I’m struggling.  Being a cancer survivor – of a blood cancer- even 10 years clear my immune system is not great and I worry all the time. Yes, the worry has gotten better, has decreased some over the years. But I’ve never seen anything like this, our bars are even shut down!!!!!!! Wisconsin doesn’t close bars…. but everything is shutting down.  Even work, mental health, is switching from face to face to other means of therapy.  I wanted a vacation but not in this way.  So, I’m making a list of crafts and projects, getting more online teaching hours, signing up for a second/technically third program as I’m not getting bookings through VIP kid.  I signed up for magic ears, and I might sign up for itutor italki or whales English (used to be sprout).  I found a comprehensive chart to help compare all the programs if anyone would like to view it. You can google “I to I comprehensive online teaching comparison chart” or comment here and ill post it later.  Keeping myself busy is the only way to keep me sane, along with my anxiety meds to not over think catching a germ every time I go out.  I did not hoard tp, but I did hoard chips and sour cream. (I do use sour cream for other things like chili not just chips and making dip or dipping it alone. mmm)  How are you being productive during this time? Any tips to help me work through my struggling?  I’m trying hard to be brave and strong for clients, but I am giving myself these few days to freak out while I don’t have any calls to make.

ok! time to talk about Cambly  , because it’s been along week and it makes me smile.

So, online teaching- subject English as a second language, whaaaaat?

Tools needed:
A strong Wi-Fi connection – or an ethernet cord to plug from router to computer (they have ethernet adapters to plug in usb)

computer – laptop in camblys case with a chrome browser
bright lighting – I use a ring light from amazon – excuse the tired ness!
internal or external webcam- I started with my computers internal but I just upgraded to an external and holy brightness batman! the difference is amazing. this plus the ring is wonderful!

headset with mic – noise cancelling, I am using an inexpensive basic one from Walmart but will be upgrading to a wireless headset soon.

usb adapter is helpful if your computer is like mine with only one usb port.  I can plug my headset, light, webcam, ethernet adapter, (or replace the headset with an outside mouse if I don’t want to use my touch pad as my webcam has good speakers / mic built in)

I have technology now what??

– first – cambly does NOT require bachelor’s or tesol / teaching certificate (but it’s good to have- groupon tesol)

– cambly requires PayPal for payment – find PayPal, it’s easy to set up, you get paid every Monday as long as you have the minimum of $20 in your account. (approx. two hours or 120 minutes of talk time)

This is the one con, is that the pay is not great, but it is supplemental pay for me, and I enjoy it so that makes up for me! – .17 c a minute- approx. 5.20 for 30 minutes or 10.20 for 60 minutes. It goes by minutes so you could log in at any time and get 4 minutes here, 20 minutes there, 45 minutes here, 30 minutes there. Depends on who’s calling and the time you are logging in, we’ll get to that.

After you have PayPal, if you want my referral link: https://www.cambly.com/en/tutors?referralCode=sammi94 – open it in a web browser, on a computer not a mobile device.  You will fill out your tutor/student profile, answer some basic questions and do an intro video.  The website is a little confusing first, you want to make sure you are on a tutor profile and not student.   They will email you when you have been accepted and can start calling in! (for me it took three days, but I’ve heard of some people where it took three weeks/months)

(while you have my referral code – I will get 20$ after you sign up, have been accepted and completed 10 priority hours’ worth of talking, nothing sooner, and I would need a heads up to contact them about it – it’s a bit of a process – one of the few cons)

you’ve been accepted!!!! now what???

read the tutor guide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I cannot stress this enough. It covers everything, they have an extensive question and answer area on allllllll items.

