Orientation
Today I returned to CSU for their Practicum orientation. My name did not appear on the registration forms. Every time I tried calling the Office of Field Services, I got a snarky response from the receptionist or was forwarded to a voice mail message that no one returned. But I wrote my name by hand on the attendance forms. I was going to be informed of the assignment via email, but I never got that in my regular email. When I checked my CSU email (that I get general information, like about parking and the opening of the new coffee shops on campus), I had not received a new one since 2010. Even in the future nothing works. Ha ha ha ...
The purpose of today was two fold: to get the assignment (wherever that may be), and to go through some safety lectures. My assignment was given to me (but I will not reveal the location publicly here, I will simply refer to it as Middle School A) and the grades I will be with (6th, 7th and 8th graders, boys and girls). I can only hope to do my best, which is what we all say to ourselves when we start a new job or a new chapter in life, which is all we can say. And then once I figure out what it's really about, I will work hard at whatever it is. Once we had gotten past how to upload the artifacts onto ePortfolio (which is probably the most horrible creation ever in the history of technology), we moved onto dress codes. This has obviously been an issue in the past, they are telling the women especially to dress appropriate for the office because this is, after all, an office we are working in. Tattoos and facial piercings are not acceptable, although I have met a few guys with sleeve tattoos who just said it was not an issue as long as they worn long sleeves everyday and never rolled them up. You can't expect that someone will take you seriously if you have a ring in your nose or eyebrow, or have a harpoon through your tongue, lip or septum. I was never one for those things though. I am showing my age though, when I see friends with said piercings I tend to tell them to take that shit out of their faces, because they are too handsome/pretty for that. But I digress... Wear skirts past your fingertips, no cleavage, no midriffs, etc. But as I looked around the room, I saw several gals wearing short shorts that gave them camel toe and flip flops. Flip flops are also a no no, and keep the heals low. Always a good suggestion.
The most disturbing thing of the day was the lecture on child abuse. Not like I expected anything less that to be disturbed by it. This was a group that proved to be rather verbal and physical in showing their horror. Hands before faces, eyelids squeezed shut, and horrified sounds. It was horrifying. We were given a lecture by a woman who used to be a teacher and then became a social worker at a shelter for kids who had run away. Urban families beat with a belt, rural families beat with a switch, but that wasn't news. There are ladies with black books coming to and from apartments in the projects (the social workers). And the kids with the strange marks on them. One kid said his mom beat him with a belt, but they said those odd scratches on his arm did not look like marks a belt would be used when applied. He said they weren't from the belt, that was from the pins that his mom put on the belt as well. Then there were the sex crime stories. And remember, the parent that is not doing the abuse is not getting love from the child, instead the child loves the abuser and the parent who is not doing the abusing sees the child (whether they are their flesh and blood child or not) as The Other Woman / Man. And they are forced to live together. The revulsion went back in a wave from the front to the back of the room.
But it was necessary to hear these stories, because you should hear them. You should know and understand them, know and recognize your place in these events. Ignorance is bliss, but you should also recognize that you can let these things beat you or you can rise up to their challenges. If you are ever confronted with it, directly or indirectly, know that the gods have offered you chances. Know it, take it. Never under any circumstances say to someone "Honey, it's going to be ok." Instead say to them, as you would say to others as an adult, "You are marvelous and strong." Because you didn't lay down and die (even though some did), you rose up and fought. And you are here before me, now we are together, and we will delight in our glory.
The purpose of today was two fold: to get the assignment (wherever that may be), and to go through some safety lectures. My assignment was given to me (but I will not reveal the location publicly here, I will simply refer to it as Middle School A) and the grades I will be with (6th, 7th and 8th graders, boys and girls). I can only hope to do my best, which is what we all say to ourselves when we start a new job or a new chapter in life, which is all we can say. And then once I figure out what it's really about, I will work hard at whatever it is. Once we had gotten past how to upload the artifacts onto ePortfolio (which is probably the most horrible creation ever in the history of technology), we moved onto dress codes. This has obviously been an issue in the past, they are telling the women especially to dress appropriate for the office because this is, after all, an office we are working in. Tattoos and facial piercings are not acceptable, although I have met a few guys with sleeve tattoos who just said it was not an issue as long as they worn long sleeves everyday and never rolled them up. You can't expect that someone will take you seriously if you have a ring in your nose or eyebrow, or have a harpoon through your tongue, lip or septum. I was never one for those things though. I am showing my age though, when I see friends with said piercings I tend to tell them to take that shit out of their faces, because they are too handsome/pretty for that. But I digress... Wear skirts past your fingertips, no cleavage, no midriffs, etc. But as I looked around the room, I saw several gals wearing short shorts that gave them camel toe and flip flops. Flip flops are also a no no, and keep the heals low. Always a good suggestion.
The most disturbing thing of the day was the lecture on child abuse. Not like I expected anything less that to be disturbed by it. This was a group that proved to be rather verbal and physical in showing their horror. Hands before faces, eyelids squeezed shut, and horrified sounds. It was horrifying. We were given a lecture by a woman who used to be a teacher and then became a social worker at a shelter for kids who had run away. Urban families beat with a belt, rural families beat with a switch, but that wasn't news. There are ladies with black books coming to and from apartments in the projects (the social workers). And the kids with the strange marks on them. One kid said his mom beat him with a belt, but they said those odd scratches on his arm did not look like marks a belt would be used when applied. He said they weren't from the belt, that was from the pins that his mom put on the belt as well. Then there were the sex crime stories. And remember, the parent that is not doing the abuse is not getting love from the child, instead the child loves the abuser and the parent who is not doing the abusing sees the child (whether they are their flesh and blood child or not) as The Other Woman / Man. And they are forced to live together. The revulsion went back in a wave from the front to the back of the room.
But it was necessary to hear these stories, because you should hear them. You should know and understand them, know and recognize your place in these events. Ignorance is bliss, but you should also recognize that you can let these things beat you or you can rise up to their challenges. If you are ever confronted with it, directly or indirectly, know that the gods have offered you chances. Know it, take it. Never under any circumstances say to someone "Honey, it's going to be ok." Instead say to them, as you would say to others as an adult, "You are marvelous and strong." Because you didn't lay down and die (even though some did), you rose up and fought. And you are here before me, now we are together, and we will delight in our glory.
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