Well... I am one of those people that will always be in school. I have a BA in political science and will finish a masters in public adminsitration this September... that is... if I ever get my bootie moving on this thesis. Then I will most likely be applying to a doctorate program if I can ever make up my mind about what my speciality will be (urban studies or urban planning or international development or public policy). I love school and am quite the info/research junkie. I just need to focus... which reminds me that I MUST get focused on picking a thesis topic.

Hmmm, we're all a little touchy about the education thing. How about if we all agree... "I'm happy with who I am and with where I'm going in life."?
I love school too, Sojo. I thought I'd be in it forever by choice... I thrive on learning. But I know now that dropping out of two college programs was a result of my being ill, and I've finally accepted that and moved on.
And my life took a different turn (marriage and children), and I had to reassess my priorities. All in all, it hasn't been easy. I come from a family of high-achievers, and mental illness was never an acceptable "excuse" for not becoming a "somebody".
It wasn't until my own daughter tried to commit suicide that my parents changed their attitude.
I DO envy you getting your doctorate. I may change my mind about doing it someday, but for the present, my goals are very different from what they once were. I'm so grateful for all that I have, and I have no regrets.

And we insist on you posting your entire thesis once you've completed it.
Good luck picking a topic, sweetie! If you're looking for suggestions, we wackos are more than willing to help out...

Just got in from the big city (Toronto) and am oh, so tired....been on the go since 4:30am....I'm even too tired to find that little yawnie face.

Ruth, I wanted to wish you well with the surgery tomorrow, and let you know I'll be thinking about you and sending oodles of good vibes!

to everyone else. (I know that smilie.) Good night, Johnboy.

Hey Ellis...you made me really laugh out loud with that reply!!! Hopefully you wouldn't wipe out all the clients...just the ones who never show up for their appointments and who skip out on their bills. Glad your family has chilled out and gotten some of their priorities in order! You are a brilliant and valuable woman and you don't need a piece of paper to show that!

So, why counseling? Well, I love people and love to hear their stories, I'm pretty intuitive...usually a good judge of character...I worked with kids for many years...worked at a day care center.
I found, at the center that I was interested in human/child development, the impact of parenting on the kids, the conflicts between staff and administration, the difficulty of training, encouraging and supporting staff. All of the human issues. I admired the psychologist who consulted at the center and learned a tremendous amount watching her work. I often found myself coaching staff, friends, family members and I was in therapy myself for many years and found it to be a valuable and rewarding experience.

I came to a point in my life where I wanted to make a move and was debating between getting an MSW, having a baby, or getting a MFA in Printmaking. It was a tough decision. I had already been a starving artist and thought it would be a nice change to be a starving social worker. Obviously, I did the baby thing later.


I resisted joining any managed care panels early on in my practice. Didn't like the concept, still don't. You're right though, the group that I'm with is located in an upscale suburban area where many clients can pay for therapy or have good insurance with some out of network provision so they get reimbursed for much of the fee.

You could work with a sliding scale fee if you want a more economically diverse client population. I feel very lucky to have been asked to join the group that I'm with...many other folks do rely on managed care and it can be hard to build a fee for service practice.

I would encourage you to go for it if you feel passionate about it. There is always room for excellent clinicians even in a competitive environment. And at least where I live you can make a living doing it...don't expect to get rich though, unless you're Dr Phil or can get a guest spot on Oprah or want to write some self-help books and form your own empire.

Okay, I've been very wordy lately so I'll stop here. Soozie
goodnight all!

well, this discussion about school has lead me to an educaitonal breakdown of sorts. After all this talk about focusing I just realized that there is no way I will be finished by the end of spring semester and will need to work into the summer. I just had a little panic attack and ran up to dh and woke him up from his slumber... literally crying that I will never be able to pick a thesis topic. But now that I have accepted the fact the I will need another term and emailed my professor I am feeling a little better. And really... you would all be bored out of your skulls reading my thesis... the general topic relates to intergovernmental competition between fragmented municipal and suburban governments, resulting inequalities, and possible regional/metropolitan solutions. Not exactly entertaining.

