Two is Company in Week Three

I’ve settled into my two summer semester courses which are (plans change…) 469 Disability Studies and 356 Lifespan Development. However, this settling seemed to take the first two weeks. I even blanked on how to do APA referencing, when first required to do it. I realized why, though. I spent last semester doing a practicum with nary an APA written. I finally managed to dredge APA format out of the recesses of my long-term memory.
One would hardly know it’s technically summer semester here given the rain and chill that necessitates regular use of our wood stove. When it’s so wet out, I’d rather do dishes (warm water and bubbles!) than go outside, that doesn’t seem all that “summery,” does it?
One pleasant surprise this semester was the low cost of text books. The text and course manual fees for both of my courses were around sixty bucks each. I expected well over $100 for each. So that money spared can go towards tuition (or, listening to the rain drum down, a new sweater).
Already this semester, my social works friends and I who connect on Facebook have talked about courses, and, dare I say, instructors, and program planning. Having this group of classmates to share with is invaluable and inspiring. We shore each other up when our spirits might be flagging and congratulate each other when we proudly post a success. We also discuss practicums: like where and when we are hoping to go for work experience. It’s always nice to see a familiar name from this group in a course. This semester I’m happy to be in class with two of my friends from our initial 312 on-campus experience back in May of last year.
As usual, my course workload is woven (perhaps clumsily) into the fabric of daily life. Today, given the temperature, I just may put something warm in the oven to bake while I cook away on my courses. As of right now, I definitely cannot complain that sunny weather has been a distraction!

“Free” Time Like an Oasis

My school life with UVic is filled with milestones. A few weeks ago, I finished my practicum. Officially. On a Tuesday, the same day of the week that I began it, 300 hours earlier. Ten weeks seemed to shoot by and suddenly, there I was at the end of my first ever practicum. As to be expected, I felt a bit adrift at first. Not long after my practicum completion was my children’s two week long spring break. Really, it should be renamed “Mud Break” for us here: there’s still snow in the yard, a lot of mud, and skiers going up the hill. Now that the kids have been back in school for a full week and the snow really is almost all gone, I feel fully restored and in the swing of enjoying springtime.
I’ve become reacquainted with my humble little kitchen. Believe me, I never totally lost touch with it, but I’ve taken some ME time to enjoy the early spring sunshine flooding in the windows. I’ve baked time-consuming meals and made biscuits. I’ve perched on a kitchen stool, reading a (non-school) book, drinking raspberry Earl Grey tea while waiting for chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies to brown. When I was working at my practicum, I obviously didn’t have time to do this.
This week, I’ve taken the time. I’ve happily schlepped around in old jeans and work shirts, my barefeet jammed into my faithful old clogs, moving spontaneously between inside and outside activities, like going to see my horses and bunnies in the barn. I’ve even actually enjoyed catching up on the laundry. What I have missed is the clients I worked with. I often wonder about them from time to time and how they are doing. I always silently wish them well in their lives.
The positives, such as the meaningful interactions with clients, that I came away with from my practicum have inspired me to continue on with the tri-semester system. I planned to take three courses over summer semester, but then decided on two. Two feels right. So, while I continue to wear my old jeans, do laundry and take time to make whatever meal I want, I’ll be working on SW 356 Lifespan Development and 471 Addictions Theory.
My fourth year practicum is in the planning stages and I realize, that’s yet another milestone. I just read in the student rep notes that UVic’s seats in the school of social work are becoming more and more coveted: there are more applications than ever. I’m grateful once again that I’m a UVic social work student and have the opportunity to study and work in a field that is so vital (even in a small way) in the lives of so many people, including my own.

Better Thank Fiction

Life can be better than books. Some of us avid readers may not think so, especially at the end of a long day, when we’re propped up in bed or curled up in a chair, in the glow of a lamp, reading a favourite novel.
But real life can beat out good fiction, as most of us can tell you on a good day. This has been my practicum experience.
I wasn’t entirely sure what my practicum would look like. It was all a bit of an unknown. Sure, the details had all been arranged. But what would it look like? Frankly, I was a little anxious about it. I hoped for the best. Well, it’s been better than that.
It’s been amazing. It’s like learning in a super-enriched environment where there’s learning at every turn.
Learning in real-life. Now, that’s knowledge that’s going to stay with a person.
In my UVic social work courses, I’ve come across some amazing reading, terrific theory, wonderful examples. But this is really IT, folks.
And, in this real-life practicum guess what I draw on as much as the theory we’ve learned? My life experience. Books alone will not get us students where we want to be: we have to rely on our lived experience, too.
Learning to balance my hard-won life experience with social work theory and developing professional skills defines my practicum experience. Moreover, on a daily basis, I realize what a privilege it is to work with experienced clinicians who are so giving of their time and expertise to a mere practicum student.
I’m grateful to every one of them, both social workers and psychiatric nurses, for sharing their work experience with me. My most profound gratitude is also for the generousity and trust from the clients. So many of them have become heroes in my eyes.
Where am I at? Working full-time for about 300 hours as part of a multi-disciplinary team supporting adults with severe and persistent mental health disorders in the community.
If you’re approaching your practicum, throw yourself into it wholeheartedly. Choose the richest learning environment possible. Treat it like a job. This is the advice I was given by some senior social work students and it’s served me well.
As one worker here said, hold out an “empty cup” to fill with newfound knowledge – not just from books, but from life and the real life teachers around you.

