I can't believe I only have three weeks left of my internship here at Hospice of Palm Beach County! These six months have really flown by! As my time here is coming to an end, I want to share with you the things that helped me succeed throughout this experience.
1. YouTube and Grooveshark: When patients and family members requested songs, YouTube became my saving grace! Without this website, I would not have been able to afford to buy the recordings in order to learn these songs. When I could not find a song on YouTube (for instance, spanish, creole, and yiddish songs) Grooveshark was extremely helpful! Just type in the song you need to learn, and you can listen to recordings by many different artists.
2. E-Chords, Chordie, and Ultimate Guitar: These three websites provided me with correct chords (most of the time) to songs that I learned throughout my internship.
3. Snark: A Snark is a guitar tuning device that clips on to your guitar! It measures frequencies by vibrations instead of by sound input, so you can tune your guitar while there are other noises in the room. This was AMAZING especially in the nursing homes when patients are screaming and such. If you are like me and cannot tune your guitar by ear to save your life, invest in a Snark!! You can order one from their website.
4. GPS: When I had to drive to a patient's house and the patient's chart did not include directions, this device became my best friend.
5. Tripod stool: Although it was uncomfortable and I felt like I was going to fall on my butt, I wouldn't have survived this internship without my tripod stool. It folded up easily and I could carry it with me to the nursing homes. This way, I didn't have to worry about finding a place to sit if there were no chairs in the room and I didn't have to worry about what was ON the facility chairs. Nursing homes can be scary places! I definitely felt a lot more comfortable sitting on my own chair.
6. Rolling cart: This has got to be the best investment I made throughout my internship. I bought mine at staples. I somehow managed to fit all of my repertoire books, my folding stool, some extra instruments (shakers, tamborines, etc), my purse, and my guitar into this thing! This made traveling to facilities A LOT easier than carrying everything and a lot more sanitary because I could keep all of my stuff in my cart and not have to put my guitar case on the floor of the nursing home. AMAZING. You should get one :)
7. NPR, therapist-preferred music: After playing a lot of the same songs every single day, I got really tired of listening to music. I found that the radio REALLY started to get on my nerves, so I decided to start tuning into my local NPR station. This was refreshing while driving in between sessions and also gave my voice a rest! If I were to listen to music that I enjoyed, I would probably want to sing along, but when you sing all day, it's good to take a little break. After work however, I listened to some therapist-preferred music. After singing someone else's favorite songs all day long, I found it really nice to just listen to some music that I enjoy!!
8. Exercise: After a long, emotionally taxing day, it was really good for me to just go to the gym and get some exercise. This helped me process what I experienced that day and clear my head so that I could be ready for the next day!
12. My dog: Moving to a new place for six months is hard especially if it's your first time living alone. Having my dog here with me has been so helpful. He eased my fear of living by myself and gave me companionship and love throughout this incredible adventure. I don't know what I would have done here without him!!!
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