If you want to update your video- you can check out other tutor’s profile videos or even go on YouTube, or ask me questions, I’d be happy to help mentor!  Most importantly be yourself in it. Make sure your bio is “real” – students will search bios to find one they feel is a good fit and after so many classes you go from “new talent” to having a rating. Up to 5.0. I have seen people as low as 4.7 but there may be lower, and up to 4.9.  The more chats you get the more ratings you’ll have, I’m at a steady 4.82 with almost 700 chats, have met just under 600 students (in over 30 countries, it’s awesome)

You can either go ” visible” or pick up “priority hours”, ph means you have to be available to answer each call – they put you closer to the top of the list to have a better chance of getting students to call – could be students who are already used to cambly or brand-new trial students – they do ads all over the world on YouTube. Going visible means, you’ll be around others of the same rating, in the beginning you are listed as “new talent” with no rating to give you a fair chance at getting callers. Some students are very particular about tutors based on rating, and others go off profile, or if they like your accent.

On your profile you can choose beginner, intermediate, advanced, (students don’t always look at that part but for the few who do it’s good to have)  what you specialize in- grammar / business English / conversation / current news/  exam prep / etc. ( ielts or toefl are popular for foreign students wanting to come to school in America) – I highly recommend you find a ” tesol” class – groupon has a 19$ deal that is good. Gives you the basics on teaching English as second language and if you want to join other esl teaching online platforms you will need one (VIP kid, dadaabc, magic ears, etc.)

Once you have been accepted and you feel your profile is good to go you can go visible or take up priority hours!  Priority hours – you will be at the top of the list for accepting any and all calls – from trials to people with subscriptions. People may laugh or expect you to be a robot or flash you, some people may not say anything, beginners tend to be very shy, and many people have low confidence when they start due to negative experiences trying English in real life.  – have flashcards for beginners and I recommend engoo.com articles for others!  cambly also has a library filled with resources.

To start you will be a “new talent” rating- this is until you reach 500 or so chats and then an official rating up to 5.0 kicks in.  After this if you go invisible you will be in line where your rating lies – mines a 4.82 which is ok, not great but not bad.  I seem to get enough calls during visible time and ph time along with reservations that I am pleased where I am, but I strive for better!

You can edit your bio video or bio at any time. I find it helps to talk to the students and not at the students. Make your profile “conversational”.  One nice thing about cambly is you can switch between “tutor” page and “student” page – and when you start cambly gives you 20 -25 minutes to use with another tutor! This way you can see what the student side of the platform looks like to help out students when they are confused and ask more experienced tutors how they teach “lessons” or talk to students in general.  You can look at different profiles under the student page and see the different videos and descriptions to help with altering any of your own profiles.

I can’t say how much I enjoy cambly, and as I write this now, I am fully aware of how many lower-case i’s I have and lowercase beginning sentences, however I am tired, and it has been a long week so please forgive me!  I have met many wonderful people on cambly from over 30 / 40 countries!! I hear about people wanting to receive job promotions, make life better for families, wanting to travel, needing to practice English for speaking at conferences (I meet other psychologists and therapists all over the world) professors, IT / software, engineers, everything!   It’s so wonderful to be a part of their journey and help them practice English through conversation or simple lessons – practice reading out loud / correcting English, rewording sentences, preparing for interviews, using random question generators, anything!  Any questions feel free to comment 🙂

So, between chemo brain (yes, it is real, and can be long lasting even ten years out) and low immune system and chronic fatigue, some days are just a battle.  Called in sick for work twice this week for feeling total crap, which, even though it wasn’t nausea or diarrhea, the coughing and flehm that came up and body cramps was bad enough, not to mention hot and cold sweats. Omg and yes, I realize… tmi tmi. But I tell yea chemo definitely changed how things work. Never had a good immune system before but this new acid reflux I could have lived fine without.  Also, so thankful my part time job/online teaching is flexible, I had no reservations so I was able to cancel my availability and take the time to relax, and know that if I felt better, I could easily call in and make some money to help me through payday. (cambly doesn’t pay a lot, but a little is better than nothing.  I enjoy it, I meet so many awesome people around the world that it’s a great pick me up if nothing else).  This weekend I’m doing the same, catching up on sleep and tea and soup, and maybe Sunday see how I feel and open up the line.  I have a few amazing regulars who would love to call in if I’m feeling up to it, but while I’m coughing, I’m no help :(. One nice thing about cambly, making friends all over the world from home and helping others on their journeys to better living.  Have met students in university for technology, engineering, medical field, psychology field, people who want promotions and need improved English to help their families live better,  people in retirement looking to travel, therapists who want to discuss different techniques and strategies (a Korean therapist called in one night at 2 am saying she had been waiting to talk to me all day and just got out of session in time.  We had a very pleasant talk!). I’ve even been inspired by a new Turkish friend to try new books and watch new movies! We discussed parasite and the art therapist character, had a good talk about other characters and discussed the movie horse girl-Quite interesting.  If anyone has questions about online teaching feel free to comment! I’ll post specifically about them to answer questions sometime. Maybe do a review soon comparing the two English teaching companies I work with.

