Substance Abuse Counseling Certificate Completed January 2009!

“Never let go of hope. One day you will see that it all has finally come together. What you have always wished for has finally come to be. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and you will ask yourself... 'How did I get through all of that?” Anonymous

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In the mail I received a letter from the North Shore Community College, Registrar’s Office.

Dear Sherri:

Your application for graduation from North Shore Community College has been processed. I am pleased to inform you of your eligibility to graduate on January 15, 2009. You have earned a Certificate in Substance Abuse Counseling. Your diploma will be available on campus to pick up in February 2009.

You are eligible to participate in the annual commencement ceremony to be held on May 21, 2009.

Congratulations on your achievement and good luck in your academic pursuits.

Sincerely,

Ms. Mel Potoczak,
Associate Registrar

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OK – this may sound strange but I actually finished the Substance Abuse Counseling Program in May of 2007 – but technically I am considered a January 2009 graduate. WHY? Well, I wanted to waiver the "Intro to Psych" Course because I had other Psych Courses from my undergraduate and graduate programs. I sent the transcripts over to North Shore Community College – not to be transferred but to waivered as a course requirement. Somehow my paper work got “lost in the shuffle” and I waited and waited and waited to hear back regarding my request. In fact, I waited for TWO years!

All of my friends that I had classes with graduated and moved on to work in the counseling field. I stayed behind and worked at the North Shore Community College’s Computer Lab. I didn’t mind this so much but because I liked working in the lab and assisting with computer questions - plus I really enjoy being on the computer and writing my Toastmasters speeches and posting on blog. But since my hours have been reduced at the lab (along with many others) I realized it is time for a BIG change. And "CHANGE HAS COME".

Ironically when I was in Calgary attending the Toastmasters International Convention in August an instructor Joe from North Shore heard my interview with Bob Oaks on “Fighting Domestic Violence” that aired on WBUR 90.9 Boston NPR News Station.

This is the link if you want to read/hear it.
http://www.wbur.org/news/2008/79443_20080818.asp

Joe was very instrumental in helping me to finally get my certificate because he was able to connect me with Mel from the Registrar’s office where I once again I filled out the paper work and waited and waited and then I opened up my letter of completion!

FINALLY it is official in January 2009 I will have my certificate and can get a job in the counseling field! Wish me luck - I will keep you posted since I am now "CERTIFIABLE" j/k - giggle and grin!

Oh and BTW - I have applied for a position here at NSCC that is perfect for what I want to do - allowing me to utilize my educational background and counseling skills.
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Did your paper work or project ever get “lost in the shuffle”? How did you handle it? Did you give up? Wait a year or two like I did? Or did you address it right away?

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Definition of Substance abuse

http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=24405

Substance abuse: The excessive use of a substance, especially alcohol or a drug.

(There is no universally accepted definition of substance abuse.)

A definition of substance abuse that is frequently cited is that in DSM-IV, the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) issued by the American Psychiatric Association. The DSM-IV definition is as follows:

• A. A maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period:

1. Recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home (e.g., repeated absences or poor work performance related to substance use; substance-related absences, suspensions or expulsions from school; neglect of children or household)

2. Recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (e.g., driving an automobile or operating a machine when impaired by substance use)

3. Recurrent substance-related legal problems (e.g., arrests for substance-related disorderly conduct

4. Continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance (e.g., arguments with spouse about consequences of intoxication, physical fights)

• B. The symptoms have never met the criteria for Substance Dependence for this class of substance.

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Commencement

http://www.answers.com/topic/commencement
1. A beginning; a start.
2.

a. A ceremony at which academic degrees or diplomas are conferred.
b. The day on which such a ceremony occurs.
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Graduation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduation

Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, students are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also called commencement, convocation or invocation. At the University of Cambridge, it is known as general admission. In the United States and Canada, it is also used to refer to the advancement from a primary or secondary school level.

When ceremonies are associated, they usually include a procession of the academic staff and candidates. Beginning at the secondary school level in the United States, the candidates will almost always wear academic dress, and increasingly faculty will do the same. At the college and university level, the faculty will usually wear academic dress at the formal ceremonies, as will the trustees and degree candidates. "Graduation" at the college and university level occurs when the presiding officer confers degrees upon candidates, either individually or en masse, even if graduates physically receive their diploma later at a smaller college or departmental ceremony.

BACK TO SCHOOL!

“Every student can learn, just not on the same day, or the same way”. George Evans

As with MANY other parents and adults who are assisting their children/students with getting ready for the 2008-2009 academic year - I am running around getting all the necessary items and school supplies for Sabrina to begin fifth grade. I think I have just about everything on the St. Pius V. list and I am sure there will be a few more things to add throughout the year.

Sabrina has three plaid jumpers hanging in her closet and I don’t plan on buying ANYMORE! Believe me she will be eager to hand them off to someone else by June 2009! Then next year she will finally wear the middle school uniform (6th-8th grade) - grey skirt, white button down collar and blue vest.

This will be the first year Sabrina will be upstairs with the upperclassman. I couldn’t be happier with the decision I made in December 2003 when I met with the Principal, Mr. Maestranzi to send her to St. Pius V. in January 2004. http://www.stpiusvschool.org/

Some important reasons I wanted Sabrina to attend St. Pius V. School in Lynn was for the location, the discipline, religion, the uniform and more importantly for the consistency and stability from being in the same school from grade K to grade 8. Because when I was growing up I certainly lacked "consistency and stability" during my educational years.

