Week 4 and Finished!!

Well, I'm in the airport waiting to begin the final day of flying/ final day of this internship-interview marathon! :) I have a long day ahead of me, but the weather is great (46 and sunny at BDL in Connecticut) and I'm really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, and finally putting my suitcase back away into the closet! If all goes according to schedule, I should be home (and truly finished!) in about 10 hours! :)

This week held my final interview, as well as a lovely visit with Julian's aunt, uncle and cousins (who live about 30-45 minutes away from where I was interviewing). The interview, was, um, very interesting... and although I felt fine about my portion of the interview (and I got the sense they were impressed by me) I can't say that the feeling was mutual. There were a few REALLY funny things (as in odd, unusual and bizarre!) that I really want to share, but, there is a big part of me that worries that it wouldn't be wise to share said stories on the internet (at least not before Match Day!). Before I even arrived at the site, I had the feeling that the training director was an interesting man (His email invitation to interview referenced Jersey Shore- for "fashion tips" as well as included a turkey cartoon advising us to "Eat Lobstah" for thanksgiving) basically, I walked in knowing that he was going to be a bit different than the other training directors I'd encountered (and my interview experience confirmed this). In some ways, I wish I'd been able to secretly videotape the day, it felt that strange.... as I talked to Julian's uncle that evening, he wondered if this was a test to see how we'd respond to an awkward/unusual situation (Personally, I think the director was being true to himself, and, well, that gave me a lot of information about how the year would be if I matched at that location!)

The bottom line: I am DONE (!) with interviews :) Yipee!! Now I just have to finalize my decisions about my rank order (I submit the sites in order of my preference- this has to be submitted no later than Feb 8th) and the sites do the same thing (submit their order of preference of applicants) and then on Feb 24th we find out if we matched, and if so, where we will be living for the next year. The start date for internship year varies a bit by location (early to late summer), but half of the sites I interviewed at start on July 1st, and the other half start in the middle/end of August. Of course, if I don't match (I think my chances of matching are good, but of course there are no guarantees) there is a second round of applications/etc (for any sites that didn't fill their spots) and if that isn't successful/or there weren't sites that matched my training goals, I would most likely be looking at delaying and going through the whole process again next year. But, I'm choosing not to think about that unless/until I need to!

As I think back about this process, the most difficult parts were 1) thinking about and deciding where I wanted to apply: particularly due to my mind spinning in circles about what I want to do in 1, 5, 10 years and how to get to that point, as well as the stress of thinking of moving away on my own for a year 2) getting the applications turned in: the task itself wasn't that awful, but the stress and worry cycle of wondering what sites want, and the "what if I don't match" was awful! 3) traveling around the country certainly took an emotional (and financial!) toll on me... the actual interviews were quite pleasant, and at most of the sites I really enjoyed meeting the staff, hearing more about the programs, and imagining what it would be like to be at that site for a year.... I'm grateful that I've had a lot of cross-country travel experience, and I know myself well enough to know that I get stressed out about traveling/preparations- but in some ways I think this month may have desensitized me to that (out of necessity!) either way, as much as I love traveling, I know that I really enjoy being home the most!!! (even though there are dishes, groceries, and chores awaiting me!)

I'm not going to post specifics about my rank preferences online, but if anyone is interested feel free to send me a private message to inquire.... but, for family/friends who are having trouble keeping track of the cities (in order of my interviews): Manhattan, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Dayton, Long Island, Buffalo, Salt Lake City, and Hartford.... Oh, and even though I didn't interview at the site where I am currently working for my practicum training, I submitted an application and am allowed to rank them- so that makes 9 sites total. Among those, there were three sites that I really liked (walked away feeling happy & excited about the idea of working there!) and one other site that also was exciting and had great training (but I'm hesitant due to some non-training-related factors). Of the remaining sites, an addition three places had good training, but I didn't have that same spark of excitement (or had some location/ minor concerns) after meeting the staff/seeing the facility/ hearing about the training... all in all, there are 3 or 4 sites that I'd be very happy to match with, and another 3 or 4 sites that I would be content with... so I'm feeling pretty good about that!!

I'm glad to have survived this month of traveling, and I"m happy to those who have laughed at my stories (and airport woes) along the way! Thanks for "traveling" with me!

Week Three

Well, this was my "hard" week.... in a lot of ways, it doesn't feel over yet, but I guess I technically have a "weekend" before my last interview (got home last night- Friday- around 10pm, leave home Sunday around 5am) but let me back up....