Ellis... I don't think school makes a person successful... everyone defines success for themselves as individuals. Most people think I am nuts for slaving away at this academia. It just happens to be one thing that I am good at and that I love.... academic writing and research. And in a lot of ways it is a means to and end; for me I hope to teach college someday. Everyone needs to follow their own dreams... and whether or not that includes schooling is really irrelavant.

Sojo, I was teasing you. We have NO desire to read your thesis. Or anyone elses, for that matter.
And you're NOT nuts for wanting to continue your education. There's no better pursuit.
I'm glad you're feeling better about school time-wise. Something that you love so much shouldn't be a cause for stress.

Soozie, you're the BEST counselor I know! Thank you... you always say the right thing. And you're a natural when it comes to nurturing.

Big hugs for Ruth.... Ruth sweetie, we're thinking about you. And listen, with only one hand... that means you only put HALF as much as usual in your mouth, right?
And you've still got two feet, so WALK girl!!

Where's Dentrassi? And Mauvais?
xoxo

And WHERE is Squeak?

Ummm, I just got back from seeing my psychologist, and I have an apology to make. I am too sensitive, and it's my own problem and I have to deal with it. So humble apologies to Soozie for my having taken your compliment the wrong way and to Sojo for getting defensive about my not going back to school.
I'm sorry. waaaaaaaaaa!
hugs...

I hope I didn't say anything to offend you. I was really just thinking about myself (typical) when I started blabbing about my educational pursuits and had no idea that this was a sensitive topic for anybody. I was just sharing about myself and never meant it to reflect on anyone else. I'm very sorry Ellis... after you posted I had the sense that something wasn't quite right. Its amazing how we can interpret things in ways that were never intended. I have been known to take comments and personalize it to mean something negative about myself... I hope this wasn't the case. I have a lot of self doubts too and struggle with depression, as I have mentioned before. School is the one thing I usualy feel pretty confident about, so I guess I jump at the chance to share with others my achievements in this area. There are so many other areas of my life in which I feel like a failure, especially recently. Again, sorry for any misunderstandings.



You know, its really amazing how friendships develop over the internet and how you begin to care about people whom you have never met. I guess this is my way of saying that I do care about you Ellis and would never say anything to intentionally hurt you or anyone else here. And don't ever believe that you are too sensitive... sometimes we sensitive types just need a little reminder that we can interpret and personalize things in ways never intended. Sensitivity is a gift... it gives us compassion and understanding and empathy and intuition and lets us touch the hearts and souls of those around us in ways that others are not able.

waaaaaaaaaaah! You're so sweet you're making me cry.
I care about you too, Sojo.
Yes, it's a sensitive topic for me, and for some ridiculous reason I always expect everyone to know my deepest thoughts.
I come from an entire family of teachers, and for years I felt such a failure. And VERY touchy when anyone would broach the subject. I seriously considered getting my teaching degree a few years ago just to make everyone else happy.
But the last few years my father has been saying (behind my back, because he's not good at communicating) that I've got more brains than anyone else in the family, and THAT has made me feel on top of the world.
Obviously I don't have a good handle on my feelings though, because as soon as everyone here started talking education I began to get panicky again, and thought, "Okay, I'm on meds now... I can do it. I'll go back to school and get a degree or two JUST so that people won't suspect I'm a failure." DUH!!

Today was supposed to be my last appointment with my psychologist. Last session we decided that I "had it all together", but we've made another appointment for next month.
Phew! Talk about back-sliding!

Sojo, I'm so glad that you love school and that you feel so confident in that area. I envy you your endeavors... you have every reason to feel good about yourself, and not just in that respect! You're a wonderful person, and don't you forget it!
hugs...

I'm thinking I need to jump in here so I can feel the love toooo
Oh Ellis - I hug your big brain and have always been fascinated by all your literature knowledge and all sorts of life wit and wisdom. I know this sounds corny - but to my way of thinking, we almost never find "success" through the traditional measuring sticks - degrees, cars, jobs, glamorous duds and all that stuff.

