LiW so nervous

[mimzy]

this has nothing to do with getting/being engaged but....

tomorrow is my first day of clinic for my masters program. i know all the theory, and all the proper processes, but i am nervous that it is all going to go right out of my head when the kids walk in the room. I''m scared i''m going to freeze and not know what to do, and that my supervisor is going to tell me i am probably better cut out for cosmetology school and strip me of my snazzy embroidered lab coat.

i''ve been trying to distract myself by browsing through my bridal bargains book...and for the first time...ever...not even that is enough to settle me down

probably won''t be sleeping much tonite.....

 

[Haven]

Mimzy--I could tell you to not be nervous, but I understand the feeling and I know how hard it is to actually do it.

This is what I do when I''m nervous about something: I lie in bed and picture myself doing an incredible job the next day and becoming wildly successful and well known for pulling off whatever it is that I''m nervous about doing. And you know what? It works--it totally calms my nerves because I start to feel great about myself, and then I drift off to sleep because being so phenomenal is really, truly exhausting!

Good luck with your first day tomorrow, I''m going to envision you doing incredibly well, perhaps that will help!

 

[Miscka]

Well this may not help much but I was SUPER nervous about a work situation this week, and when it was over I had no idea why I was so nervous. Get some sleep, I know you will be great!!! Can I ask, what kind of program are you doing? Good luck, let us know how it goes.

 

[sera]

I can totally relate! Yesterday for practicum I had my first experience interpreting for the Deaf-Blind. I get nervous any time since this is all new to me... but I was freaking cuz it''s different than what I''ve been doing. My stomach was all upset and I kept thinking, "What if I don''t understand what they are saying?!?!? What if I say something that is soooo wrong?! What if I''m like ''Uhhhhhhhhh, huh?! Can you repeat that? Ummm... can you repeat that again? Third time''s a charm?" I did fine even through the beginning I was making typing errors on the TeleTouch (you type and braille letters come up)... the world didn''t come to an end when I made those mistakes. I had an awesome time, learned a lot, and next time will be less nervous.

Just breath... relax... and just do your best with a good attitude and you will be fine

Usually, your training just comes naturally to you. For example, I had always wondered if I would actually remember my first aid training in an emergency. That was put to the test at a bad car accident... I was calm and just knew what to do as I had been trained. I''m sure it will come to you too... IF you draw a blank on something, that''s ok, just move on and come back to it when you can... try remember what leads up to what you forgot and/or what follows. Clinic... practicum... etc... those are places to learn and practice- Good luck

 

[Delster]

Aw mimzy I totally understand how you feel!!!

This time last year I was starting on my professional law degree and was dead nervous because it''s a really intense performance-driven course. You stay in groups of 16 for the whole year and learn through exercises. No lectures. At all. On the first day they made us interview the student sitting next to us and then make a speech introducing them to the whole class. Within two weeks they had us running bail applications to a camera and then they''d immediately play it back for your classmates to critique. But, after every challenge, you come out exhilarated. You think "I just ran a bail application! Badly... but I did it! Woooo! GO ME!!!"

I promise that with each scary task you accomplish - and you will accomplish them! - your confidence will soar. And when you make mistakes - cos that will happen too! - embrace them and learn from them. They don''t expect you to know it already, otherwise no-one would need to do the course, eh?

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

 

[lsyama]

mimzy, I hope you were able to get some sleep, and I hope your first day went well!

 

[Independent Gal]

Here''s something that sometimes helps me. It''s pretty silly, but hey whatever works!

If I''m going into a new situation, I sometimes play a game where I pretend that I''m an IMPOSTER / spy. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to be so convincing at doing X that nobody can tell that I''m actually NOT X.

So, e.g., if you''re a teacher in training and in the classroom for the first time, you pretend that you have to be a teacher-imposter and fool everyone into thinking you''re a teacher. Then you ''act the role'' and it feels like a fun game, instead of a terrifying challenge. See?

Another thing I''ve learned is that just because I ''feel'' like an imposter, doesn''t mean I look like one. So long as you don''t tell any of the kids you''re nervous, they will just assume you are the person-in-authority and treat you accordingly.

Just in general, decided that something scary WILL BE FUN, DAMNIT! can actually make it so.

Good luck!

 

[mimzy]

thanks for all the encouragement girls, i appreciate it so so much.

miscka - i''m in a speech language pathology program and today was our first day with our clients. intense!


the sessions went pretty well, and i was pretty happy with myself....until we got our "feedback" from our supervisor (not exactly feedback so much as worthless statements that made us feel like she didn''t even observe us! i.e. "do 45 minutes of therapy" when we are supposed to be assessing for two weeks!!). and now i am even more nervous because i don''t feel like i have my bearings anymore than i did before!

indygal- my momma always told me to fake it till you make it....and that''s what i did! kind of like you said. i faked confidence and i was such a good faker i even fooled myself into thinking i was fine. it was actually the first time in probably seventeen years that has worked, haha.

thanks again everyone!