Shift 8

Now that I have adjusted to the combo of girls and adolescence, I have to say, the adolescent grils are growing on me. There is a great deal of high pitched whining, manipulation, and over the top drama, but thankfully over the past three shifts I have developed some coping skills to prevent their antics from getting the best of me (at least some of the time). Also, these teen girls can be quite fun and loving. Their stories break your heart and compel empathy, and they like to sing the Sound of Music (something I haven’t yet found in the boys groups).

Over my last two shifts I realized how intense, fun, and extremely serious this job is. As staff we are the students’ legal guardians and their safety is our responsibility. With students who are, or potentially are, suicidal, it is our responsibility to protect them from themselves appropriately. The liability feels overwhelming at times.

Something fun from the week: Monday evening was the beginning of Passover. We have three girls in the group who are Jewish, so we celebrated by eating matzos and parsley and drinking grape juice, while our three Jewish girls acted out the story of Moses, Pharaoh, and the sea parting. I loved it.


Desert flowers are blooming all over now.


I meant to capture the waterfalls, but you can barely see them.


The staff team I worked with this week. We had a lot of fun.