Baylor – a thousand new paths

praise for new paths

Published on June 29, 2015June 28, 2015 by Jess Stone3 Comments

Today begins my last week of classes. No, this is not going to be another sappy post about all the things I’ve learned in grad school. You’ve stuck with me through enough of those posts. No, this time I’m writing about all the things that I’m looking forward to now that we’re wrapping up this path and beginning on a new-ish adventure. Here we go:

Celebrating more than Christmas with family
- Birthdays, EASTER, Thanksgiving, Softball games, Sunday lunches, life
Starting a “big girl” job
- & praying for excellent supervision on my internship
- & meeting new people who love working as school psychs
Living 2 hours from the beach and 2 hours from the mountains
New town (and new food places) to explore
- farmer’s markets, bakeries, coffee shops…yes, please!
Praying for community and a church to join
Meeting new friends in our same stage of life
- We’re planting roots this time, y’all. Whether we’re there for a year or more, we are getting involved and making lifelong friendships.
Doing life with Case, wherever it takes us
- that’s our mantra: doing life together. & I can’t wait to see what life has in store

Things I will actually miss about Wacotown:

Sweet friends to share ~~war~~ work stories with
- And the piano man
Authentic Mexican food
Day/weekend trips to Austin (my favorite)
Common Grounds (caramel coffee crunch=life)
Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market
The place where Case and I got engaged, started our married life together, and shared our first “home”
Believe it or not, Baylor.

last first day

Published on June 1, 2015May 31, 2015 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

IT IS FINISHED!…well, almost. The spring semester is done, and today is my last first day of school. Praise! Someone take my picture and put it in a frame next to my first day of pre-school picture. Yes, the one with the blue jean hat to match my blue jean outfit. Thank you, ’90s. Anyway, as a celebration for being almost done I wanted to write a post on some things I learned this year. (Actual celebration to occur in real life with real people and real drinks to occur at a later date. This will have to do for now.)

I found the right profession for me.
Though I had my share of doubts some days I truly believe school psychology is a perfect fit for my passions and my personality. Organized and detail-oriented? Check! Passionate about kiddos and education? Check! Problem-solver and solution-finder? Check! I love it–most of it.
This year I started on practicum where I got to work in the schools with kiddos first-hand. They’re so fun and fabulous, and I never went home without a story, good or bad. I also got to consult with teachers, which I enjoyed more than I anticipated.

Many things require effort; few things require stress.
My husband always says that I stress too much, and until a few years ago I just thought that was part of my personality. I thought that a “healthy level” of stress was required to get stuff done. This year it really hit me that my high stress levels affect those around me, so I tried to tone it down a bit. (Tried being the key word…) Come to find out, you can get things done without stressing 24-7 over them! Imagine that! I used the 4 A’s of stress relief to help!

I need positive affirmation daily.
I will doubt myself until the grades come in, especially if I’m not getting regular feedback along the way. This year I especially learned that I either need to give myself positive affirmation or ask for feedback. It also helps to communicate regularly with supervisors and call your mom every once in a while just so she can tell you how fabulous you are.

It’s never too late…
For all the things I’ve learned and all the successes I’ve experienced this year, there have also been times where I wish I had done things differently. Well, it’s never to late to brush yourself off and try again. (You can dust it off and try again, try again. Sorry, excuse me while I channel the ’90s and Aaliyah.)