In fact, I moved around so often that I went to a different school every year including five different fifth grades. This was partly due to the fact that I stayed back in fifth grade. AND partly because I was removed from my biological mother in fifth grade and went to live with Catholic nuns at Nazareth (like a group home type orphanage) in Jamaica Plain in Boston in 1976.

We also went to school at Nazareth - on the same grounds - but it did not provide the educational requirements that it should have. I am not sure if it was a Chapter 766 but I was very disappointed that I was not learning MANY things and I lost out on during an entire year. But that was in the 70’s and today’s educational standard requirements and rules about private residential schools are much higher.
http://www.doe.mass.edu/

Some people wonder how I was able to finish school, graduate from high school, go on to college, earn a Bachelor Degree and then a Masters in Education.(?)

...Well, it took a willingness to WANT to complete school where others in my situation – did give up and drop out. AND as unstable as going to school was because I moved around so many times – for me really I found school to be something I could count on because I had to go everyday. It certainly helped my social skills and ability to adapt too many different settings. I was also the class clown (in a good way) and people liked my “quick wit” – even the teachers! Using my sense of humor helped my get through my younger years and it still does!

Someday I hope to go on to law school and earn a law degree - Dr. in Jurisprudence…

...But for now Sabrina is entering the fifth grade and I need to help her get through her last year of elementary school, middle school, high school and college (I hope!)

Has your education ever held you back from becoming the person you want to become – or doing the thing you REALLY want to do?

Why not make a commitment to earning the education that you want to earn? Or if it isn’t education…WHAT IS Holding you back from taking that step forward?

“Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands”. ANNE FRANK


www.findyourplatform.com

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FACTS
Education

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&defl=en&q=define:education&sa=X&oi=glossary_definition&ct=title


Definitions of education on the Web:

• the activities of educating or instructing; activities that impart knowledge or skill; "he received no formal education"; "our instruction was ...

• knowledge acquired by learning and instruction; "it was clear that he had a very broad education"

• the gradual process of acquiring knowledge; "education is a preparation for life"; "a girl's education was less important than a boy's"

• the profession of teaching (especially at a school or college or university)

• the result of good upbringing (especially knowledge of correct social behavior); "a woman of breeding and refinement"

• Department of Education: the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with education (including federal aid to educational institutions and students); created 1979
wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

• Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, positive judgment and well-developed wisdom. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education

• The Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (6 Edw. VII c. 57).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education (Provision of Meals) Act 1906


• The 1907 Education (Administrative Provisions) Act was an Act of Parliament passed by the Liberal government as part of their Liberal reforms package of welfare reforms. The Act set up school medical services run by local government
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education (Administrative Provisions) Act 1907

• The Additional Support for Learning Act is a Scottish law enacted in 2004. It seeks to redefine the area of providing special education to children with additional needs by establishing a framework for the policies of inclusion and generally practicing the "presumption of mainstreaming" in ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education (Additional Support for Learning ) (Scotland) Act 2004

• The process or art of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment; Facts, skills and ideas that have been learnt, either formally or informally
en.wiktionary.org/wiki/education


LAW DEGREE

Doctoral of Jurisprudence - Juris Doctor

The degree awarded to an individual upon the successful completion of law school.

Juris doctor, or doctor of Jurisprudence, commonly abbreviated J.D., is the degree commonly conferred by law schools. It is required in all states except California (which includes an option called law office study) to gain Admission to the Bar. Gaining admission to the bar means obtaining a license to practice law in a particular state or in federal court.

Until the 1930s and 1940s, many states did not require a person to have a law school degree in order to obtain a license to practice law. Most lawyers qualified for a license by working as an apprentice for an established attorney for a specified period. By the 1950s most states required a law school degree. State legislatures established this requirement to raise the standards of practicing attorneys and to restrict the number of attorneys. The degree offered by most Colleges and Universities was called a master of laws (L.L.M.) degree. In the 1960s, as colleges and universities increased the requirements for a law degree, the J.D. replaced the L.L.M. as the primary degree awarded by law schools.

The specific requirements for a J.D. vary from school to school. Generally, the requirements include completing a minimum number of class hours each academic period, and taking certain mandatory courses such as contracts, TORTS, Civil Procedure, and Criminal Law in the first year of law school. All states require that students pass a course on Professional Responsibility before receiving a J.D. degree.

http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Doctorate+of+jurisprudence
Juris Doctor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juris_Doctor

• Juris Doctor (abbreviated J.D. or JD, from the Latin, Teacher of Law) is a first professional[2] graduate degree[3] and professional doctorate[4] in law. The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century as a degree similar to the old European doctor of law degree (such as the dottore di giurisprudenza in Italy and the Juris Utriusque Doctor or J.U.D.[5] in Germany) and the legal studies counterpart to the M.D. degree.[6] Originating from the 19th century Harvard movement for the scientific study of law, it is the first and only law degree that has a goal of being the primary professional preparation for lawyers (and therefore a terminal professional degree).

It is the only professional doctorate in law, and is different from other doctorate programs in being a three-year program – many doctorates are four years or longer. Just like other professional doctorates in the United States (D.O., M.D., D.D.S., D.P.T., D.P.M., D.C., etc.), a research dissertation or thesis is not a part of the degree. However, a one-year legal research requirement culminating in the successful preparation of a written and oral appellate brief is required.

In most jurisdictions, the oral portion of the requirement must be argued successfully before a tribunal comprised of actual judges.[citation needed] This degree primarily exists in the United States, but recently has appeared in universities in other countries for the first time, although it has a unique form in each country.