Getting Paid to Play

Those people out there who know me personally knows that I love what I do for a living. I have often told people that I feel really fortunate to find something that essentially keeps me young and vibrant. I love studying the brain and the behavior it directs. This may sound boring to some but to me I feel like I've won the lotto!

One of fun things I get to do is develop new brain exercises that target particular areas of the brain (This is helpful when the patient has focal deficits and only needs to target a particular cognitive domain such as verbal memory).

The tasks that I come up with are game based. That means that instead of doing boring repetitive cognitive exercises my patients get to play a variety of games that are chosen based on their deficit (damaged brain processes).

Sometimes I come across a game that seems so outwardly simple that when I stop to take a closer neuropsychological look I realize that this game is a power gym for the brain. For example, games that require multiple actions being conducted tend to exercise the frontal lobes or executive functions (think higher order functions such as multitasking and abstract reasoning skills). If time is involved, then add in mental processing speed.

I can go on and on about which games are the best to improve fixed or divided attention, verbal and visual memory, visuospatial abilities, etc. I will also come up with assignments that are game based such as juggling (this is good for integration of left and right side, visual perceptual, proproception, balance, hand eye coordination and it realives stress).

Quality of life is directly related to how you feel about your job. If you love what you do you will be a more happy individual. Life is way too short to waste it on feeling miserable.

I encourage all of you who are unhappy with what you do to make a commitment to find what you're good at and begin to persue it. It's never too late to die happy!

Help, I need someone to talk to!

This is what I heard the other day from a city college student. My intern Jillian and I went to visit the local city college career counseling office to determine what kind of services they had to offer their students. I wanted to see if they would be more helpful in person versus on the phone. I gave my intern an assignment the other day where she had to "cold call" various city colleges to inquire about their career counseling services. Her experience was not a good one. Check out her blog from the other day.

Anyway, we showed around 3:40pm to see what kind of services and help they offered their students and also to let them know about Dream Big Career Center's 3 Step Program to success. As I reached for the door knob, one of the counselors came out and began to lock up (they close at 4pm). I asked if I can have a 5 min conversation with someone just to get a quick overview of what they offered and to share our info with them. As I was asking to speak with someone, a young man approached and asked to speak with a counselor. He said that "the lady told me to show up here after 3:30." The counselor said that there is no one at this time to help him and that he should have come earlier.

He stared to tell her that he had to take time off from work just to come by today and that he could not ask to take more time off. I could hear the concern in his voice and the urgency that he really needed some assistance. The counselor did not budge and continued to tell him that "sorry, come back another time." He glanced at his watch and began to make his way back to the administration building.

After he left in a huff I could see another student making her way toward us. I turned to the counselor and asked if I can speak with someone in charge. She said, "Oh, he's out of town and I'm not sure when he'll be back...sometime in the next 2 weeks." I said, "ok, can I get his card." At this point she yelled into the office and I could hear another voice. The other voice said, "I don't know where his cards are or if he has any."

As they were getting me the information the other student came up to the door, "Hi, can I talk with someone?" The counselor, looking annoyed, said "we're closed and we're booked." The student noticed the office hours and made the comment, "It's not even 4 yet." As she turned and walked away I felt very sorry for the students who make the effort to get some guidance only to be turned away.

I think back on my experience with my guidance counselors and realized that nothing has changed. The same poor quality of services exist now as before. If you are a student reading this, remember that no one will care about your future more than you so you have to make that extra effort to get to where you want to go.

I chose my Dream Big team not only because they are bright and talented individuals but they care about helping people. This is an important and rare attribute. We are your bridge to where you need to go and we want to see you do great things.

If you have been disappointed with your school's services come and talk with us. We are here to help you. Call (818) 992-3113 for assistance.

Know Your Talents!

I noticed lately that a lot of young adults, say 19 to mid 20's, are coming to see me for psychotherapy. These individuals are depressed because they lack the direction they need to be successful in life.

A common statement that I hear is, "I don't understand what my problem is, I was a good student in high school. I just don't know what happened in college." I've heard this before from very bright young people. What happens in college is that you get to make a lot more decisions about your future then when you are high school.