This week was my busiest week, with 3 different interviews, in 3 cities (2 states), and traveling for 5 days straight (Monday-Friday). First was an interview at the Northport VA, which is on Long Island. As I've already mentioned in my last post, that included some quality time at the Laguardia airport, but it also included successfully driving in NYC (well, only from Laguardia to Long Island, so I'm not sure if that really counts as NY city, but it does to me!) I stayed in a nice & comfortable hotel (I got all of my hotels through Hotwire, and have I mentioned how awesome that was?? Each city the hotels got better & better!) The only downside was they didn't have restaurant within walking distance, and I was so tired that I got turned around in circles finding a place for dinner, but, when I finally made it back to the hotel I realized my room had a jacuzzi tub--- awesome!! On week #2 I brought my swimsuit along, hoping I would have a hot tub at one of the places I stayed, but no luck. This week, I knew that I wouldn't be having leisurely time anywhere (and had to seriously consider every inch of packing space, since I was only bringing carry on) so I didn't bring my suit... which made the the jacuzzi tub that much more awesome!

My interview in Northport was mid-morning on Tuesday, the only downside was that we were booked from 10am- approx 2pm, with no lunch break (those who know me, know this is a problem!) They did offer some bagels at 12:30 when we were talking to the interns... which helped (and of course, I had a granola bar in the car!) Then of course, I had my adventures at the airport, which I won't repeat!

I made it into Buffalo late Tuesday evening, and was fairly exhausted/delirious. I managed to make a wrong turn before even leaving the airport, and thus got to tour the circle aroundthe Buffalo airport (good thing it's small!) I relied on my GPS to get me to the hotel, and was confused when it said "You have arrived" at a mall parking lot. there was a hotel across the street, but it didn't have the right name. I reset the GPS, drove around in a circle, and ended up in the parking lot again-- clearly this wasn't right. I went into the hotel (more of an extended-stay place actually) and the woman at the desk gave me directions- the place I wanted was about 3 miles back towards where I had come from.... I managed to backtrack without too much trouble, and saw a hotel with the Family name of the place I was staying (it wasn't a chain)... pulled into that parking lot, and walked (it was SOOOO cold!) to the desk and something didn't seem right... the name was the Xxxx Grand Hotel, but my confirmation said Xxxx Garden Hotel.... asked at the desk, and there was another place, with the same family name, about 2 blocks away... sigh.... Finally got checked in around 11pm, and of course had trouble falling asleep! boo!

Thankfully, my interview at Buffalo wasn't until 11:30 am on Wednesday, and I was able to take my time in the morning eating breakfast and getting prepared (and double checking directions-- who knew I'd have so much trouble navigating my way in Buffalo-- especially since it was also the city in which I did the least driving!!) Interview went well (also scheduled across lunchtime, but somehow didn't bother me that day- again, had a granola in the car when I was finished at 2:30!) and worked my way back to the airport... Light snow had been falling that morning, but the roads were clear which greatly reduced my stress. I made it to the airport several hours early, hoping to get on an earlier flight, but the soonest flight was the one I was booked on. Things were smooth till my connection in Chicago (Midway, which I don't have any horrible associations with, thankfully) and I ran from the arrival gate, to grab a salad to-go for dinner, and to the departure gate since I only had a 40 minute connection (gates were close together, which was nice). As I made it to the gate, they announced the flight was delayed, and overbooked! They asked for volunteers to stay overnight in Chicago (hotel & travel vouchers would be provided) and since I was walking to the gate as they made the announcement I was the first to say I was interested. But, they said the flight would leave at 6am Thursday and not arrive in Salt Lake (my destination) until 5:30pm (going thru somewhere random, with an apparently really long layover too). Even though I had Thursday as an "extra" day, I passed.

A classmate had generously offered his parents' home for my Salt Lake leg of the trip, so I let them know that I'd be late. Long story short, managed to make it into Salt Lake only 30 minutes behind schedule, which meant that I was 15 minutes too late for the "fast break" at the rental car place (going straight to the car instead of waiting in line....) All this meant it was at least 10:30 or 10:45pm before I left the airport, and had a 30-40 minute drive-- and my classmates father had to leave for work at 6am, so I was feeling stressed about being rude and arriving so late (although, no fault of my own). After a minor GPS mishap (it insisted that I had 'arrived' about 3 blocks before their home, and I couldn't see any street numbers to know which house was theirs-but, I was able to call and get there quickly!) We said brief hellos and goodnights, and I was able to enjoy a wonderful 8hrs of sleep!

