Formatting code for MikeSulkowski
11/10/06
A little update:
Right now, I’m in the home stretch and looking forward to returing to Buffalo for Thanksgiving and assessing all the damage that WNY has sustained. I hope that everything is getting back to the way it was up there.
Since the last post my roles at Shands include conducting individual therapy, designing behavioral plans/interventions, participating in group and family therapy, and administering psychological/psychoeducational assessments. Already, this experience has changed the way that I perceive the roles and functions of school psychologists—particularly at the Ph.D. level. Many of the counseling, clinical, medical, and psychiatric interns and residents at the hospital covet the training and experience that we receive in psychological assessment; it is not unusual to have a few of these people sitting in and observing during testing sessions.
In addition to my work at Shands, I have become involved with a large study in the IRB process right now and expected to go live before December. We are exploring the prevalence and outcomes associated with bullying and cyberbulling behavior for a whole county in Florida. Through passive consent, every middle school aged child in the county will participate, and from the data we collect, we are expected to design a bullying-prevention plan for the whole district. Truly a lot of responsibility on my part, but I’m excited and look forward to presenting the results.
To summarize my experience in grad school thus far, it is what you make it. If you are motivated, proactive, and seek out experiences that pique your interest, you will succeed, thrive, and become a part of things you would have never envisioned. However, if you are passive and expect others to dictate to you, expect to be confused, lost, and amiss. The best thing that you can do is to do what prosocial human beings do naturally and make friends; develop a good relationship with the professors in your department, your advisor, and most importantly the advanced students in the program. The students in your program will tell you how it is; and moreover, depending on how things go, might even pick up the tab on occasion.
Again, grad school is what you make of it. It can be a daunting, dehumanizing, experience, where you toil away for hours to upstage the other students in your classes or cohort. Conversely, it can also be a great time to build bridges, develop working alliances—and most importantly—find friends who share similar experiences and interests. After all, you are not the only person going through the program; you are not going to be going it alone.
If anyone has any questions, concerns, or thinks that they could use a nice 3-5 year vacation down in sunny Florida, do not hesitate to contact me.
Later,
Mike
Sulkowsm@ufl.edu
----
Hey everyone,
Since moving to Gainesville in August, I have been busy! In addition to all the fun involved with moving across the country and becoming established in graduate school, I have been able to accomplish quite a bit. Right now, I am involved with research investigating student learning styles and temperament of children in Africa. I am working with the world-renowned Dr. Thomas Oakland who is a pleasure to learn from. Additionally, at my practicum site in the Putnam County Schools, I am working on reading and behavior cases. These cases allow me to apply what I learn in class in real-world settings and directly with real students.
To make a living and cover tuition, I have a graduate assistantship as the Test Librarian for the School Psychology department where my duties include hanging out, getting work done, drinking coffee, eating lunch, and the occasional odd job. Is a truly wonderful position and I am fortunate to have it. As an additional source of experience and income, I picked up a paid internship position at the Shands Vista hospital funded by a large grant. At Vista, an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, and licensed behavioral health counselors, provide inpatient services to seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. So far, I have learned much from these opportunities and experiences and I look forward to what the future has in store.
Well thats about it for now but I'll keep everyone posted. Signing off: a Griffen in the Gator Nation.
If you would like to contact me, email sulkowsm@ufl.edu and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
----
It’s about 10:00 A.M.; the temperature is already in the middle-to-upper 80’s; the sky is deep blue and broad, and I will begin graduate school in three days. This will be the first semester of many while I pursue a Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Florida. The change has begun: I will soon make the transformation from a “Golden Griffin” to a member of the “Gator Nation.”
Incredibly, not much more than a year ago, I made the quick transformation from an Education/History major to a Psychology/History major; took a few summer classes, and then rounded out my education by taking the most relevant classes for graduate training. Undoubtedly, I was only able to accomplish this quick transition trough the help of many wonderful faculty members at Canisius, so if you need guidance, go see them sooner rather than later.
By taking advantage of the relatively small classes at Canisius and developing great and enduring relationships with many professors, I now feel well prepared for what’s in store for me in graduate school. With alacrity, I’m looking forward to meeting the members of my cohort, participating in well-funded research, and receiving a stipend to work as a graduate assistant in the SP department. I will now dilate on the last point . . .
