Hello!

I am sure that you all can tell that I have already posted my last blog, but I just wanted to let you all know that somebody else will be posting new blogs beginning in September! Have a nice summer! Stay tuned...

Bye!

Hi everyone - This is my last posting. If any of you all have questions, feel free to get in touch with me.

My last assignment is due on Thursday. I’m looking forward to having some time off before summer classes begin! This summer I am taking 4 classes to try to finish the Professional Counseling program by the end of June 2008. I am taking Advanced Psychology of Women and Career Development during the first summer session, and Family Systems and Statistics during the second summer session.

In addition to school ending, I also finish my practicum hours this week. On Tuesday, I am going to a professional organization meeting for career counselors within the area. (The organization is called Delaware Valley Career Planners.) On Thursday evening, I am attending a Fashion Show that features the designs of the students at Philadelphia University. It should be very cool and it will be nice to what the students have been working on this year!

Well, like I said feel free to contact me if you have any questions! (I think my e-mail is posted somewhere on this site, but just in case, my e-mail address is robinlp@dolphin.upenn.edu.) Good luck! I hope to see you all at Penn GSE next year!

Hey! Well the semester is ending and the work is piling up! This week I did 2 group presentations. For our Group Therapy class, we used research to support a group intervention for freshman students having issues adjusting to college. It was a really interesting topic and I enjoyed doing the presentation. (Well, as much as one can enjoy doing school work! :) ) My second group presentation was for my Human Development class and was also interesting. The presentation was on romantic relationships in young adulthood. We divided the topic into 3 parts: interracial dating, cohabitation, and online dating. I primarily focused on interracial dating.

At my practicum this week, I conducted a resume writing seminar for a new member class of a professional organization on campus. The group ran smoothly and the students seemed engaged which was nice! I also had a few one-on-one meetings with students. (I can hardly believe my practicum will be over in 2 weeks! The time has flown!)

Well, back to the papers and research awaiting my attention! Bye!

Hey Everyone!

This is just a reminder that Penn GSE is having a Preview Day for Accepted Masters students on April 16, 2007. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Attending the event is a great way to meet professors, staff, and current students, as well as other accepted students! You might also be able to obtain further information about your program and GSE. You can RSVP for the event by following the link below. I hope you all are having a good week!

RSVP LINK: http://www.gse.upenn.edu/admissions_financial/rsvpmasters.php

Hello! Sorry it has been a while! We are just starting to get into the end of our semester and the work is starting to pile up! I have a few final papers and projects due within the next few weeks.

My practicum has been busy recently. On Thursday, Career Services put on an event called Design Expo. Design companies from around the tri-state area came to Philadelphia University’s campus. It was interesting to see students interview for jobs because we are constantly preparing them for interview experiences. The Expo was also a good chance for us to do direct observations of students. (As counselors, we normally receive information from clients after an event has occurred.)

Additionally, right now, I’m in the process of applying for internships for next year. I’ve been sending out applications to university counseling centers in the Philadelphia area and will continue to send out more materials tonight.

Well, back to work! Talk to you all soon!

Hello! It was difficult to get back into the swing of things this week, but we all seemed to return refreshed and thankful for Spring Break.

I spent a lot of time this week preparing my summer schedule and figuring out the classes that I will take next year. This summer will be busy, as I am taking four classes so that I do not have to take more than one class next summer. The classes I have decided to take this summer (and still need to register for) are Advanced Psych of Women, Career Development, Intro to Stats for Education, and Psychology of Group and Family Systems Intervention. I also spent some time reworking my resume because I need to apply for an internship for next year's program.

At my practicum this week, all of the students at the University were away on Spring Break. As a result, I did not have client meetings, but was able to catch up on some paperwork. I also planned an interview workshop that I will be teaching on Tuesday. The workshop will cover types of interviews (e.g. behavioral interviews, stress interviews, etc.), how to ask questions to perspective employers, as well as some general facts about first impressions, nonverbal communication, etc.

Well, I’m ready to put my computer away and call it a night… Talk to you all soon!

Hello! So, I’ve seen the other journals that have been posted and realize that I never offered you all the ability to provide me with feedback. So…

Is there anything in particular you would like for be to write about?
Do you want to hear more about classes, Philadelphia, my general experience?

Please let me know!

On Monday, I was able to talk to some students and faculty about the second year program in Professional Counseling and Psychology. We were able to hear about student experiences in the program and in their internship. The internships sounded very interesting and are 20 hours per week. This year, students were placed in mental health and college counseling facilities. By Wednesday, I finished my essay and applied to the program. If everything works out, next year, I will look forward to gaining more knowledge and experience working with clients!

In our practicum class this semester, we are focusing on psychological disorders covered in the DSM-IV-TR. This week, we had two guests come to class to speak with us about bipolar disorder. One of the guest speakers was a psychiatrist and psychologist and we were able to hear how he treats people with the bipolar disorder through medication and psychological education. It was a very interesting discussion because we were able to gain some insight into how clients experience bipolar disorder.

This week was all about comps! A few of us got together to quiz each other and study for the exam on three separate occasions. On Friday, we took the exam and celebrated the week’s culmination! It is so nice to be finished studying, but we will have to wait for 4-6 weeks to receive our results.

After the exam, I figured that I earned some time off and decided to go exploring in Northern Liberties. (Northern Liberties is a great area that is just beyond the Old City section of Philadelphia.) We went to a Spanish tapas restaurant on Saturday night. We had to wait for an hour to be seated, but it was worth it! The food was awesome and the sangria was amazing!

Well, I need to get back to writing a reflection paper that is due tomorrow in my School-to-Career class. The paper is about my decisions and career path. (I’ve been putting off my school work all weekend!)

It has been a crazy few weeks to be in the Psychological Services program. Our comprehensive exams are next Friday at 9:00 a.m., so we’ve been preparing and reviewing information from last semester. A large group of us got together and divided into three smaller groups. Each group was responsible for a different subject area that will be covered on the exam. Within the three smaller groups, each person took a chapter, or week’s worth of information, and developed an outline of this information. We are compiling our outlines and are making one large study guide. So, this weekend will be devoted to reviewing, studying and probably stressing out a little bit!

My practicum is going really well! I have been able to sit in on a few different career assessment sessions and have taken some of the career assessment tests myself. It has been really interesting to see my results on the assessment tests and weigh my responses. Through this experience, I’ve been able to gain some insight into how a client might feel in hearing his/her assessment test results.

Well, back to preparing for class today! Until next week…

Hello! Welcome to my blog! Only a few weeks into school and we are already off to a running start.

Last night, I went to a party that was hosted by GAPSA (The Graduate and Professional Student Assembly at Penn). The party was at a bar in old city and graduate students from all of Penn’s graduate schools were invited and attended. We had a great time!

I finished off my week by working at my practicum site in the career counseling office at Philadelphia University. I was able to see four clients today, which was both busy and exciting. I also mapped out my goals for the semester with my site supervisor and am really excited about applying my career counseling course (School to Career) to my practicum experience.

This weekend I will be in catch-up mode. I have a bunch of reading to do and two assignments to complete. On Wednesday, I am handing in a written report on an intake interview I conducted, which also requires us to issue a diagnosis for the client. It should be an interesting experience!

On that note, I’m going to relax a little and grab some dinner before I hit the books. Talk to you all soon!