Well, I read through my past posts, and even though part of me remembers writing them I really don’t remember writing them.  Not sure whether it’s embarrassing, scary or if I should just blame it on trauma and catching up.

Anyway, since starting up on this again I have started teaching English as a foreign language online.  I am sick of debt, I have credit debt from trying to start over, and then my home flooding and appliances breaking down, on top of initial credit debt from back in the day starting to build credit and not realizing how quick it adds up, and student loan debt, and mortgage and car, and paying parents back for helping me, anyway I feel like I’m in debt up to my ears.  So, second job it is! I technically work with VIP kid, but I don’t get many bookings if any, so I started a second platform called “cambly”. Omg it’s awesome! I will gladly do more blogs, because I truly enjoy it so much.  There are pros and cons to both, but the point is I’m making extra payments to my credit debt, and I’m not struggling as much between paychecks.  (I make a decent amount, but I have so much debt that it cancels itself out, so I live paycheck to paycheck just trying to hit all my minimum payments). So cambly has been amazing, I get paid to have a conversation and help people practice English from all over the world!!! The pay is not awesome, but it is weekly so it’s dependable as long as I put a bit of effort in each week.   This weekend I totally took a break and slept, because I can feel a cold coming in and needed it.  Worked a few hours today though so I still get paid tomorrow! (Enough to get gas and still put aside some for taxes- I’m an independent contractor paid by these platforms, so they don’t remove taxes, I need to remove it in case I make enough that they request me to pay taxes either quarterly or at tax time. I can blog about that to separately). My favorite part is I’m in charge of my availability in the schedule, and if I have no reservations, I can close out my availability and give myself off.    Best of all, is my two-year plan to pay off debt (I’m also getting a bonus from work that will give me a head start), so far seems to be working just from these last few months of extra work on nights and weekends. It’s so nice to see a light at the end of the debt tunnel, even if it is still very small. I see the sparkle.

So apparently last I posted I had already moved up here – the cancer writing group fell through, and the current clinic is the one spoken about in a recent previous post. Also, about Mickey, while it wasn’t his heart we think the Febreze pet friendly litter and trauma of the fire all were a bad combination leading to his passing- and my other cats all had allergic reactions while using that litter so be mindful if it’s in your own home. I am very thankful to the care at Menasha pet clinic gave us extending his life the extra year and a half, would highly recommend them being both affordable and great bedside manner.

I wonder who reads blogs anymore, that are not associated with an app?  I hear about apps such as reddit, tick tock, snapchat, so many more at work.  Which, WOW it’s been a while!!  Since I last posted I have had quite the transition.

Here is the summary of my timeline: 2017 started at a clinic in Appleton- part of the clinic NO longer independent- but that’s ok, I enjoy it.  Shortly after I started so right after my last post in May- my apartment burned down and I had to move to Appleton (while bitter and traumatized, also ok as my commute is a lot shorter). I am still currently with this clinic – worked in day treatment leading art therapy groups for about a year and then switched to full time outpatient (less intensive than day treatment) and starting January I will be doing one or two days in schools that we are associated with. (will be here 3 years come march! woot).

