New Year ~ New Job

The holidays have finally gone by. And I feel as though I can breathe again.

Even though I have not made any resolutions for 2008, changes have been made for me.

For one thing, I now have a job.

Yes, a job.

I am working as a Program Specialist for human services organization that I interviewed at in December.

(Please note that all of the names of staff, clients, and their families have been changed own out of respect for their privacy and in compliance with HIPAA, the great slayer of trees.)

Program Specialist does not mean that I am working with computers and writing computer programs. Far from it. What I am doing instead is working as a mental health worker in a residential group home setting.

The home where I am working at has 5 young women in their mid 20s who have autism. Most of them also have mental retardation.

Now what ever possessed me to get into this kind of work? I don't even know if I could answer that myself.

It was sort of like awaking up one morning and deciding I wanted to work in human services. And what made my choice feel even more right was that I actually felt comfortable in accepting a non-preferential shift and working on weekends and holidays. Typically I would have balked at such a schedule.

Also, I must admit that the organization offered a killer benefits package that was out of this world! Not only will I be getting health insurance, the organization will pay for any schooling that I would want to pursue in the human services field.

Just think, someone else would be paying for me to go back to school! How cool is that?! I could actually go for a Master's Degree! Woohoo!

I started work 2 weeks ago, on the 7th. The first 3 days were spent in training at corporate headquarters just south of Boston. Then, a few days after my training session, I started working at the group home.

The first week and a half was kind of boring. I had to shadow Karla, the Program Coordinator, and do lots of reading.

I had to read each girl's case files, the policy and procedure manual, the emergency procedure manual, etc. Basically I had to read everything, just falling short of reading the side panel of a cereal box.

Then, I had more training sessions to go to. This time they were on the Cape.

This place is very big on training.

So far I have managed to survive 2 weeks.