Thursday morning, I ended up eating a leisurely breakfast and chatting with my classmates' mother (who teaches piano from home, and happened to have the morning off) and then I went into Downtown Salt Lake City to play tourist. I spent a few hours walking around the Temple Square area, including getting a tour of Brigham Young's home/office, checking out the amazing organ in the tabernacle, and going up to the 10th floor to get a view of the city & mountains. That afternoon, I went back to their home to study, and instead ended up taking a brief nap (guess I'm exhausted!) I spent some time preparing for my interview, and then went back to Temple Square to watch part of the Morman Tabernacle Choir rehearsal-- much to my surprise, they had a full orchestra accompanying (and what looked to be over 150 choir members... it's written down on a brochure somewhere, but I can't remember). I only stayed for about 20 minutes as I wanted to be respectful and get into the house before it got too late (which was good, because although I had been given a code to get in the garage door, I couldn't get it to work-- thankfully someone was still up & able to let me in; I would have hated to have to call & wake them!)

Friday marked the second-to-last of my interviews, at the Salt Lake City VA. I was a bit nervous about the long day (scheduled from 8:45-3:30 pm), especially since I have been feeling really run down from all of the traveling but they arranged the day nicely. We had an introduction, an open format/ free-for-all meet & greet with the supervisors (which the training director described as a 6th grade dance- very true!), a tour around the facility (with lots of information woven in), lunch with the interns, and 2 1-hour interviews- which were really just structured opportunity to talk with 2 staff members 1:1 (we were forbidden to speak to our interviewers during the meet & greet!). I drove straight to the airport (and forgot to fill up the gas tank on the rental- that was a bit of an expensive mistake!) and was hoping to get onto the 5pm flight home (I was booked on the 8pm flight).

I rushed to the gate (as much as possible, the rental car return & security line were awfully slow!) and they had just started pre-boarding for the flight. I asked the woman at the desk if there were any empty seats and her reply was "not yet". I didn't really know what that meant, but decided to hover at the desk with the hope of getting on (J. had looked up the flight when I was driving, and it showed that there were still seats available for purchase, so I was guessing that there were empty seats!). At the end of boarding, she started calling a few names for stand-by, and then I approached her again (when she called the name of someone who wasn't there) and said "You didn't take my name, but are there still open seats?" She said "we don't do standby for people with booked tickets" and explained that it would be a $50 fee, and there weren't any seats anyway (which wasn't true, because the standby name she called never showed up!) Anyhow, I was clearly at the end of my energy/patience, because this sent me to the verge of tears!!! I managed to gather myself, and ended up having a long leisurely dinner (complete with an amazing brownie dessert, yum!)

Today (Saturday) I have a loooong to-do list, and then I leave in the morning for a 6:45 flight (ugh!) to Hartford CT... Although I've been enjoying the opportunity to see the sites and meet the various staff (and daydream about what it would like to work at each of the places), I am definitely exhausted and ready to get back to my "normal" life (although, I'm more than a little scared about coming back to the tasks that have been neglected during my Interview Marathon!)

Dear Plane, please show up.

Well, I'm spending another quality evening in an airport, this time it's New York's Laguardia (yes, second time I've been here this month, no, I wasn't able to condense my NYC interviews). On the bright side (to hopefully prevent this from being one gigantic complaint!) my interview went smoothly this morning, there is no snow in the air (to delay flights) and there was no snow/ice on the ground (to challenge up my California-driving skills!)

I got to the airport quite early, and as I was on the shuttle (from the rental car drop off to the terminal) I received an email notification that the fight was delayed by 45 min-- no big deal; I can get dinner & read a book.... sitting at the terminal as the (original) flight time was approaching, I heard the airline employees saying that the plane still hadn't left from Buffalo (where I'm headed, I guess it's a round trip for the crew) and that it would be pushed back even farther-- they didn't make this announcement, but talked amongst themselves about how they'd better take their dinner break- which I happened to overhear.

I continued to sit patiently, reading & enjoying a treat (popcorn--yum! BTW, I'm SO grateful to finally have my braces off... it's been since August, but I still continue to be happy, particularly when eating "forbidden" foods), and then randomly got up (to wash my hands/ use the restroom) and happened to glance at the computer monitor... What did I see??? The flight was listed as Cancelled (not delayed!) Thankfully, I've had years of experience traveling (and unpleasant memories of my mom trying-- unsuccessfully I think--- to get me to run ahead and talk to the gate attendants to hold the flight for her & us kids) Upsetting memories aside-- I know what to do! I quickly found the customer service desk and informed them that the flight was apparently cancelled. (There were about 6 employees talking and no customers at that point) The woman promptly gave me a boarding pass for the next flight (7:30 instead of the original 6pm) and as she was helping me, the man next to her was talking on the walkie-talkie and saying something to the effect "What time did you cancel the flight? ... Well, you should let us know because when the passengers know before we do it makes us look bad") hahaha... that made me chuckle, but he's right!

