Colorblocking 'til the Sun Comes Out

I wore my grey skirt to work the other day because I'm so tired of wearing my dress pants. This winter has been much less fashion forward than I had hoped, so I didn't think anything of my outfit until I glanced myself in the mirror after work. I realized that I had colorblocked like crazy and it actually looked good. I must have subconsciously been looking out for myself and my lack of fashion at the time. My phone even matched the ensemble. I'm aching for spring-like weather, and to go shopping for a few new pick-me-ups for my wardrobe.

Magenta sweater: Aerie; Grey skirt with black border: H&M; Purple cardigan: H&M

You also may have noticed that my nails are painted oddly. They're red and blue from the Indians game the night before. I didn't have time to do them differently, so yolo. This Russian guy actually came in to ask a question and noticed them, so he asked if that's how everyone is wearing them now. I was kind of embarrassed haha.

The Tentative Future

Long time, no post, eh? That's because I've been waiting out this whole grad school thing, just so I could decide what announcements to make. As it were, I've officially been rejected from 7 schools.  The 8th school, University of Virginia, sent out acceptances a while ago (I've been perusing a grad school message board), so I'm not going to hold my breath. 

So, in lieu of crying and being depressed, which I haven't actually been, I'm just a bit bitter, I'm officially going to be moving forward with my Plan B. I will be attending The University of Akron for a post-bacc program in Child Life. It will end up taking me about two years, the length of a masters program, as well as a 480 hour internship. The field is relatively new, and kind of unknown, so here is a description the child life career from the Child Life Council website: 

"Child life specialists are trained professionals with expertise in helping children and their families overcome life’s most challenging events. Armed with a strong background in child development and family systems, child life specialists promote effective coping through play, preparation, education, and self-expression activities. They provide emotional support for families, and encourage optimum development of children facing a broad range of challenging experiences, particularly those related to healthcare and hospitalization. Because they understand that a child’s wellbeing depends on the support of the family, child life specialists provide information, support and guidance to parents, siblings, and other family members. They also play a vital role in educating caregivers, administrators, and the general public about the needs of children under stress. "

Working on an inpatient floor of a hospital for almost two years has shown me just how important these types of support systems can be. I'm excited to finally get a jump on my career path after sitting here, trying to get past the (seemingly) mean hierarchy of education ever since I graduated. I plan to take some general classes like anatomy and medical terminology this summer at Tri-C, to save some money and to just get going. I can't wait to expand my brain; I've been so bored. I'm also excited to defer my student loan payments.

I figure that I'll work for a few years, and get a feel for the field of Child Life. If I know in my gut that I really want to go back to speech-language pathology, I'll apply to grad school with all new grades, letters of recommendation, and views on life.

Since I'll still be here in Cleveland for at least the next two years, I applied to another part time job as an office assistant in the RAP Clinic at Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. If my research is correct, RAP stands for "recognition and prevention," in regards to mental illness in children. I'm in the market for a change, and this clinic sounds incredibly interesting.

Hopefully I'll be able to provide many more posts and updates in the near future. I'll let you know if Virginia blows this plan up and decides to accept me late in the game. And now, I'll leave you with this quote that a fellow Facebooker posted about a week ago. I feel like it really applies to me, and I'm happy to live by it:

One day she finally grasped that unexpected things were always going to happen in life. And with that she realized the only control she had was how she choose to handle them. So, she made the decision to survive using courage humor and grace. She was the queen of her life and the choice was hers! - See more at: http://purelykate16.tumblr.com/#sthash.JayJrCWn.dpufasdf

One day she finally grasped that unexpected things were always going to happen in life. And with that she realized the only control she had was how she choose to handle them. So, she made the decision to survive using courage humor and grace. She was the queen of her life and the choice was hers! - See more at: http://purelykate16.tumblr.com/#sthash.JayJrCWn.dpuf