What happens at the end of an academic year?

Apart from taking stock of the academic year in terms of skills learnt and marks achieved there is always cause for concern relating to what to do now that I have so much more free time when not poring over books or practising possible exam questions. Luckily my family always like to see me so more time is spent visiting and catching up with news of things that have happened while I have been attending university workshops, writing exams, reading for information (as opposed to pleasure), considering and reflecting on my own values, skills and attitudes as a student social worker. Often it seems that nieces and nephews have grown up - considerably, family members have taken trips that I wasn't even aware of and even more surprising, there are people out there who actually go out at night for entertainment. My evenings are mostly spent on assignments, catching up with reports for work or taking care of really basic needs like eating and sleeping with the odd phone call to see if I am on the right track with an assignment or done the right preparation for the next workshop at university.

But now that the academic year is over I have counted the credits, tried to see if there is anything that I need to catch up on (apart from exercise and proper eating habits), found the space to write a blog entry, recycled all the old paper that I have scribbled on - bits of old essays and thoughts and references - and started to read for pleasure. Oh, the pleasure of finding those books bought but not yet read because my head has been so full of essays, assignments and preparation for the next task at hand. I have the diary to prove it! Looking back at the schedule just before the final assessments were done amazed even myself and what I was able to accomplish in a few short weeks. It did help that I was physically, mentally and emotionally in a great space and that I had the means to get to all the different places that I had to be with the minimum of fuss and commuting time, but still seemed like quite a feat that I otherwise would never have contemplated had I not wanted to do this degree so badly! Indeed, where there is a will, there is a way.

So while there is not yet a great vacation planned and some work commitments to get through and the fact that I have no leave until the 21st December I will certainly enjoy the time that I have free to catch up with friends and family who live in the "real world", continue to read for pleasure and enjoy this great city of ours.

A fitting end to a year filled with excitement, nerves, deadlines and a fair amount of academic success.

Some reflections on group work.

While the year has run away with me and studies and work have been a priority, I have had the privilege of doing group and case work at university this year. I am a not so social, social worker in training and the thought of being in a group of unknown people sends me in either of two directions. Keeping to myself at the fringes or actually diving in and directing, giving many opinions and trying to outperform others. This year I found a very good middle road and a path that came to be as a result of being part of a very diverse and interesting university group of students that was flung together at the beginning of the year by absolute chance. No random selection procedure, no choosing to be with your friends or acquaintances - just pure chance.

The first few meetings were characterised by a calm formality as befitting people who were still getting to know each other, then came the offers of coffee and tea time treats and after 8 months of meeting each other once or twice a month, the real beauty of belonging to a semi-professional group of like minded people, sharing, confiding and helping with projects, personal issues and general encouragement to continue despite the hectic timetable of family, work and studies.

At our final assessment we were able to reflect together on what had been the highlights of the busy timetable, where people had travelled 700km to attend the compulsory sessions, where people had poured all the leave that they had from work into attending these compulsory sessions, where somebody who had been seriously ill, made a speedy recovery with the assistance of fellow students and the message was the same. Acceptance of others who may be different in values, belief and even behaviour, mutual encouragement and co-operation play a huge role in interpersonal relations and the building of personal character.

Thanks guys for a truly enriching experience.

After the celebrations.

"Let the work begin!" or something along those lines. Christmas followed by new year, closely followed by my birthday and then the first day of work that earns me an income. The beginning of 2012 has been punctuated by celebrations, get together's with friends not seen in many months, catching up with friends who are no longer in the country but having holidays and of course daring to look at the study schedule for the year ahead. Reality bites and really hard at that. While I do not have a full course load - discretion got the better part of valour on that one as well as financial constraints - it does seem as if I have a full time study schedule! Besides 5 exams there are 13 contact sessions with lecturer's and supervisors for 3rd level social work. For me this is a sure indicator of the practical nature of social work studies and something that a distance learning university has taken to heart in finding ways for their students to get to grips with the practical nature of applying the theoretical knowledge. I am fortunate enough to live within driving distance of a learning centre, but I imagine that other students will either have to make use of public transport or even get to the city to stay with friends and family to attend the compulsory workshops and supervision sessions. For me this year is definitely a shift from the reading of texts and writing essays to the actual implementation of the social work skills and being able to effectively show these skills during the sessions. So, roll on process notes, genograms, putting feelings into words, justifying certain ways of being or interacting in role plays and workshops.

"A genogram (also known as a McGoldrick-Gerson study^[1] or a Lapidus Schematic^[1]) is a pictorial display of a person's family relationships and medical history. It goes beyond a traditional family tree by allowing the user to visualize hereditary patterns and psychological factors that punctuate relationships.^[1] It can be used to identify repetitive patterns of behavior and to recognize hereditary tendencies.^[2]

Genograms were first developed and popularized in clinical settings by Monica McGoldrick and Randy Gerson through the publication of a book titled Genograms: Assessment and Intervention in 1985. Genograms are now used by various groups of people in a variety of fields such as medicine, psychiatry, psychology, social work, genetic research, education, and many more. Some practitioners in personal and family therapy use genograms for personal records and/ or to explain family dynamics to the client. Few if any genealogists use them.^{[3] "}

 ^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genogram}

A New Year and New Challenges

With the beginning of a new year and looking back at the challenges that were taken up during 2011, I am both grateful and amazed. Grateful for the opportunity to work and study and amazed that despite financial difficulties and some health problems, 2011 has been a successful year.

Usually my position economically is starkly contrasted with the 40% of South Africans who have no formal work opportunities and for who everyday is a matter of getting food on the table. But 2011 certainly brought the rest of the world and especially Europe and North America into the limelight with financial woes and crises of their own. The impact of higher joblessness on these continents is already being seen with reports of higher numbers of homeless making the news. I would imagine that this crisis might see an increased need for social services at these troubled times and have lasting impact on families and individuals around the world.

Going into 2012, my wish is for those in the helping profession to continue to practise the values that form the basis of this work and to keep the faith in a world that at times may seem too much to bear with the pain and the suffering encountered everyday.

To end is a poem on the change of year:

"How beautiful the turning of the year!
A moment artificial yet profound:
Point upon an arbitrary chart
Passing like a breath upon the heart,
Yearning with anticipation wound,
New hope new harbored in old-fashioned cheer.
Even when the boundary line is clear,
We recognize the oneness of the ground.
Years, like circles, do not end or start
Except we lay across their truth our art,
Adjusting dates as they go round and round
Revolving to a tune long sung and dear." 

Turlough O'Carolan