Don’t Drop Me Now: Snow, Winter, End of Term?

School can become a real habit. If you read my post at the beginning of term, I didn’t sound hooked on it, but now I am. It may take a week or so, but we get right into the groove of studying. The last three months have been intense, busy and focussed…all around school. Now, what are they telling us? That we have a HOLIDAY coming up? Some of us may have forgotten the meaning of the word.
Some of us, me included, may have forgotten what life is like without dear old SW courses. I mean, what will we DO after our courses wrap up? Where’s the next Learning Assignment, the next essay? Where are the course notes and the text books?
That’s right. It’s nearly time to close the (school) books and pull out some pleasure reading. We’re being told to go and enjoy our winter holidays and we’re tempted to email our instructors and ask, “What do you mean? What am I supposed to DO? It’s hard to give up the habit of following a course timeline.
Seriously, this term is pulling to a close. I at first found myself bewildered at the decreased workload and now, well, I’m kind of getting used to the idea: there’s time to pick up a few hobbies again or just spend more time with family, friends and ourselves. I’ve become reacquainted with my yoga mat and have some new books on order from the public library. I’ve gone Christmas shopping and even had a leisurely lunch with my Dad. I’ve been going outside more and doing things-other-than-school. I have some sewing projects planned for my kids for Christmas. (I like sewing in straight lines, so nothing elaborate).
However you celebrate or honour winter, with whatever traditions special to you, a happy and enjoyable winter break to you. Keep those text books closed for awhile – no peaking till January!

Half time

Dare I say it, we are almost half way through this semester. It’s official. We are in Week Six and most courses go to Week Twelve. Some may end sooner and a slightly decreased academic workload is never a bad thing, is it?
Week Five was particularly demanding and I’ve found this week to be as well. A fellow classmate mentioned the high volume of written work required in on-line courses. I have to say, I agree with her. There’s not only a lot of writing, but a lot of reading. And referencing, and communicating with fellow students in group work, and summarizing, not to mention general organizational duties and assignments along with trying to arrange for a practicum placement. Combine this all with everyday family life and responsibilities and welcome to DE learning.
I’m a writer and I love words, but at the end of a school day filled with posts, drafts, papers, and Blackboard messages, all I want to do is go outside. Luckily, my three school-age children are usually of the same mind when they arrive home at about 3 p.m., so we pour out into the yard, eager to do something physical or just sit out in the barn and talk.
While there are some heavy weeks, there are also those which are a little bit lighter. Maybe it’s a week we aren’t facilitating, or we just handed in that big assignment, maybe one of our instructors granted a class-wide extension (they do happen, you know, like a small but meaningful gift dropped into one’s unsuspecting but nevertheless grateful hands). This is what I call the heavy time. It’s not quite as fun as swingtime, which I wrote about last week. There’s just a little more weariness and less adrenaline. Many of us social work friends on Facebook are looking forward to Reading Break. If I do say so myself, it’s well deserved. We’ve been hard at work.
You can mark it on your calendar too: Nov. 8 – 14th. I suspect that many of us won’t spend it all reading but doing some fun non-print based activities to refresh before Week Nine is upon us.
Reading break – Enjoy it!

Week 6 Almost there!

This photo I took at the Adams River salmon run shows weary Sockeye resting before resuming their swim upstream. We're navigating our way through school. Rest!

Swingtime

What do you call it when you are really into something? Being engaged? Swept along in a whirlpool, in the eye of the storm? I’m not really sure what swingtime is, but it makes me think of dancing, or being right in the middle of a dance.
If we students are dancers, our partner is school. Right now, it’s swingtime. That’s right, we’re being swung around by dare I say, a pretty swift and surefooted partner. Assignments and due dates left and right. If you’re like me, you’re stepping pretty quickly to meet them all.
Remember to take a breather when the music slows. Sit and rest for a bit. Kick off your dance shoes. Find a glass of water.
One of the joys of being a distance student is that while one might expect that a distance student works in isolation, the opposite is also true. Some of us DE students have formed a pretty tight but by no means exclusive group.
There are those of us who met up at our 312 on-campus session, those of us who “friended” each other on Facebook, those of us who have been previous (if virtual) classmates and have reconnected in subsequent courses to work together. Then, there’s the small group work we’re seemingly constantly engaged in this semester.
We may work in isolation physically, but on-line on Blackboard, it’s hard to get away from each other, in a good way. We can share concerns and helpful tips. We can answer each others questions. We can stay connected.
The distance students have a community. Though we can’t see each other, as you would see one another in a classroom, we’re still a pretty close knit bunch, only an instant message or Blackboard email away.
So, as Week 4 sweeps in, we are almost a third of a way through this semester. Not to hurry things along. Thanks to the swift pace of the academic dance, things are hurried enough.

