Shitty Week Award

Yep, it’s a real thing at work. I’ve worked at Red Cliff for six months now, and nobody at my shift has received the award since I started. In honor of a tremendous shift, the names of my co-staff and I were immortalized on a plaque that features a very realistic fake poop. We also got a lunch gift card at the end of shift. 

 This last week we had a group of seven students two of which were high supervision. High supervision students are demarcated with a special outfit called a red suit. Staff has to shadow them to use the bathroom, and the red suit has to be wrapped in a tarp at night. The tarp allows the staff to hear and feel if the student is trying to get away or if they are hurting themselves. 

Our group had three staff, one more than the usual. But once during the week we had five staff to seven students. All five staff were imperative.  While we had five staff, one student required three staff to manage. Another time base brought us two extra staff, so that the two usual staff would have time to file incident reports. I filed six incidence reports this week. It’s best not to publish what the incidence reports entailed, but one of them required base to send an extra staff who could stay awake all night. 

It was totally exhausting. Every night I went to bed with a stress headache, and by shift change tears were free flowing. I’m sad and disappointed about some things that went down this week. But I’m also proud. This is one of three memorable shifts that allows me to see that I’m capable of more than I think I am. I also know I could not have handled this shift when I first started working at Red Cliff. 

It’s easy for me to be my own best self when conditions are ideal. I want my own best self to become so ingrained and so habitual that even in the worst of times I maintain a deep sense of gratitude, happiness, love, and patience. 

I think it’s good to be taken to the edge of my emotional and or physical capacity for short intense bursts every few months. It makes me stronger. I also have the impression that if I don’t have a veritable challenge every now and then that I could become weaker. I don’t think I can get to my own best self without these struggles.