Musings on what I've learned this far (Week 12 Blog post)

It is hard to believe that we have reached this point in the semester. ..Week 12! Only a few weeks left until finals and also the end of the semester. In reflecting over the last week or so on this experience of having an online course, I thought it most appropriate to incorporate some of the things that I have learned this far in the course and also how I have grown as a result of this experience. 

One thing that I have learned as a result of this course is an appreciate for career theory. Though, I feel that I don't know it quite as well as I would had I been taught in person something must have stuck because I was in class earlier this evening listening to a potential new faculty guest lecture in my cognitive therapy course and as she was giving us an example of two made up clients, I began to think about some of the things she was saying and relating it to career counseling. So that was kind of cool that my mind went there. 

This course has definitely been challenging in terms of all of the required assignments and deadlines. While at times some of the assignments can seem like "busy work" I know that deep down it was helping me to apply the material and inadvertently  it also taught me better time management skills. I was able to prioritize what exactly I had to do each week in order to get everything done and meet the deadline on Wednesday each week in order to give my peers adequate time to write their responses and replies.

Another important thing that this course has taught me is to embrace ambiguity. Often times clients aren't going to have their career narratives fit into nice tidy boxes with a theory being able to describe them perfectly. Theories aren't perfect but it is recognizing the strengths of each person and understanding not only their interests, but also their talents and what unique things they can bring to any position.

Often times clients will come to us when their is a problem, and while it may seem like why is he/she coming to me about this now .. it is important to recognize that we as future clinicians, school psychologists and school counselors hold a lot of power. These clients will be coming to us because we will be perceived as being competent and able to help them in their times of difficulty. 

Overall, this has been an interesting experience in terms of having this online/ blended course. It wasn't what I expected going into it but I know it will definitely help me in my future career as a clinical and also help me obtain my license. I look forward to the coming weeks and seeing everyone's workshops! :)