Their stories about picking classes that "sounded cool" bring to mind a feeling of looking for treasure without a map. I think to myself, haven't they learned from their many hours of video game playing? You need the map to find the treasure. However, they are wandering aimlessly hoping to run into treasure instead of going after it.

How do you pursue something in the dark? In order to reach your goal you need to take a good look at yourself. You need to know what you like, what your strengths and weakness are, and how you feel about your future. As I mentioned in a previous blog, having a negative outlook makes it more difficult to succeed.

The first step to being great is knowing your talents!

Networking, Student Style

From the perspective of a student, networking is a nerve-racking idea. In my head, I imagine networking as simply going up to someone I've never spoken to before, introducing myself, and launching into a conversation into which I subtly slip my positive qualities, hoping the person I am talking to will be just the one I need to connect me to that perfect job. Up until now, I have succeeded in avoiding networking altogether, telling myself that it isn't really necessary for students to do anyway. My sister is starting to look at colleges, so over the weekend I visited two campuses with her. These campuses are different sizes, and therefore have varying levels of connections they can offer their students. One is small, and boasts class sizes capped at 40 and a professor adviser for each student. The other is on the complete opposite extreme, with lectures of 400 and a "we don't hold your hand" mentality. This got me thinking about my own college experience, which is practically identical to that second school. I do not have the luxury of attending a small private college that will automatically connect me to the perfect person who will offer me the perfect job. There are many other students who are in the same situation that I am. For us, the responsibility to find that person falls onto our shoulders. This brought me right back to networking. I realize that it can apply to students as well. It can mean talking to a professor one day after lecture, simply to ensure that he or she knows my name. The truth is, professors hold office hours for a reason, and that reason is to get to know their students. With this new perspective, I am beginning to see that getting to know a professor can have many positive results. Maybe I will just have a conversation with an expert in an interesting field, but maybe that professor will remember me when he or she is doing research and ask me to be an assistant. No matter the outcome, I think as students we need to realize that networking isn't so scary after all!

--Jillian Tessier

IDK By Paco Arespacochaga

If you’re into Internet chat and phone text abbreviations, you probably know what IDK stands for. If not, IDK stands for I Don’t Know! LOL! (And that stands for Laughing Out Loud).

The phrase “I don’t know” has been used so many times and in so many context that most of the time, the underlying tone gets diluted in translation.

One example could be a parent inquiring to a child, who is in high school, what he wants to take up in collage. Answer: I don’t know.

Most often, the parent lets it go and brushes it off as something the child will one day wake up to and discover what he wants to take up in collage. Or maybe what he wants to be down the line. Or maybe he won’t. I don’t know.

Another example could be a son or a daughter asking a parent to help them discover what they should do with their lives. Answer: I don’t know.

With all the sludge in an adult’s head, it commonly happens that a parent will simply say “I don’t know” to brush off a child's inquiry. Or maybe he won’t. I don’t know.

And then there are the in betweens that get in the way of what really matters.

Such is the case of life. We don’t know much. And that's because we don't know we can know more! We can! We just don’t want to or we just don't take the time to discover ourselves, our surrounding and our purpose.

Or maybe, we’ve been branded or name-called something else and we just don’t know how to get out of the stigma. And because we’ve gotten used to what people think about us, we just decide play the part for the rest of our life.

Don’t embrace these excuses!

Do yourself a favor. Ask yourself if you’ve exhausted all possible options. Give yourself the opportunity to KNOW. Give yourself the opportunity to find ways, means, tools and support groups to create your roadmap to success. Listen to the negative but don’t let it control you. Throw 'em away. Listen to the positive and let it fuel you.

If you don’t know where to start, there are people professionally trained to help you. It’s like going to the gym for the first time, there are trained pros willing and able to help you start and help you reach your physical goals. Such is the case for your emotional and mental goals as well.

“I don’t know” is such a lazy excuse. No one’s buying it anymore. It’s time to reclaim what is yours. Don’t be scared. Dream Big!