My health in these last few years has been up and down, being told I’m paranoid and such and not treatable. Currently I’m in between acid reflux flare ups. I also started fostering dogs through “Woof Lodge and Rescue”!!! Super excited all! I have helped several puppies on their journeys and only adopted one!  My animal children have changed a bit, I now have a few fish, few new cats, the new dog, the original dog DeeDee, and have lost a pet – my beloved Mickey RIP, passed away this summer due to a combination of old age and we think a type of intestinal kitty cancer.

I’m going to have to keep more up to date with this blog regardless of if anyone’s watching because it’s nice to let it out and complain, maybe I can find a way to privatize it. I respectfully ask to keep away negative comments to keep this blog peaceful. Typing is easier than handwriting and I don’t want to pay for the cloud space.

Hello all!  I mentioned I was starting at a new clinic this month, so far, it’s very exciting!  I have finished my first two weeks of orientation and start seeing clients tomorrow.  Starting in May I will lead art therapy groups through the day treatment center for ages 12-18.  Starting tomorrow I am seeing individual clients through outpatient treatment located at the day treatment center.  Eventually we plan to offer art therapy groups through outpatient.   What’s the difference between them?  Day treatment is intensive 4 hour a day 5 day/week treatment and outpatient is a once or twice weekly 45-60 min session (or biweekly/monthly) appointment.
(Fun fact – did you know Catalpa Health is named after the Catalpa tree?)

Usually, the way it goes is inpatient –>residential > day treatment > outpatient.

Inpatient – An individual has self-harmed to the point of a suicide attempt.

Residential – an individual has stabilized enough to transfer out of inpatient or enter in after multiple self-harms due to depressive thoughts or a lowered quality of life due to excess anxiety/mental illness. – 24/7 care, see doctors, therapists, nutritionists, experiential therapists, a team of professionals to help work on the mental health and increase quality of life.

Day Treatment – intensive 4 hr. per day 5 day per week treatment where a team of counselors/psychologists/psychiatrists work together to teach groups and individual therapy to review what skills were learned in residential and work on incorporating them into daily stressors and work toward increasing that quality of life while experiencing triggers outside of a residential setting. (ex. school, family trouble,)

Outpatient – individual has “Graduated” from the day treatment program and is in a good place, requiring follow-up appointments once or twice a week, biweekly or monthly depending on their quality of life and stressors.

I am so excited all!  Through meetup.com I found a cancer survivor writing workshop, we sent an invitation to the fox valley oncology group who has a Facebook page and a monthly support group who is going to put out flyers for their patients and survivors!  I will be hosting an art therapy workshop at the end of an 8-week writing workshop this summer in De Pere.  I am also going to be contacting the rec department or the place I held a previous studio at for Asnew about starting a consistent open studio, sponsored by my new clinic where I will be doing art therapy groups and individual sessions in Appleton starting the end of march.

I’m so excited for these changes, even if I had to close the door on one opportunity a new one opened. New chapters bring new adventures! It would be wonderful to meet with other survivors, through a writing workshop or just hanging out. Having a local group of friends, people who understand, people who need to talk and vent who understand will be cool.   There is so much to do in this area I can’t wait to discover it, with my new survivor friends or on my own now that I have settled down from moving and have time to explore.

Hello again! I have news to share that I will be switching outpatient clinics.   While I have enjoyed working with Spectrum Behavioral Health, I was given an offer to join the Catalpa Health team in #appleton/#foxvalley and for financial reasons I had to accept.  It is difficult starting a new practice in a new city, and by joining forces with Catalpa I can work my way back to private practice in the future.  I will be temporarily helping out in the Oshkosh schools (where Catalpa is also located) as well as hosting art therapy groups at the Appleton day treatment center (where the new outpatient clinic will be located) for our youth and am looking forward to this new adventure! Keep an eye on my website for any new updates, as well as I will post here anymore changes and updates as well.

http://www.samanthahanson.weebly.com

New year means new you, right?  Not necessarily!  You can be an enhanced you. The greatest wisdom I have been told for meeting people, interviewing for jobs, going new places, is to “be yourself”.

