What I Came Up With

Well after about three months of nothing but dead ends, I was about to pull my hair out.

But instead of pulling my hair out, I decided I would volunteer at the VA hospital my mother works at in the mental health department since my degree is in psychology. I figured if I can't get a job because I lack experience, I could volunteer and get experience in that way, and that I should volunteer in a place that I could use my degree on some level. I would also be able to make contacts and have good references for when I apply for jobs and graduate school.

After going around in circles trying to do the paperwork for becoming a volunteer (it took a really long time and parking at this hospital is atrocious) and finding someone who will take me in under their wing I was ready to go, in the substance dependence treatment program for veterans.

What do I do?

At first I sat in on classes with the veterans so get a feel of how things worked in the program. The veterans would talk to me about their experiences during the wars they were in and the struggles they went through. They also taught me things like how to get high off of Pam and other household cleaners! Which I will never try, and honestly have no interest in, but I found that interesting and it was quite a laugh.

I also do patient reviews, case reviews, random projects they have for me to do, research, literature reviews and even some projects they have dealing with their homeless population (which is a decently large number).

Okay, so I'm a volunteer, what do I do about income? Because I'm not getting paid to drive to the hospital every morning to do all this work, and I don't get an allowance or anything. I had to go and find a part time job that would be flexible with my schedule.