It's a new year, so time for a new blog post! Yes, I may be 2 months into the new year before posting a new post, but I have been extremely busy working, eating, sleeping, and then repeating the process over and over. Where have I been working? Well, after my whole ordeal with finding a job, I finally got one and kept it! (Keeping it is the key here.) I work at a school as a part-time behavior technician. You may be asking "what is a behavior technician?", well basically I am an ABA therapist for children on the autism spectrum disorder. However, I am not actually an ABA therapist as I do not have the higher education to be certified as one. I just implement ABA therapy (discrete trial) under supervision. I won't be releasing any details about the school, location, or the children I work with, so please don't ask.
I actually started at the beginning of December of 2013 and was in training for 2 weeks. Once I passed my competency, the school went on a 2 week winter vacation! So my first actual day on the job was January 2. The first week was rough. I had a brand new child the first day, and let me tell you, when a child doesn't know you well and you don't know the child well, it leads to a rough day. You know what else leads to a rough day? When the child you have been working with since the beginning is testing you because your trainer is no longer there. So the first week was rough. Now, I thought it would let up, but no. Just about every other week, I sub for a new child. Believe me when I say I love the hours, but like I said before things get rough when the child doesn't know you. So my regular children must be easy now right? Haha, no. No matter how much rapport you build with a child, there will always be bad days.
So with all this working, where do I find time for studying? I don't, I just go home nap, eat, and sleep! Haha, just kidding. I do what I can. I try to learn new vocabulary words weekly. I found a great stack of 4,000 words to learn for the GREs. Although somehow I think I might be better off memorizing the dictionary. I also have been trying to refresh my psychology knowledge for the psychology GREs. So far, I have read through the learning chapter in my Princeton Review. That means, I still have a long way left to go. Speaking of which, I should probably do that right now! If you are studying for the GREs, I would love to know how you are doing! We can struggle through it together! Hopefully, I will update this blog more often so you can be more informed!
Until next time...
-Cindy
