Which brings me to my next bit of important news: I have an internship. Lots of you may know that it has been a bit of a frustrating process. I have had an internship in principle since last spring, but nothing official had been agreed upon. When I returned to school this semester I learned a bit more about it and was given a contact to set up an interview. After over a month of emailing and trying to get answers I finally got an interview set up a couple of weeks ago and then finalized everything on Friday. So, pending a security check, I will be interning with the Department of Children and Families (DCF) working in Child Protective Services (CPS). What does this mean, you might be asking yourself. Well, CPS is the investigative body of DCF. They investigate abuse suspicions or claims, work in the court system, and work closely with law enforcement. Why did I want to do this you might ask. Well, I really wanted to do one of the more difficult things I thought I could do within child welfare. And this is what I came up with. I really want to know if I can emotionally handle working with children who have been abused and families who abuse their children. It will be a huge learning experience for me. Just in my interview I feel like I learned a lot and I am really excited to start. So, what will I be doing? Mostly I will be shadowing other social workers who work in CPS as they go about their daily things. That will include going to houses to investigate, working with law enforcement to remove kids from homes, working with courts to determine parental rights, and doing interviews with kids for abuse and sexual abuse. I will be working Monday-Thursday, 6-8 hours a day to get 400 hours, starting the last week of January. I am really looking forward to it! And all your prayers are appreciated as I go through it.
In between all this busyness there have actually been some really fun moments as well. And since pictures are worth a thousand words I thought I would share some pictures!
First I got to go home for a very quick trip. I am pretty sure I spent the same amount of time in Canada as I did on airplanes and in airports. I was home for just enough time to eat some delicious turkey and pumpkin pie (it was Canadian Thanksgiving) and see my cousin get married.
Next up came Tabor's annual Sadie Hawkins weekend. Just like the song, the girls as the guys to various events. My roommates and I got very creative one weekend to ask my neighbor to Seniors Night. Our creativity involved a pinata, a note written half in Spanish (courtesy of my Spanish speaking friend, not myself) half in English, and breaking and entering into our neighbor's apartment. The actual event (which somehow I failed to take pictures of) involved us dressing up as senior citizens and going to All Star Sports in Wichita where we played some arcade games, won some prizes, and played some golf. It was a really fun night!
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| Eating their food while breaking in! |
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| And playing their games! |
Last, but not least, a couple of weeks ago my church in Hillsboro held their annual fall festival. One couple has a farm just outside of town and they host the whole church for a night of fun games and fellowship. We went on a hay rack ride around the farm and surrounding areas, taking in the sights of Kansas, then we roasted hot dogs, ate some snacks, and won some prizes. It was a nice break to hang out with friends and make some good memories!
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| Playing with the IPhone 5's panoramic picture feature |
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| My favorite picture of the night! |
