The Things You Learn in Grad School....

So here is what I could write about in my blog today:

• All the different kinds of yummy things I could make using pumpkin as an ingredient

• A list of my house plants, their names, and which one I really don't care for but feel pressured to keep

• My confusion to why so many people think that my aversion to cotton balls is so "abnormal"

• Our first official Chi Alpha meeting of the semester, and the awesome things that Amy taught. Topic: Born to Demonstrate

• My annoyance with my glasses and the poor eyesight I have when I wear them; which causes me to tilt my head back and squint at the computer, which I am currently doing. I need to make an appointment. Pronto.

• My delight over my GA position, and the "assignment" that I have been given - which basically means I get to do homework all semester.

• A list of reasons explaining why I think ear wax is completely unnecessary

Although these blog topics are all VERY interesting, I feel compelled to write an excerpt from the textbook that I am currently reading.
The book is the Practice of Social Work, written by Charles H. Zastrow (who does a very fine job since I actually enjoy this textbook. Surprise, surprise!).
The chapter is titled "Counseling from the Client's Perspective" and the topic is "Conceptualize the Problem".
Since this is the type of textbook that tries to engage the bored and caffeine-filled graduate student, there are occasionally exercises provided where a scenario is given (based on the current topic) and you have a space to write out what you would do in that situation.
It's like an uninteresting creative workbook.
I just came across Exercise 5.6: Exploring a Socially Unacceptable Topic with Tact... and it just became interesting.
I'm so glad I read this, as I *ahem* tend to skip over the exercises.... I think of it as a waste of pen ink and that I'm doing my part in saving the environment.

Here is what Exercise 5.6 says.

"You are a social worker at a social service agency."
(Wow! Aren't they genius!? How did they know that I was reading this and that it wasn't an Art History major or something like that? OK. Sorry. Moving on.)

"You are a social worker at a social service agency. You have a client who rather frequently expels intestinal gas. You and the other staff at the agency find such behavior to be obnoxious. The person has been unemployed for the past three months, and in the past 14 years (the client is age 34), he has frequently been fired from janitorial jobs. You wonder if his frequent expulsion of intestinal gas may be a factor in causing his spotty work history. Write the words you would use in having him look at whether his obnoxious habit is a reason for his being discharged from jobs and a reason he has difficulty in now being hired."

....

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Needless to say, this is one exercise I plan on filling out. 

 I will be a GREAT social worker.