After high school, I attended Kirkwood, a community college and lived with my parents. I still had some friends in the area, and we had a good time together. We were young and were having fun. But I was still recovering from my chemotherapy treatments. I would get short of breath even walking to classes and going up a hill and stairs on campus.
At Kirkwood I studdied Disability Services, but my long term goal was to work with cancer patients and their families. I focused on catching up on the subjects I fell behind in in high school (math, science, Spanish). I went to school all year round, taking up to 18 credit hours each semester while holding down a part-time job. I had a balance of classes I enjoyed and even excelled at. I was proud of myself when I graduated and had my associates degree, but I wasn't going to stop there, I wanted to keep going!
I went on one college visit to Wartburg College. I loved the campus, and the social work program I ended up majoring in. I applied and got accepted. I was excited with the opportunity to go to school there, but nervous because I was a transfer student and had never lived away from home before. Thankfully, I had a really great roommate who was fun and easy to get along with! At Wartburg I did well in my social work and most of my other courses. The two years flew by and were some of the best years of my life! My most challenging time in college came during my final summer social work internship when I was doing hospital social work.
Months before I started my intern, I noticed a breast lump, but in fear I didn't tell anyone and bottled it up. I broke down and told my parents that summer during my intern, which led to some emotional uprising. I had been struggling in my intern before that, but now my social work supervisor at the hospital questioned whether or now I should quit! I had plans to move to St. Louis at the end of the summer, and start graduate school at Saint Louis University. I got through my health situation, my breast lump was removed and non-cancerous. But finished the rest of my internship with much support from my college professor and lots of anxiety.
My two years at Wartburg flew by. I was again proud of my achievements when I graduated, as I was the only one in my family with a college degree. That August, I moved to St. Louis to start my masters program. I was enthusiastic about being in the program and majoring in health/mental health, but at this point I was totally unsure about my path in social work. Until that summer, I thought hospital social work was where it was at if I wanted to work with cancer patients and their families. I attempted to maintain a positive attitude during that year and a half program, but my insecurities and stress remained high, and my stress eating started to become more of an issue.
By the time I graduated from St. Louis University, I was overjoyed with my accomplishment and the fact I achieved my goals and overcome so much! But I started to feel lost and confused about my career path. During college, I had been working at group homes and people with disabilities, which I truly enjoyed, but my hopes and dreams of being a medical social worker would eventually diminish. The rest of my career ambitions are for another blog post, but I definitely learned a lot about myself during my College and grad school career.
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