Fall is Here!!!

Hello again!  Man, it's been awhile since my last post!  September is nearly over, and this is my first post of the month!  I'm a bad blogger...

In case you haven't noticed, FALL IS OFFICIALLY HERE! I love this time of the year. It's finally getting cool again, the leaves are about to start changing, Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks, and all my favorite candle scents are back! I absolutely love taking pictures of all of the leaves. I got really lucky picking Drury as my school...since it's technically a tree farm, we have some awesome changing of the leaves. Here are some of the pics I've taken over the years.

Stone Chapel

This pic of me was taken by my friend E-Mac.  I kinda love it.

This was the sidewalk outside the house we lived in my Senior year.

The orange and red trees are absolutely my favorite.

Squirrel!  The squirrels at Drury are crazy.

Every year E-Mac and I would walk around campus taking pictures of all the trees.  Unfortunately I will have to do it without her this year since she's in El Paso.  This is quite depressing.

Time for a quick update on my life!  Not much has changed since last month.  I'm in full gear in the Masters program.  It's a little awkward in my classes since it's just me and 2 other students in all of my classes.  But so far so good!  I've had one test so far and got an A on it...my second test is this Tuesday.  I've taught one class as part of a course requirement...I'll teach another one later in October.

Sessions are going well also!  I'm finally seeing all of my clients on a weekly basis...all of them have been scheduled and assessed, so now it's a normal routine for sessions.  I'm supervising a couple of students which is both challenging and entertaining.  I feel all special and adult-like since I get to tell them what to do and what not to do.  Good times!

It seems I may be doing more frequent travels home this month!  I just got back from being home, and it looks like I may go home for the next 4 weekends for various reasons!  Oy!  I don't mind though...it's not a long drive, and I love being home.

Well, I think that's about all I have for now!  Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the beginning of Fall!  Until next time!  :)

Back to School

Yep!  It's that time again!  Time to go back to schoool!  I can't believe it.  Even though I got a longer break this year due to finishing my internship in April, it still doesn't seem like school should be here again!

This year is going to be quite different for me.  I'm a Masters student now, after practically having a year off from school.  I'm entering a program that has only 2 other students that will be in my classes.  All of the other music therapy Masters students are equivalency students, which means they still have to finish the undergraduate curriculum.  So classes will be quite...interesting, to say the least.  I'm also the Graduate Assistant for the program, meaning I get my own office and actually have office hours!  I'm not quite sure what work I will be doing...my first meeting is on Tuesday.  And on top of all this, I'm doing a few music therapy sessions a week and piano lessons for a family.  Whew!  I think I'm gonna be a little busy!

Next Tuesday is the big day!  Most of my college friends have graduated and moved on, and the rest of my friends are practically gone by December, so it will be interesting socially this year.  But I figured I could make new friends by updating my appearance.  Here's my new school haircut!

Ha!  Just kidding!  This is from 9th grade.  Aren't you glad I've grown out of this phase?  I know all of my friends and family are...they remind me constantly.  :-P

Anyway, I know a lot of you are either starting back soon or have children that have started.  Did everyone have a good first day?  What's your favorite back to school memory?  Hope the year's starting off great for everyone!  Until next time!

None the Wiser...

I haven't posted in awhile...again!  I'm kinda bad at this whole blogging thing.  But then again, I haven't really had anything going on worth blogging about.  I'm back and forth between Fayetteville and Springfield for the next few weeks.  Sessions are going well, and I'm still broke as a joke.  This week is a little different though.

I get to stay home in Fayetteville all week!  Woo!  But this does not come without a price...

I had all four wisdom teeth takenout Monday morning (8am to be exact).  It only took about 45 minutes.  I was really nervous about the anesthesia, more importantly what I would act like on said anesthesia.  But it went a lot easier than I was expecting!  Mom said the only weird thing I did on the drive home was try to clean off the clock radio display.

Recovery has been ok.  I didn't have to get stitches, so that makes things a little easier.  I have this sweet action ice pack to put on my face to help with swelling and pain.  I have to take penicillin four times a day for infection.  I was also given oxycodone, but thankfully I don't really need it anymore...down to tylenol now!  And let me tell you, oxycodone makes you loopy!

I picked a terrible time to get the surgery.  Yesterday I missed hanging out with my Sunday School class eating some tasty ribs and a ginormous cake.  This week is also my grandma's and my dad's birthdays.  They are going out to Olive Garden tonight.  I'm not sure if I'll go, but if I do all I can eat is maybe the inside of breadsticks and some soup.  No straws, no caffeine/carbonated beverages...all I've had for the past couple of days is ice cream, pudding, soup, and drugs.  But I'm hoping this will be a kickstart to some weight loss!

Anyway, thanks for all the prayers, they have definitely helped!  Please continue to pray for my recovery.  I hear the third day is the worst for swelling and such.  Hope everyone is having a better week than I am!  Enjoy solid foods, drinking through straws, and carbonated beverages!!

I'm a Big Kid Now!

No, I didn't just learn to go potty all by myself.  But I did just conduct my first session as a board certified music therapist!  Now I know this might not mean much to everyone else, but it's kind of a big deal to me!  Of course it wasn't 100% perfect or how I had pictured it going, but it was a learning experience.  And I did it all by myself.