I seem to be good at the vague posts lately, so I guess I’ll just leave this one here as is. Happy first last day of class to all of you in the same boat!

how I survived my first year in graduate school

Published on August 29, 2014August 28, 2014 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

As I start my second year of grad school, I’d like to reflect on how I managed to survive that first year. It wasn’t easy, let me tell you. I constantly relied on God, a wonderful support system of friends and family, and the wisdom and insight of my professors. Here are a few more things that helped me finish my first year as a Baylor graduate student…

I constantly remind myself of why I’m here: At the end of this second semester, a powerful thought hit me: Everything that I learn here applies to real people with real struggles. My first year learning about school psychology morphed the way I interact with people, especially in my graduate assistantship. I’ve put strategies into place and noticed that I’m already helping people. I pull from articles I’ve read about study strategies and use techniques from my counseling classes, and I don’t know why, but sometimes I’m surprised to hear people say that I’m really helping. Below are just a few examples of things my undergrad students have told me since August:

“I hadn’t thought of that before. That could really work for me!”
“What am I going to do without you next semester?”
“Thank you for all of your help!”
While these statements are fairly simple in nature, in the context of all the struggles that my students experience each semester, these statements are huge!

I set aside “me time:” I quickly learned that if I wasn’t careful, I could easily spend all of my free time either working on homework or worrying about my courses. However, it took me a bit longer to realize that I needed to carve out time each day for myself. Whether I’m reading a book for fun, reading other blogs, searching through Pinterest, watching a silly show, or just sitting quietly–I learned to find things that I enjoyed and make time for those.

I share what I’ve learned: As a school psychologist, I will be an advocate for my students. The best way I know to do that now is to share what I’m learning in my classes. I talk with my family and friends pretty regularly about articles I’ve read. (Sorry, not sorry.) Not only does this prepare me for the real world and sharing information with parents of students, but it also helps me learn the material better.

I set realistic expectations for myself: Similar to “me time,” I had to figure out what worked for me in terms of study time. I quickly learned that it is unrealistic to finish all readings for class the night before. I learned that I had to set aside time to read in advance, and I had to be honest with myself about how much time I would spend on each subject. As an academic mentor, I’ve seen students who plan to study 20 hours a week and students who honestly plan about 3 hours a week to study, if they’re lucky. Yet, I think the students who plan fewer hours perhaps have some advantage in that they are more honest and realistic with themselves. For me, it made sense to start by figuring out how much time I was already studying for each class, and then I increased that as needed.

I quit the comparison game: People LOVE to compare, and they will compare ANYTHING and everything. How long is your paper? Have you started that project that’s due in 4 months? How long have you spent working on this assignment? I totally bombed that quiz; what did you get? (When they got an 80 on the quiz and you got a 60.)

I know the truth; you know the truth; everyone knows the truth: When we ask what others are doing, we don’t really care what THEY are doing. We just care about how they are doing compared to ourselves. It’s selfish, and it will destroy your identity as a student and a person.

If I didn’t learn it in undergrad, I definitely learned this in my first year of grad school. And I realized that it really doesn’t matter how much time or effort others put into their work. What matters is how much time and effort I put into my work. Just because others are spending more time and effort doesn’t necessarily mean they are doing better. And if they are doing “better” (however you want to define that), as long as I’m doing my personal best, that’s what matters to me.

If you haven’t picked up on the theme of this post yet, it’s this: to succeed, you have to know yourself, your strengths and weaknesses, your capabilities and limits. Then surround yourself with people who are willing to appreciate you for you and affirm that (and consequently, people who will call you out when you’re not being the best version of yourself). Seek wisdom. Seek growth. Seize opportunities. Lean on Christ. I’m out of short, sweet sentences, but hopefully you get the picture by now. 🙂 This first year has been a roller coaster ride, and the next year is shaping up to be the same way. But I wouldn’t have it to any other way. Here’s to more opportunities!

wrapping up the semester

Published on May 16, 2014May 15, 2014 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

Forgive my absence…in the past several weeks I’ve accomplished the following:

Received an A on a ridiculously intense group project. (Seriously, this is a miracle.)
Finished up the semester with a 4.0, which I am truly thankful for. For me, achieving a goal of all As again this semester reminds me that I have truly found my passion. I’m on the right track. I’ve always had a passion for education and helping children, and I learn new things each day that will empower me to be a great school psychologist. I am truly thankful to have found an area where my God-given talents and passion intersect. (Seriously, this is also a miracle, given the four years I spent borderline-hating my undergrad education.)

