First Week in Chi-town!

What a week it has been! Monday through Wednesday were full of orientation stuff-- meeting other students and the CS staff and having classes on city safety, public transporation, roommates, and internships. Thursday and Friday were my first two days at Rice. :) After a tour of the facility, I learned more about the programs and services offered, met the staff, and spent some time on the unit getting to know the boys. There are 5 units at Rice and I will primarily be working on the unit for 10-13 year old boys. There are 9 boys on the unit. All of the kids have some type of mental illness or severe behavior problems, so I can already tell that this is going to be a challenging internship and that I am going to learn a lot. I am very much looking forward to it and am excited to learn and grow. I already like the kids and the staff I will be working with. Much of my time will be spent directly on the unit with the boys, but I will also be sitting in on group therapy, including art therapy. This coming week I will be taking Therapeutic Crisis Intervention training, which will involve learning about how to de-escalate situations when a kid is having a crisis and how to safely restrain a kid who is out of control. Hopefully it is training that I will not have to use very often.
Yesterday I finally moved into my apartment! :) I am living in a studio apartment in the Gold Coast area with one roommate. It feels good to be settled in and no longer have to live out of a suitcase. The apartment is very cozy; our closet is bigger than our kitchen and our beds fold into the wall! :) I really like where we are at--the CTA and many stores and restaurants are within walking distance and my roommate is great! It is going to be a great semester...