiss out of a bag of hershey kisses. Mama didn't raise no fool, I remember my Halloween safety precautions. I threw it out and took 4 instead of the one...)

Monday (1/12) began with introductions and a quick tour of the hospital on the way to the music therapy office. We did not have to come in until 10, so it was pretty late in the morning. We ended up talking about food and where to get coffee for about an hour. These people are my kind of people. The rest of the afternoon was a lot of orientation. 

On Tuesday I started shadowing/observing Liesel who is my supervisor for the internship. Her service is my first round of 4, and she covers the PICU, NICU, Hematology/Oncology, and parts of general surgery. In the past week I have seen multiple patients in each unit, which is awesome! I don't know what was most interesting to me because it was all new, but my heart has always had a special place in the NICU. 

The rest of the week was pretty much similar to Tuesday. I assisted leading on Friday, though the patient was super tired so the session was tweaked a bit. I get to continue with him tomorrow. We also did a self-guided tour on Wednesday. It took us 1.5 hours and was my work out for the week....maybe even month. This week, child life interns started, so we are attending modules with them. Today we talked about coping and Thursday we will talk about development and end of life. 

Aside from CMH things, I got to explore a little with my friend Kim from high school. She moved here about 2 years ago, so she and I visited the Oak Park Mall, the downtown library, and the Plaza! It was so much fun to get out and be with a friend, which I don't have a lot of. I also started my weekend job on Sunday, which makes my schedule super full. They have been really nice about giving me hours but not overwhelming me. I definitely think having this job is a necessity for money, but my internship is my number one priority. 

My internship is also the number one reason that I am exhausted. This post is not very insightful...I am too tired for deep thoughts. Good Night. 

I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feeling.

22. You saw that coming. I am 22, so of course I am feeling 22. But I think T-Swift did 22 differently, or I'm not doing 22 right. I never realized just how weird your early twenties are until I moved away. I still feel like a kid, as if I should be doing everything with my parents, but I am not one. 

                         

This past week I have met some amazing people, explored the area, and joined the choir at the church that my "host family" attends. (SIDE NOTE: I will refer to them as my host family because I can't think of a better term. And, I am so confused by Kansas/Missouri life that I might as well be a foreign exchange student). The choir I joined is wonderful and everyone is so nice. The director is putting me on the cantoring schedule and is hoping to get me in for a few weddings while I'm here. That is nice for 2 reasons; one, I love singing at church and weddings, and two, I need money (care packages accepted). But as I am meeting all of these new people, I find myself answering the same questions;

1. What's your name? (Elisabeth, yours?)

2. Did you go to church here before? (No, I actually just moved here a week ago!)

3. Why did you move here? (I am doing an internship at Children's Mercy Hospital)

4. Oh, what is your degree in? (Oh I majored in Music Therapy)

5. Is this a paid internship? (...no.....)

Some way or another, those who are most interested get on the topic on what Music Therapy is (time to get my advocating hat on!), and eventually ask about why I have to do an internship, certifications, and my inevitable degree. It is in those moments that I remember this small, very very sad fact - Even though I walked in May, I do not have any type of Bachelors degree yet. 

I think this is what makes me feel so awkward in my early twenties. I still feel like a student, which I still take full advantage of in some ways. For example, the KC Symphony has student season passes for a very reasonable price - so yes, KC Symphony, I AM a student. But no, University of Evansville music department faculty, I WILL NOT do a jury or take finals this year. Sorry. The funny thing is, I seem to remember refering to this transition in my internship interviews. They would ask "what do you think will be your weaknesses at the start of internship?" And I would answer "Transitioning from student to intern may be difficult, because I am used to having more supervision and less independence in school" (or something like that - underclassmen, take notes). That answer has never been more true, and I haven't even started my internship yet!

Aside from meeting new people in the choir, I also had a chance to get lunch with my internship partner, Holly, on Friday. Holly is coming here from Texas, so I'm sure she is cold all of the time. We got lunch, talked about how we thought the internship would be, and explored around the hospital area (with the main intention being finding our parking lot). I am really happy to have another intern by my side, I could not imagine these 6 months without someone who knows what I am going through.

I also spent some time with my mom's friend Mary and her family. They are hilarious and have told me, repeatedly, that I am invited over ANY time (they said it so much that I believe them). I am also spending time with Dr. Uthe, an old voice teacher from UE, tonight while my host family is at church. So basically, I feel like I have 3 families here in KC, and that is an amazing feeling. 

I am a lot more comfortable here than I was a week ago, and tomorrow I start my internship! I just have one request from everyone reading this - Pray to whatever God you believe in that I wake up on time this week....

I Guess It's Time To Fly

I always told myself that I should start a blog, but something always stopped me. Why? I don't know; insecurities about my writing, nothing to talk about, too lazy, etc. But this week something big happened and I decided it was time.

Two days ago I moved. I didn't just move into college or down the street from my parents. I really moved. Far away from home, on my own, with no clue what I am supposed to do. Well, that's not ENTIRELY true. I am a music therapy student, and on Monday (January 12th) I begin a full time, unpaid, internship at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. So, I guess I know what I am supposed to do here. But still, moving is daunting. Moving is terrifying, in a way. I am incredibly excited, but at the same time, I am so lost. Lost both literally and figuratively. (I am really bad with directions...)

Because the internship is unpaid, my first and most stressful predicament of this whole experience was somewhere to live. Where does some one who has no income or time for a substantial second job live for only 7 months?! My parents and I struggled with that issue for a while, until we happened upon the most kind and generous people I have ever met. A sweet family who lives not too far outside of the city opened their home to me and I could not be happier! Not only is this a much cheaper option (I didn't have to buy furniture!) but I also feel so supported and safe in such a new environment. While of course, there are always some adjustments (their dog doesnt seem to like me unless they are all around...), I think this arrangement is going to be so helpful to my time here.

I was always told by my professors and supervisors that internship is such a "special" time. Special. As in....? I have thought about it so much that the word doesn't have any meaning. Is it a word? Seriously...look at it again. It just looks weird now.

Back on topic - As I am just beginning my internship/I have not started yet, I am going to take a guess of what "special" means. I think the 6 months in which you are enrolled in an internship is special in a very conflicting way. On one hand, you have 6 whole months to dedicate to learning the ins and outs of Music Therapy with ZERO distractions (*cough* general education courses *cough*). On the other hand, you are essentially in professional limbo. There is no degree with your name on it, no paycheck being thrown your way every few weeks, and yet you are expected to work as much as the next full time professional. Also, your primary care physician expects you to still keep yourself healthy...so there's that.

I don't really know what these 6 months have in store for me. My guess on this special time could be spot on...it could be completely wrong. But I am so ready to find out.