Wopila Lila

Okay so now that all the needed individuals have been informed, I can talk about it on here. I am so excited about what is right around the corner!!! I have arrived to an event that has been months in the making! So, let me start at the beginning.

As you all know I’m getting my Master’s in Social Work, so with that, we have to do our internships. We intern at a placement one year and another place our second year. There is all kinds of paperwork we have to fill out, and interviews we have to go on, etc. I will make a post just about that aspect of it. But anyway, we had to fill out what areas interested us, we had to pick our top three, then others. Everything interested me, so I picked my top three but would have been happy with most anything. So even though I was already working with RRSS, the school have several places already set up that they have established relationships with. So they sent me to their places because when I graduate I plan to do therapy. Some of my options were limited because I HAVE to intern under a MSW, since I’m not getting my LPC degree, my supervisor has to be an MSW. (There is literally a whole thing of LPC vs MSW..but I won’t talk about that now) Anyway, so the interview process for this place I was sent to was pretty extensive. They do two phone interviews with you and if you pass those, then they invite you for an in person interview with a team. Now before I go on with that, I want to say that I had heard of this place I was potentially going to be interning for, and I was really impressed with them. I love their mission, their goals, the far reach and in depth contact they have in the community.

So I pass all my interviews and go to my in person interviews and after we’d been in it for awhile, they said they not only want me to intern there, but also offer me a full time job! I literally tried to prevent myself from doing a double take. I was so shocked and so honored! And I was fully ready to be poor for the next two years of school. Even now as I write this I get all teared up. This offer was based on my resume and my past experience. All those years of human service work, and volunteering allowed me to be here, now. I am absolutely so so excited!! For the internship I was given a questionnaire I have to fill out where I talk about my experiences up to this point and what I am currently doing and I had to attach my resume. ( * I say “I” but any MSW program student does this. ) And the place I chose is right in flow with the work I’ve done in the past as well as the work I want to be doing after graduation. So there was that.

But it gets even better.

So this whole process has taken months to move through. Then there is the steps of getting a drug test, having a background check. etc. That all came back quickly (I had to do fingerprints and a background check when I was at the school because we were mandatory reporters. ) So they send me my offer letter. I get the notification of an email from them but I’m at work at my current job, so I don’t read it. well after work, I’m a mom/family time so it gets pushed off more. I remember it Saturday night that I needed to read it and fill out some paperwork So I pull up the offer letter and find out I’m getting a sign on bonus!!!! I’m shocked and honored AGAIN!! And let’s just say, I can afford to get my books an my computer for school now!!! I literally said “Wopila Tunkasila!” out loud! It’s such a relief for me. But..it’s gets even better!!!

Two words. Benefits package. I saw what it was and knew it was a good thing, it’s the same benefits Mihigna Ki has.. very nice.

I am so incredible thrilled about all of this. and beyond grateful.

They HR and IT people contacted be to make sure I’d get what I needed for access on my work phone and computer. That’s a whole other post. Part of me was reserved in excitement because I wasn’t sure if my Deafness would influence them to decline taking me. (believe me, it has happened, several times in this town. I will write about that soon.) So in all of my interviews I made sure the understood that they were hiring a Deaf person and they would need to make adjustments for that. In every interview they said it was not an issue.

I start the first week of July! I have let out the breath I was holding, I have spilled happy, grateful tears, sent a million prayers of gratitude up and celebrated over text with my closest girlfriends. We have made plans for a celebratory dinner. I have given notice at my current job. While I’m excited for this new journey, I am sad to be leaving my clients and my boss. She literally has been the BEST boss I’ve had in this town. One of my clients cried. That was hard.

Classes start in eight weeks. I started computer shopping. ugh what a pain. I hope I get it figured out and done soon.

For months now I’ve had low key anxiety over all this. But now, I feel relived. Happy. Honored. But most of all, INCREDIBLY grateful.

I need to go for now, I need to go to bed. I still work this week. More later.

Hope you are all good.

Peace, Hugs and Turtles,

MBB