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Showing posts from 2015

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Tips for New Social Work Graduate (MSW) Students

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  Happy start of the school year! Perusing social media, I came across a NASW blog article called “Guide for the First Year Social Work Student”. This post provided lots of great information tailored for new undergraduate students interested in studying social work. I wanted to take that NASW post a bit farther and compile a list of tips specific to graduate students pursuing a masters in social work (MSW). In my opinion, graduate school is a completely different experience from undergraduate, so my hope is that these tips will serve to be beneficial. Tips for New Social Work Graduate (MSW) Students -Don’t worry about grades so much When I was in graduate school, one of my professors told a story about a straight A student who committed suicide several years after graduation. His point was that given the people we need to work with, we social workers need to focus less on being perfectionists (as demonstrated by obsessing over grades and test scores) and work on being empathetic and co
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Road Trip 2015: San Diego Comic-Con!

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It's been an amazing month! This past weekend, I returned from a road trip to Comic-Con and the Southwest United States. While I'm sad that it's over and exhausted from all the driving, I'm thankful to have been able to take this vacation and am already planning my next one! Over the next few weeks, I'll be recapping my trip, starting with San Diego Comic-Con!   Comic-Con: Preview Night After months of anticipation and excitement, it was now time for one of my favorite weekends of the year: Comic-Con 2015!!! As veteran attendees are well aware, attending Comic-Con takes luck, good budgeting, lots of planning, and serious dedication. In fact, I started planning for this year's trip nearly a year ago, when I booked my hotel room (and 2 backups in case straggler friends joined me). Half a year later, I survived preregistration and ended up with a coveted 4-day pass with preview night. I consider myself extremely lucky and hope that this luck continues in
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Same Sex Marriage Legalized in the United States

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Welcome to the 21st century, America. Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-to-4 vote that the Constitution guarantees a right to same sex marriage. In the words of Justice Anthony Kennedy, "No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were." While I'm somewhat disturbed that the ability to determine a group's rights hinged on a single vote, I'm pleased with the final result. It's been a long road to finally get same sex couples the rights they deserve. In 2008, I took to the streets to protest when California voters legalized discrimination by passing Proposition 8 . Four years later, a U.S. appeals court ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional ultimately leading to the issue being sent to the U.S. Supreme Court for a final decision. Hard to believe that it's been 7 years, but i
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Burnout Prevention: Epic Road Trip 2015!

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July is fast approaching, meaning it's time for my third annual trip to San Diego for Comic-Con ! Thanks to convention scheduling, Comic-Con is extra early this year (July 8-July 12). I'm not ready! To add to the July excitement, my friends at TSG.tv are hosting a Mario Marathon from July 17-24 to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Initially, my intention was to Amtrak down to Texas after Comic-Con. However, after finding out that a number of my friends are road-tripping south, I decided to take advantage of the time between Comic-Con and Mario Marathon and take a road trip of my own! Here's my itinerary thus far: San Diego (for Comic-Con) El Paso, Texas San Antonio, Texas New Orleans, Louisiana Dallas, Texas (Mario Marathon) Santa Fe/Albuquerque, New Mexico Flagstaff, Arizona Santa Barbara, California In the next few weeks, I'll try to post about my planning process from packing, arranging transportation, to booking the cheapest lodgin
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Social Workers are Ridiculously Underpaid

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I try not to gripe about my salary too much. As a medical social worker in California, I know my salary is above average compared to the rest of the country, allowing me to do things that many other social workers cannot do. While I make nowhere near what people with engineering, medical/nursing, and business degrees make, with the exception of housing woes I am actually doing alright. However, I find it hard to stay quiet when it comes to unfair pay disparities within my profession. Social workers are mandated by their Code of Ethics to combat social injustice. One platitude frequently touted by the profession is "Equal Pay for Equal Work". While this statement is typically used to advocate for gender pay equality, I feel that it can also be applied to pushing for fair wages for social workers, especially those in the hospital setting. As many medical social workers know, our jobs overlap heavily with nurse case managers. In fact, I perform many of the same discharge
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Golden State Warriors NBA Championship Parade