Mailed out Save the Dates to almost all of our closest friends and family. (Woo! Less than 250 days!)
Spent time with my dad while he was out in Texas on a work trip.

Had a phone conversation/celebration with my little cousin, who only missed ONE question on her math CRCTs. Glad somebody else in the family got the math gene!
Spent time with two sweet couples playing Just Dance and eating BOGO FRO-YO. (Doesn’t that have a great ring to it?)
Shopped, packed, re-packed, shopped again, and packed again for my trip to Costa Rica. (P.S. I’m still not done packing.)

Attended pre-marital counseling with the fiancé. (It’s going great, by the way. Perhaps I’ll talk about more in the next Wedding Wednesday.)

I’m thankful that this spring semester is over, and I am very much looking forward to this summer and all it has to offer! I do hope you will continue on this journey with me.

let semester two commence

Published on January 20, 2014January 19, 2014 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

Psychology of Learning, Psychopathology, Counseling, and Assessment II…welcome to my second semester of grad school and life as an aspiring school psychologist. Considering that my first semester was unexpectedly and overwhelmingly successful, I feel significantly more confident going into this second semester. It’s incredibly hard to describe, but I think something has changed in me. I feel like I’m rediscovering myself.

My passion for serving students and improving lives through education grew early on in my undergraduate studies. I went from wanting to be a teacher to wanting to completely revamp education, single-handedly. I wanted to change the face of education in America. Now I recognize that while I wasn’t being realistic, I was a dreamer, and all change starts with a dream. Well somewhere along the way, I lost the dreamer aspect of myself. I still wanted to make a difference. I wanted to work as a school psychologist. I wanted to help children in their journeys through education. But I lost my passion. I lost my confidence, my drive, my dream. I was going through the motions, writing personal statements, requesting recommendations, and applying to graduate schools. Yet, I wasn’t confident that I would get in, and I was quite convinced that I would just live in China forever if things didn’t pan out with grad school.
But as I’ve blogged before, I got into my top choice school. I moved halfway across the country for school, and it was tough. As some of my fellow cohort members were driving a few hours home every other weekend, I was trying to figure out what I was doing here. I felt like I was “doing school” all the time and still not doing well. Well, I shouldn’t have worried, as I did way better than I expected. Enter: renewed confidence and flourishing dreams. I feel it; it’s all coming back: my passion for learning, my drive to change the world (though I know I can’t do it single-handedly), my confidence that I can be all that I strive to be, my joy.

It’s all coming back, and not just due to a successful first semester in graduate school. I owe much of this to my supportive fiancé as well as the joy of wedding planning and merging our two families. And I could go without saying that all of this comes from a Creator who has my best interests at heart. My renewed joy comes from trusting in this plan of His. And while life isn’t always perfect, things are looking up. I look forward to learning how to be a good school psychologist, a loving wife, and a faithful Christian/friend.
Perhaps the greatest thing I’ve learned about life in general over the past couple of years is that there is always something to learn. As long as we focus on all of the things we can still learn, there’s no need to think about all of the things we’ve failed to learn. We will get there. It’s a process. & through this process, I vow to be kind to myself.

diamonds are forever

Published on January 14, 2014 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

shineon When I joined Alpha Delta Pi sorority just over four years ago, how could I have known just how much it would mean to me today? I never would have guessed that I would meet my maid of honor in ADPi, much less that I would become an advisor for an ADPi chapter halfway across the country. I became an advisor for the Zeta Chi chapter of ADPi here at Baylor last semester, but I really started getting involved just this past week. I currently serve as the Membership Education advisor, which is a dream. I helped out with recruitment some this week, and after the long week we finally got to meet all of the wonderful new alpha members!