Of course, as I walked away, at least 20 people came running to the customer service-- they had announced the flight was cancelled.

Well, now they've just announced that the 7:30 flight is running a few minutes behind (they aren't at the gate yet and we should be boarding) But, at least I know the plane is almost here, and I have a boarding pass!! (many of the other passengers are on stand-by, and they just asked for a volunteer to bump off of this flight, which makes the chances of standby seem pretty slim!)

Although I've been spending an absurd number of hours in airports, I really can't complain! Off to Buffalo tonight (both the hotel & interview site are close to the airport, and my interview isn't until late morning so I get to sleep in a bit!) I'm weaving my way back west this week (to Buffalo tonight, then to Salt Lake City for a Friday interview) and then I *only* have one more flight for a Monday interview next week. What a Journey this has been!!

Whoohoo- the plane is here! G'night!

Update: well, the flight to Buffalo was fine, but they warned us that the landing would be rough because Buffalo was really windy (the plane was small, less than 40 passengers) I actually overheard the flight attendant say to another passenger as we were boarding: "Well, the winds are at 30 mph but they say it's safe enough to land." Not the most reassuring phrase I've ever heard in my life! The flight wasn't too bad, except for the last 15 minutes or so of the landing- that was some of the worst turbulence I've felt in a loooong time! After the Catamaran incident this summer (not a pretty story, let's just say I discovered that I still get motion sick, not just nauseous!) I was nervous about how ill I might feel, but, thankfully, that was just my "worry" talking! After being happy to make it to the ground, we braved the winds (wow!! and Brrr!!) and walked from the plane to the bldg (yes, that small of a plane!) They even took our carry-on luggage (that we had to check at the gate because the plane was tiny) to the barrage carousel because it was too windy (not sure if they meant our luggage would blow away, or if it was too cold/windy for us-- or the employees-- to stand outside for longer than 2 seconds!)

After a bit of confusion at the rental car desk (he asked for the name of my hotel- I'm too tired for those complicated questions, and why did he need to know anyhow?!) and a fight with my GPS system (kept insisting that my hotel was in the parking lot of a mall. I assure you, it was not!) 2 stops for directions later, I backtracked about 3-4 miles and found the hotel.... and, what am I doing? not sleeping! (This must change, and it must change soon!)

All in all, I'm safe and warm, and I'm thankful that the interview isn't until 11:30 am (12 hrs away, what luxury!) oh, and the hotel has breakfast, that's awesome too! (and incentive to make myself get up before 10 when they stop serving- ha!) Thanks to those who are reading, I hope you're finding my traveling rants amusing

Classic Books

I just spent a few moments searching the internet for various lists of Classic Novels... I thought my goal was to read 20, so I identified 26 and was going to take a poll regarding the "must read" and "don't bother" books... but now I see that my original goal was 10 (why oh why did I say 10 books and 20 movies?? books sound more fun right about now!)

Anyhow, I'm going to try to tackle some of these- feel free to comment with your favorites! (oh, and I intentionally left some books off if I read them recently and/or remember them... so don't be offended if your favorite isn't here, but feel free to make a suggestion!)

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (read in HS, don't remember it though!)

Animal Farm (same as above)

Around the World in Eighty Days

Beloved

The Call of the Wild

Cannery Row

Catch-22 (my supervisor said this is a must-read if I'm planning on working w/ Veterans)

The Catcher in the Rye

Cry, the Beloved Country

Ethan Frome

Invisible Man

Jane Eyre

Lord of the Flies (read in HS, don't remember much)

Moby Dick

The Old Man and the Sea

Pride and Prejudice

The Read Badge of Courage (I think I read this in HS too...)

Robinson Crusoe

The Scarlet Letter

The Stranger

A Tale of Two Cities

Tales (collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories)

Their Eyes were Watching God

To Kill a Mockingbird (re-read from HS)

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Wuthering Heights

Any thoughts?

Week #2

Well, I've officially survived week #2!! Granted, I'm not home yet, but, I have a fully belly, a comfy bed, and a late flight tomorrow morning (technically, not until early afternoon)... which as far as I'm concerned is a perfect equation for happiness! :) This week was my Ohio tour, and other than a flight delay coming out of Cleveland, everything has gone smoothly, weather has been great, and overall no complaints! First, I attended an open house at the Cleveland VA, and then today attended an interview at the Dayton VA. Although some of my classmates have given me odd looks for applying to Ohio sites, both of the sites seem to really emphasize clinical training- which is very exciting!

