Olfactory Advice

One of the best pieces of advice I ever received from a professor when I was in college was totally unexpected.  When we were first year and learning about doing intakes, she cautioned us to be prepared for meeting people who smelled bad.

In our line of work we are often meeting people who have poor hygiene (for various reasons) or who are living in spaces that are not clean, and therefore smelling a lot less than  fresh.

It was a quick off-handed comment for the professor to make, but something I totally had not considered up until then.  I think it prepared me to handle some stinky situations with more grace than I may have otherwise, and certainly reminded me not to pass judgement on someone for their olfactory state.

Eight years later, if I had a dollar for every time I've written "malodour" in a note...

Academic Envy

A couple of my work colleagues are back at school this year, doing an upgrading program for working professionals.

Just overhearing them in the office have academic type conversations about white privilege, gender disparity, and social norms is making me itch to go back to school.  Or just butt into their conversation ;)

Interesting Things

...that I learned yesterday in French class.*

In french, you pronounce the ps in psych as in "psychiatre" (psychiatrist).

That is going to take some getting used to!








*our agency has been designated to provide french language services, so I've had the opportunity to start taking this class which is being paid for by my employer.  It's geared specifically toward people working in health-care settings, which has been really interesting so far!  Improving my french skills has been a personal goal for a long time, so I'm loving this.