Have you ever read A Prayer for Owen Meanie by John Irving? It's a novel about a slightly enfeebled little boy who believes he has been chosen by God to do one very heroic thing and works every day of his life to prepare for it. If you haven't read it, you should.
Now, I know I'm no Owen Meanie, but I do believe I was born to do one thing very well and I've been preparing for it my whole life. That one thing: Guess the title and artist of any song that a middle-aged, white man would have on his I-Pod. This skill--nay!--GIFT was called upon this semester, and it earned me and my classmates as many as 30 points extra credit on our quiz grades. Scoff if you like, but those points may have saved many of us from getting a "Low Pass" in statistics. Pathetic? Hell no! Like Owen Meanie, I was born to greatness! And this is what it sounds like:
Bread--I Would Give Anything (see previous excited post)
Red Rider--Lunatic Fringe (admittedly, I was stumped on the band name, but I still earned credit for knowing the song)
Level 42--Something About You
Rush--Closer to the Heart (with help from J. A)
Supertramp--The Logical Song
The Moodie Blues--What a Fool Believes
I would like to state for the record that I knew all but two of the songs played for points, but all credit is due those in my class who were able to jump in for the kill. That'll teach Gary to challenge us again! Go team!
Last night while I was writing another hypothetical clinical diagnosis of a mentally ill person it hit me: I am so over social work school.
Now before you get all "Geez, that didn't take long!" or, "But I thought you LOVED it!"...
This year has been awesome. I've learned many new things about the human experience and seen first hand the impact unconditional positive regard can have on people. I like being in this world of social work, and for the most part, I really like the people who are participating in this process with me. Most of all, I am excited about the new world of opportunities that has opened to me through this experience. I will be glad to nurture the relationships I've built and become more active in the networks I am getting plugged into.
What I am over is writing papers for grades on topics that I do not have any interest in pursuing, taking classes that are not really enhancing my ability to do what it is I envision myself doing, or staying up late to meet an arbitrary deadline. I am tired of having to prove my worth to a single judge. And I am sick to death of the APA style of paper formatting and citation. Let me tell you something: I got a PhD without mastering the Chicago Manual of Style--I see no reason why a Masters degree should be judged by the perfection of my APA reference list.
Part of the problem is that the first year of this program is comprised entirely of compulsory courses that are meant to produce generalists in the field. The second year is about specialization and though no one is promising the classes I choose will be exciting, at least they will be structured to ensure I know about policy, community organizing, and effective leadership. These are the topics that enliven my senses. They are why I want this degree.
Another reason why I am down on school right now is that I am really loving the new developments in my internship. Next year I will be working with a registered lobbyist who advocates for social justice issues in the state legislature. Because the Legislative Assembly will not be in session for much of the next academic year, my new field instructor pressed hard for me to spend one day of my week working with him now. With a little bit of wrangling, we worked things out, and every Wednesday I spend the morning scuttling back and forth between committee hearings to track developments in bills that matter to the issues we promote. I'm fascinated by the discourse and love the way the social work skills are employed in this context. I never in a million years thought it possible to abandon the adversarial approach to politics, but it totally works. When we take a "person in context" approach to talking to each of the representatives, we do a much better job representing the values that matter to us.
Don't misunderstand me, there are real turds marching around the Legislative Assembly embodying all of your worst stereotypes of what it means to be a lobbyist. But I feel really good knowing that for everyone one of these unctuous mercenaries, there is a social worky-type marching right into the halls of power and asking:
This seems to happen a lot these days. I wake up at 3 or 4 am and that is it for me. No point in laying around when I'm this wide awake. I could do a thousand other things, but why not put together a new playlist? Why not indeed. I give you, sans Wham!,...
For all the times that I explored the possibilities of making a "Yacht Rock Boxset" for all my friends, I never once happened upon this song. Well, you can bet your bottom dollar this Dirt Band/Linda Rondstadt "hit" is going on the next disc.
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10 minutes later I found this, which I'm kicking myself for not remembering.