This week also marked the halfway point in my interviews! Things are going really well, and I'm enjoying the process of learning about the different internship sites, meeting the staff, and imagining myself at each of the sites. At this point, I've been really excited about half of the sites, and okay (but not so excited) about the other half of the sites... not bad odds considering I still have 4 interviews to go!

Tomorrow will be a lazy morning & traveling during the day, and then practicum etc. on Thurs/Friday. I'm looking forward to a restful evening weekend, as next week is my "busy" week- my last four interviews, all out of state, within a span of 7 days!! I'm hoping that I continue to show up in the right cities on the right days, and am looking forward to learning more about the other sites (but if I"m a little bit distracted/confused/disoriented, you'll know why!)

airports

Well, I can add CLE to the list of airports that I'm very familiar with! the funny thing is, I must have flown on the same airline years before-- I didn't recognize the main terminal, but, I'm quite familiar with terminal D (continental/united). and, sadly I just discovered that the coffee shops/food places are closed before 9pm.... a warm drink sounded nice right about now... but, the plane should be here any minute- and thankfully I reserved a hotel that is very close to the airport and the flight (once we depart) is only an hour.... sleep is calling my name! I'm really excited for tomorrows interview (thankfully, in the afternoon) and I really want to get a restful nights sleep so I can be at my top game tomorrow... here's hoping for a quiet & comfortable room!!

Interview Marathon

Last week began my "Internship Interview Marathon" lasting 4 weeks in January! :) In hopes of getting a placement in the ever-increasingly-competitive world of psychology internships, I applied nationwide, and was grateful to receive invitations to eight interviews; unfortunately, only one was in California (which meant a lot of scrambling to coordinate and organize my travel schedule). Things somehow all worked out (which I defined as not having 2 sites that wanted me in different cities on the same day!) and although it wasn't always the cheapest option, I was able to arrange transportation from city-to-city in such a way that I *hopefully* won't miss any interviews (the big caveat being weather; and almost all of my interviews are either in cities/ or connecting through cities where a snowstorm could potentially mess up my carefully planned schedule!)

All this being said, I successfully survived week #1 of my interview-marathon (interviews 1 and 2)! I woke early on the Monday morning (well, the middle of the night really) and headed to the airport for a 6am flight... managed to make it in/out of Chicago O'Hare airport [Side note: ORD and I go *way* back... I've spent at least 3 nights in that airport in my life, including the night before my Auntie's wedding (I got ready for the wedding in the airport bathroom, yeah, that was an adventure!) but I digress...] Thankfully there were no weather delays and I made it to New York and navigated the shuttle services & found my hotel in Manhattan.... My interview at the Manhattan VA was on Tuesday morning (all of my interviews are with the Dept. of Veterans Affairs) and I even had time to get lunch & relax for a couple minutes, thanks to the hotel's flexibility with a late check-out time!

That same afternoon, I headed back to the airport, as my second interview was the very next day-- in Los Angeles! My connecting flight went through Denver (another risky-weather city, but with much less of a conditioned fear response!) and arrived at LAX around 11pm (that was a rough day... woke up at 6am eastern time, and went to sleep around midnight pacific time.... yuck!) Thankfully, my interview at the Downtown Los Angeles VA wasn't until Wednesday afternoon, so I slept in (all the way 'till 8:30!) and had some time to prepare for that interview before making the short drive. Both interviews went fairly well, and I was able to notice some of the more subtle, but important, differences in the sites (like how happy vs. frazzled the current interns appeared, how satisfied the staff appeared, and the interpersonal-interactions between the staff/interns, etc.)

The rest of the week I only had my "regular" things to do, which includes working at my practicum site- another VA- on Thursday and Fridays. I had a moment of panic/confusion when I arrived to work Friday morning, and was met by 2 students in suits at the elevator looking nervous/stressed... they were there for interviews! (the feeling was similar to the dreams in which you show up for the first day of school without any clothes... "wait, I'm not wearing my suit, oh noooo!" ) Of course, it didn't help that I recognized one of the people, but couldn't recall how I knew his face... then it dawned on me- we had interviewed together on Wednesday! :)

Tomorrow begins Week #2, otherwise known as the "Ohio leg" of my journey (interviews 3 and 4)! I'm looking forward to a quick visit with my aunt/cousins while there, and am really excited to learn more about one of the Ohio sites as I've heard great things so far.... fingers crossed that the weather cooperates, both with flights and the driving I will be doing....

Ready or not, here comes week #2!