On Sunday I got to hang out with the new alphas as they waited to go through the alpha ceremony, and it was fun getting to hang out. I mostly sat back and let the older members interact with the alphas. However, I did introduce myself at one point, and the ladies wanted to hear my engagement story and find out what it was like to be an ADPi member where it all started, in Macon, Ga. I guess I never before stopped to think that my personal ADPi experience would later impact future members. They loved it. They asked questions. They were eager to hear about my experience. They kept a conversation going with me when I just expected to introduce myself and have a seat. It was awesome to see that something that means so much to me is valued by others. Sisterhood is indescribable.

*lastdiamonddayblue-0024

Then on Monday I went to the first chapter meeting for ADPi here at Baylor, and it was a super emotional experience for me. I loved it. I love everything that makes ADPi, well, ADPi. Experiencing ritual with these ladies reminded me of my Beta Sigma chapter and how much I always cherished this aspect of the sorority. It also made me miss my Beta Sigma ladies immensely. I cannot express how thankful I am for the sisterhood and lifelong friendships I found through Alpha Delta Pi. And now I’m thankful that ADPi has served as a means through which I can continue to share in sisterhood and develop friendships even as an alum.

the proposal

Published on November 6, 2013April 11, 2016 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

My sisters are chatting about candle lighting ceremonies. My cousin has made herself available to help with questions and contest entries. Local friends have given me names and websites for photographers. My aunt and mom have already started planning. I now own several magazines. I have a rather large rock on my hand.
It’s official, I’m engaged!
For the story of how we met, click here.
And without further ado, here’s the detailed engagement story you’ve been waiting for…

Our engagement story:

On Friday, November 1st Cason went in to work and I planned an afternoon of shopping followed by an evening of studying. I was at Target when Cason texted me to let me know they had too many people for his shift, so he got to go home. I asked if we were making plans for the night, and he said he wanted to have a nice date night since we hadn’t planned one in a while. (This is not unusual–we like to randomly plan fun nights, spur of the moment, where I put on a dress and he wears something besides athletic shorts.) He picked me up at 6:30pm and we ended up going to dinner downtown at a place called Sam’s on the Square. They had about 10 different kinds of tacos to choose from–I got fish tacos, and they were surprisingly delicious. At dinner we did our fair share of people-watching; we constantly overhear tons of hilarious conversations among “college kids.” So at first I didn’t notice how quiet Cason was being. Towards the end of dinner I remember asking why he was so quiet–come to find out, he was super nervous.

After dinner we went to one of my favorite places in Waco–Katie’s Frozen Custard. We get Katie’s at least twice a week because it’s so delicious! Then we took our frozen treats to Baylor instead of to my house to watch TV, which is perhaps when I realized something was up. We parked on campus and walked towards Pat Neff Hall, passing the Judge Baylor statue and stopping in the gardens to sit and enjoy our frozen yogurt. At one point in our walk I got pretty excited about the shrubs because they were cut to spell “Baylor Bears,” and I remember thinking it was strange that Cason seemed indifferent. (We usually get excited about random/new things, but he had seen the shrubs before when he scoped out the location, and he had other things on his mind–which is obvious in retrospect.)

So we sat down in the middle of the garden looking at the glowing green Pat Neff Hall. I’m trying to eat my frozen custard, but it was unusually cold outside for Texas so I gave up and listened to Cason tell me the history of the glowing green light. (I’m still rather shocked that he did his research.) After sitting for a few minutes I told Cason that I had to go to the bathroom, so he said, “Well then I will make this quick.” (This is it!) Then he got down on one knee, with the glowing green building behind him, and he told me how much he had always looked forward to finding the right person, how at times he wasn’t sure it would happen, and how he was blessed to have found me. Then he said my full name and asked me to marry him. I said, “Yes” through my tears and I got down to hug and kiss him. Then he stood up and asked me if I was going to say yes (which apparently happens in more engagements than you would think), and I told him that I did say yes and that I do want to marry him. So he put the ring on my finger and we smiled and laughed and kissed and hugged. Then, since it was dark, he pulled out his iPhone and turned on his flashlight so I could see the ring. (It’s perfect, by the way. We previously looked at rings, so he had a good idea of what I wanted, and he just took it and ran with it. 🙂