For the past five years, I have had to do sessions a certain way, do a certain amount of documentation, report to certain people, etc.  Now, I'm kind of my own boss.  I don't have to ask if I did something right or wrong.  I'm not filling out five pages of documentation for someone to grade.  There's no one looking over my should to tell me every mistake I make.  I tailor the session to how I think the client will best respond.  If it doesn't work out like I want it to, it's ok.  I will just try something different next week.  The only documentation I have to fill out right now are two time sheets.  That's crazy!

It's so surreal transferring from a student to a full-fledged music therapist.  I still have that feeling like I have to talk to someone about what I should've done differently, what I could've done better.  But now it's all up to me.  I get to decide what didn't go well and what will change for the next session.  I'm the one of the people the MT students will come to with questions and concerns about how they are performing next year.  Wow!

Anyway, I just wanted to share that little glimpse of my future now.  I'll be doing a session every Friday throughout July, and I will possibly start doing nursing home sessions as well.  Bring it on!

Summertime...

It's been a little while since my last post!  In case you hadn't noticed, it's summer!  Woohoo!  This summer has started a little weird for me...since I've technically been done with school since the end of April, my time frames are completely screwed up.  And it doesn't seem to be getting much better...

I've been back and forth between home and Springfield for awhile, and that's probably what will be happening for the rest of the summer.  Right now I'm  at home, and it's been great.  It seems like I've been busier than I should be right now, but it's a good busy!  I've helped out some around the house and a church, and I've been able to hang out with some of my amigos.

Wedding season has definitely arrived!  I know of at least 5 of my friends that are getting married over the next year...3 of them in the course of 2 months!  I've been asked to play in 2 weddings this summer.  The first one was last Saturday...the next one is this Sunday!  Needless to say, lots of wedding shenanigans going on right now!  The entire month of June has been full of bridal showers, bachelorette parties, rehearsals, and of course the actual ceremonies.  Good times all around...

I'm in the process of getting "jobs" set up for the summer and into the fall.  I've been busy with paperwork and initial obligations to start music therapy sessions through a healthcare service.  I'm also looking into teaching piano/guitar lessons for a couple of families.  Hopefully that will all work out, because I'm gonna need some moolah!

Well, I believe that's the gist of things for now!  Oh I changed my layout again!  I'm not sure if I completely like it or not, but I thought I'd try it out for a bit.  Hope everyone's had a great start to the summer!  Stay cool!

Graduation

Yep...it happened...I graduated from Drury!  I now have my Bachelor of Music Therapy.  My mom, dad, grandma, brother, sister, aunt, and cousin all came to celebrate with me.  Here's a family pic that we got.

Aren't we cutesies?!

Now here's my favorite of the twins and me...priceless

I don't have a picture of me in my cap & gown because I had to trade that in for my diploma.  Plus it was so flippin hot!  I got out of that thing as fast as I could!  But anyway, the whole graduation thing was a good experience.  I sat by my good friends, listened to a boring speaker, and was one of only two people that graduated with a BMT, so I feel kinda special.  :-P

That's all I have for now!  Hope everyone's having a good week!

4 Little Letters

I have waited 5 long years to type this next sentence:


Hi, my name is Carrie Jenkins, and I am a Board Certified Music Therapist.


That's right, you read it!  I am a MT-BC!  Wooooo!!!!  I took the CBMT exam today at 1:30.  It was supposed to last 3 hours, but I'm a fast test taker and got done in about an hour and 45 minutes.  I was freaking out the entire time!  The test was RIDICULOUS!  It's all multiple choice, but each questions is its own paragraph, and each individual answer option is its own paragraph.  Ugh...but I survived!  And now I am board certified.  It's silly to think how much it means to write those four letters and a hyphen after my name.  5 years of school summed up into 4 letter.  Good times.  So to give you a little update on my life...


I will be graduating next weekend!  Crazy!  I will have my Bachelor of Music Therapy degree.  And what does one do after they get done with school?  That's right, more school!  I have applied to the Master of Music Therapy program here at good ole Drury and will be starting in the fall.  I debated on whether to do an online Masters program or to come back to Drury, but after looking everything over, Drury is the place for me!


I have been going back and forth on what I should do about employment for the upcoming year.  I applied to TouchPoint Autism Services here in Springfield a couple weeks back.  But throughout the application process, I wasn't feeling too hot about the potential job.  After looking at the time commitment they want on top of being a full-time Masters student, the travel requirements, documentation, etc., this job seems like it will just consume me and wear me down.  I don't want to have a job that completely exhausts me at the end of the day, leaving no time or motivation to focus on my classes.  But then comes along another opportunity...
My music therapy professor informed me of a Graduate Assistant position for the MMT program.  The girl that was thinking about taking it decided to back down and keep her clinical hours (in the long run it was better for her).  This position does not offer a stipend or salary, but it pays half tuition.  Plus there is a lot less travel required, and I would get my own office in the music department!  It's not official yet, but I'm 98% sure I will be taking this position.  I filled out all the paperwork today.  Now I just have to make sure I am actually accepted into the Masters program...and then figure out how to tell the other job I'm not interested anymore.  :-P


And what's the moral of this story?  GOD IS GOOD!  I have been hoping and praying that I am indeed on the right path.  I cannot tell you how many times I have prayed "God, it's in your hands now.  If you want this for me, make it happen.  If not, then give me the patience to take the right road."  I think I am on the right track again.


Well, that's about all I have for now.  I gotta go plan on how I'm going to celebrate!  Until next time!


~Carrie Jenkins, MT-BC