~ CMHA, the Canadian Mental Health Association promotes taking time for Mental Health. UVic also has a healthy campus program. If you’re feeling like you can’t possibly dance any faster, take a deep breath, connect with your instructor, and look into options that allow you to have a break when you need it most. ~

In friendship, your fellow DE student, Tammy

Swingtime

Surrounded by books, this kitty can still rest.

These beauties are dropping petals as Fall swings in.

Inspiration Found

Inspiration Found
~Welcome! ~ In my last post, I lamented the end of summer and wondered at my somewhat reduced enthusiasm for digging into newly arrived texts and manuals. As I began logging onto USource, paying tuition (among other bills), and reading welcome notes from various instructors, my lack of enthusiasm perplexed me. Would I feel like this ALL semester? Lacking enthusiasm for one’s chosen course of study is really a drag. Was I really missing summer that much? Was August just not enough time off?
Well, I’d like to report a change. My inspiration has returned. My enthusiasm is intact. For this, I’d like to thank my fellow social work students. As I dutifully logged onto Blackboard and read incoming introductions from classmates, the sheer range of locations, experience, and personal and career goals amazed me.
Click by click of the mouse, I scrolled through inspiring welcomes, introductions and descriptions of students’ lives and work. We UVic social work students are spread out across the country, and some even reside outside of Canada. I have classmates in New York, throughout Eastern Canada, and in Northern B.C. – including Inuvik – and everywhere inbetween. Even more amazing is the sheer depth of work and life experience.
Here’s where my inspiration really kicked in: how can we NOT make a difference(s) when so many of us dedicated to social justice are in so many places, working in so many varied fields of the profession? I read about experiences in every field of social work, including some I didn’t know about.
Many students shared just how many commitments they have in their lives – work, home, family, partners – and some talked about challenges that they cope with while in school – disability, divorce, low income, and more.
Thank you to all of my fellow social work students for kick-starting fall semester with introductions full of passion, experience and perseverance.

Lillies and alpine lakewater

Bidding Summer Adieu

Welcome! Thank you for taking time from you busy day to take a look at my blog, which focuses on life as a distance BSW student, with already a busy family and work life. Please feel welcome to leave your comments and what the distance experience is like for you.
A few weeks ago, I was brushing sand off my bare toes after a swim at the river. It was so hot, we wondered if the temperatures would stop soaring and the smoke from summer fires would finally clear.
Now, and rather quickly, summer seems to have fled when my back was turned. A bubble-wrapped package bulging with distance social work texts and manuals arrived in the mail, and I have to admit, I opened it with less enthusiasm than last semester, which was also my first in the Distance BSW program.
Last semester, I began reading as soon as my course materials arrived, and eagerly plunged into studying from May to July. However, by July, I was quite (to borrow a science term) super-saturated with social work theory and ready for a month of school-free summer vacation. August dangled before me like a particularly juicy carrot at the end of a fairly short stick. I grabbed it with both assignment-free hands.
So, my last month has been a month of absolute leisure, or so it seems when faced with “only” family life without university study blended in. I’ve happily gorged myself on pleasure reading, after gleefully selling my used SW texts and manuals to a fellow classmate only one semester behind me in her distance studies, also at UVic. Then, rounding up my three children, we headed for the local lakes and beaches. Add to that riding my horse, going wilderness camping for two weeks, and working on now frivolous-feeling things like knitting and drawing. My school-free month was topped off by a five day horse show at the local fair, camping with my family and friends (long live the Armstrong Interior Provincial Exhibition!).
Along with the many varied ideas and theories I learned last semester, I learned how to fully enjoy my time away from school. So while I’m a little less enthusiastic to crack open my dauntingly-thick binders and log on to Usource, I’m preparing myself for serious studying again, but I’ll be sneaking the occasional peak at my summer vacation photos of family, horses, flowers, blue water and sunshine.
All wistful summer reflecdtions aside, the UVic distance BSW program is amazing. It allows mature students who cannot relocate to a major centre to finish a meaningful and useful degree without uprooting one’s home and family. I am truly happy and inspired to be enrolled in this outstanding program, and welcome comments from other distance students from across Canada. Kindest regards, Tammy  ~

~ Special thanks to UVic Faculty of Social Work Senior Instructor Cheryl Moir-van Iersel for inviting me to blog about my experience as a distance BSW student ~

Choelquoit Lake, West Chilcotin

Explorer roses bloom in August.

Fair days!