It seems many of us have an achilles heel - I know for me, school has been a place where I could find refuge - a place where I could just nerd out and find success - but if you were to put me in a bikini on the beach - I would run behind the nearest tree . If I had to go to tryouts for a sports team - I would be so self-conscious *and I have always been this way* even when I weighed 130 lbs and most of it was muscle. Can we say body image problems? When I comes to losing weight, I've always failed at every program I tried.

I will live long enough to wear a thong, I just don't know how long it will take!

Sojo - ok, now my idea of entertainment comes into question - I think your thesis topic sounds quite interesting....... how do you do the research for that?

have a great weekend grrrlfriends - terrigrrrl

Hi chickquitas!

I am still around. I have just been too tired to post for the last couple of days. All this talk of education...I don't have a degree and worked in retail as a sales person, then manager, then buyer and merchandiser. Then I had a retail burnout moment and quit retail to become a receptionist, I went through a few jobs and got some experience and worked my way up to being a legal assistant with no fromal training or education. A lot of people I have worked with in retail over the years had degrees of some sort and weren't working in the field they studied for. In life anything can happen.

I find that all of the women here are funny, intelligent, and caring.
When Sojo brought up the bit about internet friendships I thought "yeah, and I have met some really great people here who are nicer than some of the people I know face to face where I live".

So big hugs to all of you for being the kind of people you are!

If I live to be 100 (only 37 more years), I will never be able to catch up on the threads in this forum.

As you can see, I'm back and I can type! Don't ever let anybody freak you out about this pissy little wrist operation! Sure I have a fair amount of pain but I have good drugs and I can use my fingers on the right hand. After the op, I took a pain killer and Harry and I went to lunch at Portland. I could use my right hand to drink wine and snitch some of his chips. Then I came home and had a three hour nap. The biggest problem I have is keeping Lucy from removing my bandages! (Maybe I should let her do it Sunday afternoon?)

Thanks for all the good vibes and spells and prayers.

Now I am going to see if I can hem a pair of slacks with my gimpy hand. I also have to go do the moderator thing on the low-carb board. I must say the posts in here are way more interesting!

Love youse, as they say around here.

HEY Ruth,
Wow, it is great to hear from you so soon. I thought you would be gone for awhile until you figured out some way to type. Don't overdo it though. Stay away from household chores, let hubby do them, but do stay in contact with us.
Mauvaisroux- I agree with you totally! As we all have agreed education is a very good thing,but it does not nessecarily have to be of the formal type. And as for friendships on the net, I dont think I could have met a nicer, funnier or more intelligent group of ladies if I handpicked them myself.
Each and everyone of you girls have your own opinions, feelings, and most certainly your own way of caring and sharing. I stumbled into this group by accident, but unless someone kicks me out, I will enjoy the privilege of calling you friends.
Enough sappy stuff! Hugs to all!

Virginia

Ruth, you're killin' me. Ummm, listen hon, I don't think you're supposed to drink wine with pain killers.

Terrigrrrrl, you're such a sweetheart... thank you.
And you CAN do it! You're going to lose it, and then you'll have NO achilles heel!

Sojo, how about doing your thesis on thongs? I keep getting those mixed up with Tongs. Which ones do you wear on your feet?

Mauvais, I agree with you on the friends thing. Most of my "face-to-face friends" I'd trade in a minute with any one of you.

Okay, let's all kick Virginia out. Virginia, we LOVE you!!

I don't know about the rest of you girls, but Ruth seems to be doing a heck of a lot more with a gimpy wrist than I can do without one! And she's only 37 years away from a hundred! NO! You're NOT 63!! Hey, I'm 63 years away from a hundred.

My gosh... my furnace just kicked on...

We've got house guests. My hoot of a sister-in-law and a nephew. And two ruddy dogs. One of whom promptly pooped three times when it entered my house. Curses.