Today we have a guest post from a long time reader of our blog! This is her child life story so far! Thanks Emily!
The Adventure of an Aspiring Child Life Specialist: Emily

I became interested in becoming a Certified Child Life
Specialist the second semester of my freshman year in college. As a first
semester freshman pursuing nursing, I quickly discovered that the field of
nursing was not for me. Having a strong desire and passion for working with
children, I began researching career options that would allow me to do so in a
hospital setting. Through my own online research, I discovered the field of
child life. Since then, my passion and motivation to become a Child Life
Specialist has continued to grow!
Child life is a career that allows you to make a difference
in the lives of hospitalized children through advocating, preparing, educating
and most importantly playing! It is certainly not surprising that so many
individuals want to pursue a career as a Certified Child Life Specialist, but with
popularity comes competition. This past summer I had the wonderful opportunity
to volunteer with the Johns Hopkins Hospital Child Life Department. Every
Tuesday and Thursday I would begin on the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and
finish my day on the adolescent unit. Having the opportunity to be a child life
volunteer at Johns Hopkins Hospital was truly the highlight of my summer!
As the season was coming to an end, I began working towards the next step of my child life journey: completing child life practicum applications for the spring semester. I cannot tell you the number of hours I poured into my five applications to hospitals in Maryland, Washington D.C. and even as far as Oklahoma. At the end of August I began to send some of my applications out. When application deadlines began to pass, I started receiving emails from child life practicum coordinators about setting up interviews. I was thrilled to have been offered interview opportunities. Last spring I applied for a practicum but was told I could not be offered an interview due to my lack of hospital experience with children. While I understood that practicum positions had become pretty competitive, I think I was still unaware of just how competitive they had become. Many students may qualify for an interview but only one to two individuals are usually chosen per hospital for the position. No pressure, right?
As the season was coming to an end, I began working towards the next step of my child life journey: completing child life practicum applications for the spring semester. I cannot tell you the number of hours I poured into my five applications to hospitals in Maryland, Washington D.C. and even as far as Oklahoma. At the end of August I began to send some of my applications out. When application deadlines began to pass, I started receiving emails from child life practicum coordinators about setting up interviews. I was thrilled to have been offered interview opportunities. Last spring I applied for a practicum but was told I could not be offered an interview due to my lack of hospital experience with children. While I understood that practicum positions had become pretty competitive, I think I was still unaware of just how competitive they had become. Many students may qualify for an interview but only one to two individuals are usually chosen per hospital for the position. No pressure, right?
On the day of my first interview, I walked into the hospital
lobby feeling confident that I could thoroughly answer any questions that I
would be asked by the practicum coordinator. Little did I know that she would
not be coming alone but with another child life employee, which added to the
intimidation of the interview. By the time it was finished, my confidence had
disappeared. My problem was that I was trying to give the interviewers the
specific answer I believed they were wanting to hear. By doing so, I was not
expressing my true love and passion that I have for working with children.
Unfortunately, I did not come to this realization until after I had completed a
second interview with a different hospital. Two weeks after my interviews, I
received emails from both hospitals stating that I was not the candidate
selected. Yes, I was upset and discouraged, but with having one more scheduled
interview, my hope had not completely diminished. The night before my next interview
I had my family ask me potential interview questions. The following day I
headed into the pediatric hospital for what was my final moment to prove just
how passionate and dedicated to this profession I was. The interview started
off with a tour of the hospital, which for me was an icebreaker before the
questioning began. Immediately I felt my nervousness start to shrink away and
the confidence that I had felt before my very first interview returned.
Thankfully that confidence stayed with me even after the interview questions
began.
I was told that I would hear back from the hospital a week
after the interview. I felt like a kid counting down the days to Christmas.
Each day that week I checked my email faithfully, waiting to hear as to whether
or not I was selected for the student position. Late Friday afternoon the email
that I had been waiting for patiently was finally in my inbox. Within a matter
of seconds of opening the email my roommate and I were screaming with
excitement over the offer of the child life practicum position I had received! I
am beyond excited to begin my child life practicum in January of 2016! I
understand how intimidating the field of child life can be, but I encourage
those of you pursuing this amazing career to not give up. You can do this! Keep
searching for opportunities that are available. As a college senior who is
continually learning about the field of child life, I have learned that it is vital
to let your love and passion for the field be evident!
-Emily
Thank you Emily for sharing your story! I know there are plenty more of you who have stories to share! Send us your stories at childlifeblog@gmail.com for a chance to be a guest writer on our blog!
2 comments:
Hey,Thank you for sharing such an amazing and informative post. Really enjoyed reading it.
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