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I will preface this post by saying that I'm a spoiled sports fan who roots for all Bay Area professional sports teams. Growing up, I was lucky enough to see Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and the San Francisco 49ers win multiple Super Bowls. I'll never forget the Battle of the Bay World Series of 1989, which I was preparing to watch on TV when the Loma Prieta earthquake happened. In college, I got to see Cal go to numerous bowl games and beat Stanford in the Big Game every single year I was a student. Between 2010 and 2014, I witnessed the magic of three successful World Series runs by the San Francisco Giants . Now, after 40 long years, it's time for the Golden State Warriors to have their moment! Yes, my friends who live in other states hate me, but I tell them I pay for it with Bay Area housing prices! While the Golden State Warriors play in Oakland (and moving to San Francisco in 3 years), what sets them apart is that they are the entire Bay Area's basketba
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Product Review: trèStiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon *UPDATE*

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Just wanted to post a quick follow-up to my review of trèStiQue's Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon ! Today, I received my replacement shiny lip balm in the mail. Included was a lovely handwritten note from Jenn, one of trèStiQue's co-founders! Handwritten note from Jenn! I cannot say enough about the quality of trèStiQue's lip products and their excellent customer service! They are just wonderful! Thank you again, and I look forward to trying out more products soon!
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The Costs of Moving Out (2015 Edition)

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As many of you are aware, I've been trying to move out of my parents' house for several years. Back in 2011 , I ran into barriers with the rental markets and couldn't justify the costs. In more recent years, I've lost numerous bidding wars in my failed attempt to buy a house/condominium in the Bay Area thanks to bubbling prices. Now, I've decided to try out the rental markets again and had set a goal to move out by this August. Unfortunately, I'm now having serious second thoughts over whether I can afford to live on my own without sacrificing my retirement and living paycheck to paycheck. Here's a rundown of expenditures should I choose to move: Rent: $1100 for a studio (one of the cheapest in the Silicon Valley) Utilities: $0 (included with the studio) Internet: $50 (no cheaper options) Food: $100 Cell Phone: $30 (T-Mobile prepaid plan) Health insurance: $250 Car insurance: $100 Gas/Car Maintenance: $300 Hygiene, cleaning supplies: $20 401K Cont
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Product Review: trèStiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon

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trèStiQue Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon As previously mentioned, I spent a considerable amount of time at the trèStiQue booth during Generation Beauty and fell in love with the makeup they have to offer. As a frequent traveler and someone who spends very little time applying makeup in the morning, I tend to gravitate towards products that are portable and multifunctional. According the website, "trèStiQue was founded by two industry veterans who believe: makeup should be simple for everyday and quick." This philosophy is perfectly in line with my personal habits! Lip Crayon unboxed Today, I'll be reviewing trèStiQue's Matte Color and Shiny Balm Lip Crayon in Florence Fig and Rose Balm. This item retails on the trèStiQue site for $28, but I purchased it for 15% off at Generation Beauty. Lip Crayon in Florence Fig and Rose Balm With their patent pending 2-in-1 system, trèStiQue uses high quality makeup and employs magnets and tools to create
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Generation Beauty 2015 Review

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After a most enjoyable trip to Disneyland, it was time to meet up with my friend for our second annual trip to Generation Beauty! For last year's recap of Generation Beauty, please go here: Much Needed Self-Care: Generation Beauty 2014 Generation Beauty is a makeup convention sponsored by ipsy which started in 2013 with 1000 attendees (as announced at the start of the event). Since then, Generation Beauty has grown to over 4000 attendees, with an additional convention taking place in the fall in New York. The two-day event starts on Friday night with a special invite-only party for special guests. Following that are two days where attendees have an opportunity to mingle with representatives from various makeup brands and attend mini-panels with their favorite bloggers and vloggers. As I've mentioned previously, I'm pretty much a novice when it comes to everything makeup related. While I spend more than I'd like to admit on cosmetics, I do not follow any makeup blogg
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