If you choose to pursue psychology in graduate school—and particularly if you decide to leave the state—you may feel overwhelmed by the exorbitant cost associated with continued education. Anxiety may turn to fear while your grace period diminishes on your undergraduate loans and banks atavistically remind you that interest rates are expected to increase; and now—already in debt—you are considering incurring the additional financial burdens of grad school? Fear not. It’s not how you think . . .
First, when you begin attending school again you can generally defer your loan repayment in much the same way you did as an undergraduate. You may however, choose to pay off certain loans with high interest if that’s a viable option. It’s important to quickly establish a relationship with your finical advisor at the grad school of your choice. They will be your guiding light through the stormy seas of financing your education. Additionally, they can also inform you about fellowships, scholarships, and subsidized loans (loans where the government pays the interest while you’re school—essentially a gift) that you may qualify for. These services are all provided so that you can be a successful student and not subject to the tumult and travail of spending all your time serving drinks or bagging groceries in grad school. They are designed to help both you and the school. You can remain focused on your advanced education and the college is able to inculcate you with the skills to be a meaningful professional contributor in your field.
A second avenue that you should inquire about to lessen the financial load pertains to the type of assistantship opportunities available to students. Generally, Ph.D. students are first in line for these as they often entail lengthy research with faculty members who have received multi-year grants and Ph.D. students are simply in grad school longer. Assistantships generally come with a weekly/biweekly stipend (money paid for work) and also reduce the cost of tuition. For instance, my assistantship will cover ¾ of my tuition costs and pay me enough to cover my living expenses as well i.e. rent, food, gas . . . Of course, there is a good deal of variability regarding assistantships so it is important to ask faculty members and more experienced grad students about what is usually available; again, preferably sooner rater than later.
To summarize some of the points discussed: after getting into grad school a whole new challenge awaits you; the challenge of financing your education. This task may be daunting but remain steadfast and undeterred: avenues and services are available to help you. Be proactive; establish connections with all the pertinent people in your department and university and things will usually fall into place.
AlumniPages
CategoryUser
{{category}}
A little update:
Right now, I’m in the home stretch and looking forward to returing to Buffalo for Thanksgiving and assessing all the damage that WNY has sustained. I hope that everything is getting back to the way it was up there.
Since the last post my roles at Shands include conducting individual therapy, designing behavioral plans/interventions, participating in group and family therapy, and administering psychological/psychoeducational assessments. Already, this experience has changed the way that I perceive the roles and functions of school psychologists—particularly at the Ph.D. level. Many of the counseling, clinical, medical, and psychiatric interns and residents at the hospital covet the training and experience that we receive in psychological assessment; it is not unusual to have a few of these people sitting in and observing during testing sessions.
In addition to my work at Shands, I have become involved with a large study in the IRB process right now and expected to go live before December. We are exploring the prevalence and outcomes associated with bullying and cyberbulling behavior for a whole county in Florida. Through passive consent, every middle school aged child in the county will participate, and from the data we collect, we are expected to design a bullying-prevention plan for the whole district. Truly a lot of responsibility on my part, but I’m excited and look forward to presenting the results.
To summarize my experience in grad school thus far, it is what you make it. If you are motivated, proactive, and seek out experiences that pique your interest, you will succeed, thrive, and become a part of things you would have never envisioned. However, if you are passive and expect others to dictate to you, expect to be confused, lost, and amiss. The best thing that you can do is to do what prosocial human beings do naturally and make friends; develop a good relationship with the professors in your department, your advisor, and most importantly the advanced students in the program. The students in your program will tell you how it is; and moreover, depending on how things go, might even pick up the tab on occasion.
Again, grad school is what you make of it. It can be a daunting, dehumanizing, experience, where you toil away for hours to upstage the other students in your classes or cohort. Conversely, it can also be a great time to build bridges, develop working alliances—and most importantly—find friends who share similar experiences and interests. After all, you are not the only person going through the program; you are not going to be going it alone.
If anyone has any questions, concerns, or thinks that they could use a nice 3-5 year vacation down in sunny Florida, do not hesitate to contact me.
