Residency 1

Last week I attended the first residency of my master's program in Alexandria, Va. I was really excited to meet some of the professors I had for past and current classes as well as my fellow classmates. Capella University offers online programs for a variety of undergrad and graduate degrees- including school counseling (which is what I want to do). It has taken me a little time to adapt to the online learning environment...and just when I got into the swing of things we had our first in-person meeting at a 5-day conference-style learning residency (8am-6pm daily!).

I am not going to lie- I loved and hated this experience at the same time and wished every second of it that I was not pregnant. It was so neat to put the skills we have been learning to practice in hypothetical situations and develop a rapport with our future colleagues. At the same time, the long hours sitting in the same chair were brutal on this pregnant body. I learned (in addition to counseling skills) that I need to maintain a level of self-care to protect myself and the little one. I have the utmost appreciation for those women who work throughout their pregnancies. I equate full-time grad school with a full-time job, but let's be honest - I get to sit in a lazy boy and lay down on my left side when I need to.