We walked back to the car, giddy, and I asked all sorts of questions like, “Were you nervous? Did you think I would say no?” etc. (Yes he was nervous but not because he thought I would say no.) Once we got back to the car, we called my parents and face-timed them so they could see the ring. Then we face-timed Cason’s parents, who were on their way to Florida with his youngest brother. It was all very exciting to start sharing with family. I also called my aunt and my nana, and my cousin’s reaction was priceless.

People asked me if I was surprised, but I think the better question is, “Were you pleasantly surprised?” Truth be told, if I had no inclination that it was coming, I would have been surprised, but I’m not sure that I would have liked it. Cason’s proposal, for me, had the right balance of expectation and surprise. So yes, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a special moment shared between the two of us, which we will never forget. Even now when I drive by campus at night and see Pat Neff Hall glowing green in the distance, I get this big grin on my face.

taking a turn for the better

Published on October 17, 2013October 17, 2013 by Jess Stone1 Comment

Sorry for the delay in posts; graduate school consumes about 70% of my life now (and that’s probably an understatement). The first weekend of the month I actually flew home to see my cousin get married to her high school sweetheart. It was beautiful, and it was wonderful to see my family.

Last week I struggled with anxiety, and I was very sick on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thankfully I’m feeling better. I definitely bounced back more quickly than I would have this time last year. I’m thankful to have Cason here by my side. The move to Texas has been a transition for the both of us, but we are making it through together. Cason has a new job. I have new friends, I think (which is a big deal for me). I’ve even managed to stay in touch with some GA friends, and that’s honestly something I was most worried about; I’m terrible about keeping in touch, even with my best friends. I’m blessed to have friends who reach out to me especially given that we are all so busy.

Cason and I also believe we have found a new church home. The worship music is an excellent combination of contemporary worship music and new renditions of old hymns; it reminds me of RUF worship at Mercer. (Shout out to the RUF band! Miss you!) The sermons provide informative historical backgrounds for the verses each week, and I really like his preaching style. It’s all very Bible-oriented, which should be a no-brainer for the church, but these days it’s harder to find someone who actually preaches the Bible.

Anyway, now to school-related things. The past couple of weeks I have advised my undergraduate students to evaluate their midterm goals, so I decided to make a few of my own. I’ve encouraged my students to be open and honest, and I tried to do the same on my evaluation. Writing these goals down helped me get the ball rolling in some areas. I’ve already met a couple of goals on there, like talking to my professors, scheduling more time for coursework, and studying with my peers. Perhaps I should add some more goals to this list! Graduate school is bringing out a whole new side of me, and I like it!

I have my first exam in Ethics of School Psychology (<–short version of the course title) on Monday, and I’ve made a study plan to help me tackle all the information from 7 class days, an entire textbook, our program handbook, 10+ articles, and multiple PowerPoint presentations. Needless to say, I have a lot of studying to do, and it has already begun. Hopefully my brain won’t be fried after class and I can keep studying this evening. Even though I’ve only been there a couple of times, Common Grounds is one of my favorite places to study. Expect to find me there all weekend.

Lastly, today is my 1 year anniversary of this blog, and it’s Baylor homecoming week. Sic’em.

if at first you don’t succeed…

Published on September 26, 2013 by Jess Stone2 Comments

Downtown Oklahoma City–adorable. Last weekend Cason and I visited some friends from home, who are now stationed in OK City. They were the perfect hosts. They took us to dinner downtown at this place called Texadelphia. Cute little combo of Mexican and Philly cheese steaks. Delicious. Then we played Scattergories together and watched a hilarious Jim Carey movie. I love traveling, and I really like that living in Texas now gives us opportunities to travel to new places without having to drive really far distances.

