Week one of February

Each morning as I ride the "el" to work, with my travel coffee cup in one hand and the daily Chicago newspaper --the "Redeye"-- in the other, I find myself feeling very adult-ish. :) It is kind of weird, but I am really enjoying it. :)
All week at work I did the TCI training that I described in my last post. It ended up being rather enjoyable; the instructor and other students managed to make a 30 hour training go by very quickly. Many of the things we learned were a review of things I had learned previously in some of my social work classes (particularly Fundamentals of Social Work... thanks Prof. Olson if you are reading this!) while some were new skills that will come in handy not only in this job, but in other parts of life as well. Basically it was on listening skills, handling conflict and crises, and helping the kids learn coping skills to prevent crisis situations. We also learned a variety of restraints, but I will not be using those skills during my time at Rice since I am just an intern (which I am OK with). All of that said, we had our test on Friday and I passed. :) I am officially TCI certified, which may come in handy for future social work jobs as well as my time at Rice.
I did not have a lot of free time during the week due to the readings we had to do outside of our class times and the journaling I must do after each day of work. I spent most of my evenings at the apartment with my roommate, Sara.
However, yesterday (Saturday), we did get out and explore the city a bit! :) We went down to Millenium Park, saw the "Bean," and did some shopping. I put some of the pictures up on Facebook and will have the rest up as soon as Facebook lets me (it's been weird). We also enjoyed listening to some musicians in the subway. I love riding the "el" (short for "elevated train," though some of the trains also go underground).
This morning I attended Park Community Church, which I think I will be returning to. I enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere, the worship time, and the message, which was both convicting and thought-provoking.
Tomorrow I will have my first 7-3 shift on the unit, which means I will be up around 5:30 AM!! I am sure I will adjust. Coffee is my friend. :D Tomorrow evening I have my first social work seminar, which is a part of the Chicago Semester program. I am excited to get to know the other students in my group.
That's all I have for now.
Have a blessed week! :)