Man…These People
The students in my grad program are so real. They are so different yet, they remind me of me. They’re so honest and helpful to each other.They are always so real about their issues and their paths.
You can ask them anything and they’ll tell you the whole truth. Not just the truth most people want you to hear but the real truth. The discussions we have are amazing. The best thing about grad schoolis we are all there to learn. We want to do well, we want to help people. There is not one person there who is not passionate about becoming a therapist.
There are very few men in the marriage/family/couples program so one day I saw one in my class and I went up to him and asked, “Why did you choose this program?”
He looked at me and said, “I’m a good listener.” Then he clasped his hands and shifted his body to the right. “And my parents divorced when I was little. I guess I want to learn how to do better so that won’t happen to me.”
This other woman I met my first semester when she came up to tell me that she really liked my presentation. She’s a student of positive thinking too. We trade book recommendations and discuss new authors. At that point, she was engaged to her boyfriend and over the summer they got married.
I asked her, “So, has anything changed since you’ve been married?”
“Yes.” she said. “But I can’t say what.”
“After the honeymoon?” I asked.
“Yes. The wedding was beautiful, the honeymoon was perfect but when we got home it was like, ‘OK What do we do now?’Something is different. I can’t even identify it.”
Then we started talking about the evolution of the modern couple versus couples back in the 50’s. Her desire is to train couples BEFORE they get married about the transition between single and married life. I think that is excellent because I want to train couples in distress but I really want to train highschool kids about relationships. I wish someone would have caught me THEN, before I started wandering around out there messing with boys.
I would have listened to them.
This one woman I met my first semester. It was her first semester too. We had all of our classes together and this semester we have one too. We always check on each other’s progress and motivate each other. We’re headed in similar directions I think except she wants to go for the PhD and I’ve been entertaining the idea but I’m not 100% sold on it yet.
It seems like so much hassle just to say you’re a doctor of marriage/family counseling. Hmmm…Well, I guess the biggest benefit would be the research you would contribute to the field. Like, all of the psychologists and therapists that we are studying had to be in graduate school at some point. Maybe I could contribute something great.
But dang…I don’t know if I’m one of those types. A doctorate?
Dawg, that’s crazy…
I guess I’ll deal with it when it gets here. When I emailed my professor the list of the next 3 books that I plan to publish and my ideas for a research article she wrote me back and said, “Let’s schedule a meeting to discuss this.”
And…she even spoke with our department chair about helping me to organize a workshop surrounding my book topic. The chair requested a copy of my book. Damn….I’m so nervous to send it.
I mean, the people who read my blog do so because they like my crazy life and/or my writing style. But…those who haven’t fallen in love with my writing yet, may not understand how I came to the conclusions about life that I have due to my unique life experiences.
I’m nervous but I am going to send it. Let’s just hope for positive results and believe that what God has for me is for me.