I had my first statistics exam on Monday, and I did well. I’m thankful that I have this class my first semester in grad school because it is the one class where I’ve learned everything before. Intro to School Psychology is good so far because it has mostly been topics about School Psychology that I researched when looking at different school psych programs. Though my Psychology of Exceptional Children class is pretty new to me, a lot of it seems to be common sense so far. There are loads of acronyms that I’ve never seen before, but I’ve learned them pretty quickly. The biggest aspect of that class so far is that I will serve for 10 hours this semester outside of the classroom. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to tutor a 13-year old boy with Aspergers. I’m really eager to get started, and I’m glad that I will be tutoring him in my favorite subject–math.

Assessment is a completely new class; I never had the opportunity to learn how to administer cognitive abilities assessments. Why would I have needed to? Even though the class is new and sometimes difficult, the subject is interesting and necessary. In order to do my job as a school psychologist well, I have to learn how to administer these assessments. Today I will be administering my first assessment to another classmate. After sitting in class for two weeks “learning” how to administer this assessment, I’m just ready to get the show on the road and actually do it! It’s one thing to listen to someone tell you how to do it, but I have a feeling we will learn more today by administering the test than we have learned in the past two weeks. Experience seems to be the primary teacher in this field thus far.

The theme for the next several years will likely continue to be, “Let’s throw them to the wolves and see how they do.” The perfectionist in me doesn’t always like this idea. I am a planner, and I like to have expectations clearly defined before I embark on a large task. School psychology doesn’t work that way at all. The only way to learn is to attempt, fail, and try again. I like to watch others attempt and fail so that I can learn from that instead of making my own mistakes. Well, that’s not an option here, so I’m still trying to get used to that. Luckily, our first attempts and failures with administering this assessment are pretty low-risk. So we make several mistakes in front of our peers–they’re likely to make similar mistakes. Plus, I understand that they’d rather have us make the big mistakes with our peers and our professors instead of in the school setting.

On another note, I get to fly home next weekend for my cousin’s wedding, and I am SO excited! One, I love flying. Two, I love weddings. Three, I love Georgia. Four, I love my family. (That was in increasing order, if you didn’t notice.) Needless to say, this is going to be a pretty awesome weekend. Now I just have to get through five classes, several homework assignments, two quizzes, and one extra test administration & protocol. Not too bad, right? Honestly, it could be much worse. I’m just thankful for three-day weekends and fun events to look forward to!

a tiny grad school update

Published on September 17, 2013March 24, 2014 by Jess StoneLeave a comment

Random updates from Baylor U.

Connecting with ADPi alum/Baylor advisors made my week last week. We talked over an amazing dessert, and I’ll hopefully be getting more involved in helping with the ADPi chapter here at Baylor!
My first social circles group at the BARC (autism center) went as well as could be expected. We had two kids who didn’t come last week, so I’m interested to see what tomorrow’s social circle will look like.
I meet with the parent of a 13-year old boy with autism today. I will be tutoring him in math this semester. I am eager to meet them and get started, but I’ll admit that I’m also nervous about this new experience.
I have resolved to be more intentional about connecting with people from home/Mercer. The days are all a blur right now, so I honestly can’t keep track of who I’ve talked to and when. Sorry about that! I’m working on it.
I’ve been doing surprisingly well with my new budget! Eating at home and packing lunches helps a lot!
I’m enjoying getting to know my cohort better and interacting more with them in class. I’m ready to just “know” everyone.
Cason and I still love visiting new (to us) places in Waco. We went to Katie’s this weekend, and it was by far the best frozen dessert I’ve had. (They sell amazing frozen custard.)
Mondays are the absolute WORST. I’m still trying to figure out how to successfully navigate those without crashing at the end of the day. Work plus two 3-hour classes is more mentally exhausting than you would think.
Ending on a positive note, I’m very thankful to be a part of this program at Baylor. I know that my experiences here will be invaluable to my future career and life in general.