In this space was a very long post about my melancholy mood, my headache and how I hit my head yesterday, the pinched nerve in my back, a story about a cutter I met yesterday at a high school, and how I’m amazed by the stories I hear in my work. The last part of my post was about PostSecret, the web site where I found these startling post cards:
But my browser crashed, and it all went out into the ether, never to be seen again.
Click on the picture to see the full size version.
Received this silly letter the other day and cracked up! First of all, I am referred to as "Mister." That’s the least of the ridiculousness.
I am here as an intern, a card carrying American Psychological Association-approved intern. I am on a prestigious consortium internship, but it’s the Memphis City Schools that pay me because I am there more than I am anywhere else. This is the case for the two of us working in the schools. The other four interns are paid by UT. The sites that offer major rotations all chip in to pay our stipends.
From the beginning, MCS has tried to stick this square peg into their round hole. They made me fill out an application with all this stuff about what subjects I want to teach and my teaching certifications. I am not a teacher! Not here anyway! When I teach, I teach college, not K-12. Most of my application said "Not Applicable." Since I’ve been here, I have to fill out their time sheets, their activity trackers… even though I’m only in the schools for part of the week. This letter is the culmination of all of their silliness.
Beaurocracy, man. It’s unbelievable. No wonder the schools can’t get it together. Micromanaging from the top, and soooo many budget cuts. And then we have more school-aged kids than just about anywhere. It’s a mess, and this letter… this silly ridiculous letter… is just a perfect example of the way of things.
I’ve deidentified this thing so that noone is singled out, but I think it still illustrates just what I’m talking about.
Hi out there in TV Land. I’ve been really busy here, and I kind of forgot that I should probably get back on here and say a little about this job. It’s a job at a place that does these super duper Cadillac evaluations of kids. I will be working with a pediatric neuropsychologist who specializes in kids with learning disability, attention, and behavior problems. For the first long while, I’ll really be shadowing this woman, "attached at the hip." She’ll be in the room for every evaluation I do. They train their postdocs very closely with the aim of grooming people to stay. They are very focused on doing evals and making recommendations that are understandable to parents and that are really carried through, so they tend to stay in contact with families over years instead of the normal test, write a report, then send them away dealy. Instead, they consult with the people who will be carrying out the interventions directly. The salary isn’t great, but it goes up a lot if they decide they want me for a second year, and it goes up a WHOLE lot the year after that.
It’s worlds away from Memphis. This year, I’ve learned that psychological assessment and intervention are really a bit up Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. A lot of the kids I work with in Memphis need much more basic stuff like food, shelter, and safety. They need resources and a good case manager. Today, I was saying to Aaron that if a family that makes $500,000 a year has a kid with severe LD, then that’s just as big of a problem for the family as it would be if the family made 1/10th that amount. I can’t tell how it will be, but it’s really a dreamy opportunity for a first job. I’m pretty excited about it.
The coolest part was that this woman (to whose hip I will be attached!) was just a great match with me. She’s really enthusiastic and full of integrity and smart and funny and down to earth. I mean, that’s cool as hell. She’s also really direct. She said, "I got a lot of applications for this position, and I’ve done a lot of interviews. You’re the only one so far I’d want attached to my hip! I think I’m just going to offer it to you right now."
I mean, I must be getting some serious karmic payback or something. Seriously.
Today was exhausting. We spent all of our time driving all over the place trying to see where we want to live. It’s a hard thing to do. Seems like it’s so loaded! Like such a big decision. Hope we’re choosing well.
Who went to her first interview for a real job today? And who was hired on the spot? ME! That’s who! w00t!
Because where else besides the Internet can you get so many people giving you so much information so immediately? In two hours, I had a dozen people chime in about how to dress for a job interview in a cold climate! I love that!
