It all started with an internship...

A little history before the big news:

Last summer was like any other summer for me. I was still in my undergraduate work, doing summer school, waiting for Lucas to be born, had some trips planned to go to Kansas to spend time with Tiffany & the new baby. If I remember correctly I had only taken the first four weeks of summer classes because I knew Lucas would be here in mid July, and I think I actually missed one of my last finals as we were headed to Kansas. Regardless of being in school, I hadn't checked my University email account since the previous spring. I decided to get on one day, and saw two emails from the Director of the program I received my AOD counseling certification from. One from about three weeks back saying "I have some internships I was thinking you would be a good fit for, let me know what you think.." and a second one that was sent the DAY BEFORE saying "This place is a great fit, but it is very time sensitive and I would call asap if I were you"...

Now let me give you a little more history- This dude, the director of these programs is a self-diagnosed hippy who has spent time in the federal pen for smuggling drugs some years ago... His brain (more specifically his memory) has some damage done to it. I never expected him to seek me out, nor did I expect it to be so specific and tailored for me... Which is even more ironic because I wasn't actively seeking out any kind of internship. It had been in the back of my mind that I needed to start looking, but because I had other things going on, I had put it on the back burner...

SO, I checked it out.. I sent an email to some person named David at Center for Family Development. (A place I had never heard of...) He got back to me... Quick.. I called him, we had a phone interview, he asked me to come in and have an actual interview the next day because he was leaving out of town, and this was a decision they needed to make soon. Boy, was this moving quick for me... It felt like 0-60, and I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Come to find out what I was getting myself into was a graduate level internship. They had never before asked an undergraduate or even considered an undergraduate for their program. This program was a therapist teaching clinic. I was able to see clients through this clinic who did not have insurance, and had some wonderful experiences getting clinical supervision, and expanding my ideas of plausible career options.

About three months into my internship I got a call from David (same dude) asking me if I had some time to chat... He had been thinking about me being a good fit in some program called the "DTRC". An intensive outpatient AOD treatment facility for youth involved at the county or state level for criminal activity. So, I took that on being the naive person I am, and have been working there ever since. I am what you would call a "Primary Worker". I do individual AOD counseling, I facilitate therapy groups, and supervise while they are in our program. I love my job and feel really blessed to be part of the program. I was in it from the beginning. DTRC was a new concept and the grant had just been accepted, so I was there through the implementation process, the designing, the constructing, the configuring, etc. It is still a learning process and this job has stretched me in ways I didn't know were possible. I come home exhausted every day, and wake up the next ready to tackle another day.

... Let me see if you know where I am going with this... I get another call again from David... (who isn't just some random dude, but the director of Center for Family Development) asking me to come chat. He has been thinking about me becoming a therapist for a couple months and is wondering what I think about the idea if a spot were to open up...

Hells Yes!

So, after a few more phone calls, and a few details here and there, I have been offered the job. I will be working part time as a primary worker, and part time as an individual and family therapist.

The best part about this is how much confidence and trust CFD puts into me. All my life I have never done things the "traditional" way. Graduating high school and college early seemed to be perplexing for some people involved and I was met with a strange resistance because of my ideas of blazing my own path... CFD embraces that, and dances with me.

I am scared, nervous, excited, thankful, appreciative, determined, etc. to be starting this new job and phase in my career.

Thank you to everyone who supports me, puts up with me, manages to maintain relationships with me even though often times I can be flaky and overbooked. I appreciate it and will need your love and support as I take on a new task. One I am bound to fail at, but will get back up and have some grace when I fall, and will use all your support to help me.