INTERNSHIP DIARIES

Semester breaks are long and they can be a bit boring if not planned wisely. That was how I was tempted to visit a child development center nearby and enroll for a 10-day internship to observe and learn about various psychological cases handled by a clinical/consultant psychologist.

DAY 1 – BEING A STUDENT

Once you start working, you realize that being a student was a great privilege. As long as you are a student, you would always be forgiven and ignored for your flaws and faults. People would always consider your imperfections in a ‘not-so-serious’ way. But once you take up your position in your career as a professional, then all the little things matter a lot. People look up to you and value your words. So you have got to be somewhat perfect in the way you handle things. This was the first lesson my supervisor shared with me. Learning about Attention Deficit Disorder and handling a boy who had the condition was a new experience.

DAY 2 – SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Are you troubled with your fears? Do you have certain behaviors that you want to change? We all have fears and frustrations at certain points of our life. And the only way you can change such thoughts and actions is to speak about them. Open up yourself to the people you trust the most and share your thoughts. Consciously hold back yourself from doing the things that you don’t want to do. Have power talks with people instead of simply sharing useless talks.

DAY 3 – PATIENCE

We often hear that patience is a virtue. Day-3 actually made me experience it in real life situation. Handling a boy with mild autism required a lot of patience and repeated attempts, to make him sit silently and do simple tasks such as catching and throwing ball, drawing, putting beads on a thread etc. Yes, we need a huge amount of patience and skill to deal with children and sometimes with adults too.

DAY 4 – TAKE YOUR TIME

Being a bit slow in our works doesn’t always mean that we are not capable of doing things efficiently. Each individual takes their own time in learning and doing their chores. Some might take longer to learn things. Working with a special educator made me stick to this fact that some children take their own time to learn. That does not make them any lesser than many others who work faster in academics and other skills. Give each one their own time to do things. A helping hand and motivating words are all they need, not comparisons with others. If done so, they are sure to bloom into the best versions of themselves.

DAY 5 - EXPECTATIONS

Never keep your expectations high. Always do your best without expecting anything in return. Trust me, it’s hard to be that way. But keep trying. High expectations can lead us off the track. So keep them low and we would find happiness with every little thing that comes our way.

DAY 6 – TAKE A BREAK

At times, take a break from everything and refresh yourself. Hang out with the people you love and surround yourself with positive people. Sometimes it is hard to find people of our type. If you have none, remember The One who is always with you and knows you more than you know about yourself!

To be continued.