Education
This page takes you through relevant courses that I completed and showcases some of my coursework that I believe is relevant to my field. From my coursework, you will see how I have gained the skills and knowledge necessary for working with children in the hospital setting.
Technoference: Parental Influence on Language
In my Child Development class, I learned many stages a child goes through from birth to adolescence. As a part of the class, I had the opportunity to research the influence of the modern age of technology on child development and create a graphic to highlight the importance of language for a child. This class helped me solidify my developmental knowledge and will aid me in my career when assessing patient's developmental levels.
Grieving Children: Parenting Young Children Who Have Experienced Loss
Parent Education was a class I took that took an in depth look on the principles of working with parents in both individual and group settings. Working with parents is a huge part of being a Child Life Specialist. The following paper and webpage discuss parenting strategies for parenting children who are grieving, a group that is commonly found in the hospital setting. This research helped me to better understand a child's grief, how it differs from adults, and what ways are best to help them cope. This will be extremely useful for my career as I face bereavements and difficult situations.
Bereavement
Hospitalized Children and Their Families, a class I took during my undergraduate career, focused a section of the semester on bereavement. This four-part project highlights the stages of grief, how death is portrayed in the media, a list of books for different developmental levels that discuss grief and loss, and a memory making activity for children coping with a loss. Each of these activities are so helpful for children and their families experiencing loss and will be a huge part of my career as a Child Life Specialist.
Effects of Parental Divorce on Adolescents
In Adolescent Development, a class about the stages and stressors that come with adolescence, I had the opportunity to pick a research topic and work on it throughout the course of the entire semester. I chose to look into the effects of parental divorce on adolescents. The following paper is a literature review of the research on the psychological, emotional, and behavioral consequences divorce can have on adolescents. Knowing how certain stressors can affect development will be very helpful in the future.
Hindu Death Rituals
Death, Dying, and Bereavement was a class I took in my undergraduate career that provided me with an overview of death from many different angles. At one point in our semester, we chose a culture to research their teachings and rituals on death. This webpage is filled with information concerning Hindu funeral and practices regarding death and provides tips for working with Hindus at the end of life. This will be useful in my future career because I will come into contact with families from many different cultures. I will know what questions to ask, how to research their beliefs, and how to respect them in their grieving process.
Early Learning Center: Child Developmental Progress
Over the course of a semester in a class called Effective Guidance and Interaction with Young Children, I followed one of the children at the Early Learning Center's developmental progress and have summarized it in the following paper. This gave me the opportunity to practice and better my abilities for when I will make developmental assessments of children in the hospital. In the future, I will implement skills I learned such as teaching emotional regulation, scaffolding, and successfully talking to and building relationships with children in the hospital as well as in my everyday life.
Statistics on Physical Activity Levels Based on Child's Gender
Statistics for Social Sciences, a class I took at the undergraduate level, taught me how to analyze statistical data and present it well. This poster and write-up contains a statistical analysis of the difference in physical activity levels for boys and girls in Alabama that I conducted. It provides numerical evidence, reasons why the results may be true, and what the practical implications are for the future of children's activity levels. This class taught me how to use programs like Excel and how to most effectively present statistical data, which will be beneficial in my graduate career as well as when I make presentations in the clinical setting.
Therapeutic Play and Grieving Children
Therapeutic play is a huge part of being a Child Life Specialist. Therapeutic play allows children to express their feelings and gives the CLS an opportunity to correct any misconceptions they have. Therapeutic play can be really helpful for grieving children. Grieving can be very difficult for children, who at a young age may not understand what is going on. The paper attached explains the research behind and the benefits of therapeutic play for this population.
Personality Analysis
In a class I took called Professional Development and Ethics, I learned about myself, my skills, and solidified what my passions were. I learned about the ethical requirements and expectations in the workplace and also learned about building a resume, interviewing, networking, and professional communication. This paper I wrote at the beginning of my college career highlights explanations of my strengths in my personality, which were uncovered through a test, as well as my short and long-term goals for the future. This class was extremely important in my college career and set me on the right path for the future, equipping me with several helpful hints and skills I needed to know.
Diversity Statement
Family in Cross-Cultural Perspective is a class I took that examined diversity and culture around the world. In this statement, I discuss my previous experiences and how they have increased my cultural competence and have shaped me to be prepared for my future career.