Later,
Mike
Sulkowsm@ufl.edu
----
Hey everyone,
Since moving to Gainesville in August, I have been busy! In addition to all the fun involved with moving across the country and becoming established in graduate school, I have been able to accomplish quite a bit. Right now, I am involved with research investigating student learning styles and temperament of children in Africa. I am working with the world-renowned Dr. Thomas Oakland who is a pleasure to learn from. Additionally, at my practicum site in the Putnam County Schools, I am working on reading and behavior cases. These cases allow me to apply what I learn in class in real-world settings and directly with real students.
To make a living and cover tuition, I have a graduate assistantship as the Test Librarian for the School Psychology department where my duties include hanging out, getting work done, drinking coffee, eating lunch, and the occasional odd job. Is a truly wonderful position and I am fortunate to have it. As an additional source of experience and income, I picked up a paid internship position at the Shands Vista hospital funded by a large grant. At Vista, an interdisciplinary team of mental health professionals including psychiatrists, psychologists, and licensed behavioral health counselors, provide inpatient services to seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents. So far, I have learned much from these opportunities and experiences and I look forward to what the future has in store.
Well thats about it for now but I'll keep everyone posted. Signing off: a Griffen in the Gator Nation.
If you would like to contact me, email sulkowsm@ufl.edu and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
----
It’s about 10:00 A.M.; the temperature is already in the middle-to-upper 80’s; the sky is deep blue and broad, and I will begin graduate school in three days. This will be the first semester of many while I pursue a Ph.D. in School Psychology at the University of Florida. The change has begun: I will soon make the transformation from a “Golden Griffin” to a member of the “Gator Nation.”
Incredibly, not much more than a year ago, I made the quick transformation from an Education/History major to a Psychology/History major; took a few summer classes, and then rounded out my education by taking the most relevant classes for graduate training. Undoubtedly, I was only able to accomplish this quick transition trough the help of many wonderful faculty members at Canisius, so if you need guidance, go see them sooner rather than later.
By taking advantage of the relatively small classes at Canisius and developing great and enduring relationships with many professors, I now feel well prepared for what’s in store for me in graduate school. With alacrity, I’m looking forward to meeting the members of my cohort, participating in well-funded research, and receiving a stipend to work as a graduate assistant in the SP department. I will now dilate on the last point . . .
If you choose to pursue psychology in graduate school—and particularly if you decide to leave the state—you may feel overwhelmed by the exorbitant cost associated with continued education. Anxiety may turn to fear while your grace period diminishes on your undergraduate loans and banks atavistically remind you that interest rates are expected to increase; and now—already in debt—you are considering incurring the additional financial burdens of grad school? Fear not. It’s not how you think . . .
First, when you begin attending school again you can generally defer your loan repayment in much the same way you did as an undergraduate. You may however, choose to pay off certain loans with high interest if that’s a viable option. It’s important to quickly establish a relationship with your finical advisor at the grad school of your choice. They will be your guiding light through the stormy seas of financing your education. Additionally, they can also inform you about fellowships, scholarships, and subsidized loans (loans where the government pays the interest while you’re school—essentially a gift) that you may qualify for. These services are all provided so that you can be a successful student and not subject to the tumult and travail of spending all your time serving drinks or bagging groceries in grad school. They are designed to help both you and the school. You can remain focused on your advanced education and the college is able to inculcate you with the skills to be a meaningful professional contributor in your field.
A second avenue that you should inquire about to lessen the financial load pertains to the type of assistantship opportunities available to students. Generally, Ph.D. students are first in line for these as they often entail lengthy research with faculty members who have received multi-year grants and Ph.D. students are simply in grad school longer. Assistantships generally come with a weekly/biweekly stipend (money paid for work) and also reduce the cost of tuition. For instance, my assistantship will cover ¾ of my tuition costs and pay me enough to cover my living expenses as well i.e. rent, food, gas . . . Of course, there is a good deal of variability regarding assistantships so it is important to ask faculty members and more experienced grad students about what is usually available; again, preferably sooner rater than later.
To summarize some of the points discussed: after getting into grad school a whole new challenge awaits you; the challenge of financing your education. This task may be daunting but remain steadfast and undeterred: avenues and services are available to help you. Be proactive; establish connections with all the pertinent people in your department and university and things will usually fall into place.
AlumniPages
CategoryUser
{{category}}