Sometimes we have to enhance our features, by doing our research and putting a plan in action.  What is my new year’s resolution? I started at a gym with a black Friday sale.  I even bit the bullet and signed up for a professional trainer.  Did I hit my new year’s goal of losing certain amount of weight? Not quite, but I did make some progress and for my first goal both trainer and I agreed it was a good start!  My body has had a lot of stress done to it from living with cancer, enduring the chemo and the previous condition of endometriosis, so even starting to get in shape with floor exercises to increase mobility, flexibility and strengthening was a lot to start in that short of time.  Thankfully each week (with exception of after Christmas – oops) I did lose something, but most importantly I felt better!  My floor exercises were getting easier and gasp…boring!  I was even experimenting with the machines before the trainer officially brought it up in our once weekly meeting (carefully of course, small amounts of weight to try). Also noticed that my boots do not feel like ankle weights this winter, and normally they do (that is a fun experience, not have that heaviness around the ankles all season).

As for my anxiety, I have an outlet to decrease the worrying. Not like I didn’t before, I have my arts and crafts, my video games, friends to vent to, but the exercising seems to help in a different way. I put away my phone and I focus on the floor exercises. I have to do so many rounds of each to work different muscles and then I do cardio for a certain amount of time while keeping track of my breathing and my heartrate, then I go to the machines depending on the day with my work out schedule and focus on form and weights so that I don’t hurt myself by overdoing it or handling the machines wrong.  Really exercising to me is a form of meditation. I personally don’t know how people can be on their phones while still doing a good workout. Maybe after I’m “officially in shape” I’ll be able to as well?  Until then, I’m ok people watching, watching the TVs, listening to the gym music (can’t seem to get music on my phone and headphones distract me) or talking with a friend while we do the cardio together. The repetitiveness of the floor exercises and trying to hit my step goal through Fitbit help keep me focused.  Seeing the scale going down helps to but its only added incentive.  I can’t wait till I can feel healthy and look healthy- My new self, still me, only a better version of myself.

What do you find to be meditative to help with your anxiety, or depression?

Change can be difficult to handle.  With the recent election everyone has their thoughts and beliefs and feelings toward the situation, and they are allowed to have them.  I have seen a lot of this on social media, and I don’t necessarily agree that that is the best way to express things; however, we each do the best that we can and if that includes using our social media as a support, by all means use social media to express yourself.  Personally, for me I like to find a more creative way to express myself. With a sale at #joanns I discovered #prismacolor colored pencils!!!! OMG they are amazing.  (I also just found Walmart sells them way cheaper in case the sale has ended by the time you read this post). They are the best colored pencils I have tried yet!! (received some #mandala coloring books last Christmas that I go into every now and then) The colored pencils I have used up till now that I truly enjoy are woodless colored pencils.  The only downside to them is they are limited number of colors.  This Prisma pack (24 colors) is a wonderful variety!!!! and the color is like cream, I barely have to touch the paper for the color (which is truly vibrant) to hit the page.  I’m used to colored pencils where force is needed to fill in the space.  This requires a light touch, which requires an adjustment period and is totally worth it.  I started out my morning preparing for a management “fire safety, appliance and housekeeping check” this morning and while I was waiting for them to come, I tried to make coffee and of course grabbed the container out of the closet and knocked a can from 4 ft up, onto tip of my big toe.   OUCH. so, while I was recovering with a bag of ice until the inspection came/after he left (went just fine btw) I decided to distract myself from the throbbing pain by experimenting with the colors.  I almost wanted to cry at how nice these pencils work.  Granted part of that may been from the pain…. I always enjoy trying new materials. Especially good quality materials!!!  I recently saw this “art box” subscription through Facebook where you pay $25 or $35 a month and receive a box of supplies to try with a small art project for inspiration (like a mini painting that comes with specific-colored markers to re-create that painting).  I’m very tempted to try it for a month or two as a Christmas present to myself.

However, you need to help yourself de stress from the election, I hope it works out for you.  If you do #create, please feel free to share an image in the comments!