Once upon a time….

Becoming a child life specialist is anything but a fairytale. Being on the other side of things has put a whole new perspective on my process. I’d love to share that all with you as we celebrate child life month and the hard work that we all put into this profession. 

I was lucky enough to learn about child life as a senior in high school. I entered a large undergraduate program majoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. They had all the courses needed to be a CCLS. I felt set. I added on a Certificate in Disability Studies, providing me with all of the foundations needed to become a child life specialist. 

I spent two summers working at a camp for kids with medical diagnoses and disabilities. These two summers were life changing and further showed me that these were the populations I wanted to work with. 

During my senior year, I decided it was time to apply to a child life practicum. I applied to three hospitals where I had family around and received no interviews. I had no hospital experience. There were no hospitals with child life within an hour of my university. After that, I realized there was more to this career path. I decided that if child life was what I wanted to do, then getting a masters degree was the next step for me. Instead of always feeling behind, I wanted to feel ahead. 

So, I started my search. I spent countless nights stressing about the GRE and decided to apply to three graduate programs. I then got rejected from my dream graduate program. I was denied because my GRE score was 3 points below the requirement, despite having a retired department head write my recommendation letter and go to bat for me (he literally went into the office of the program chair to convince her to interview me). 

On the bright side, I was accepted to the two other programs. For some reason, I then decided to attend the school that was 1,000 miles away from home in a town where I knew no one but this ultimately was the best decision of my career! I ended up with an amazing cohort, multiple organizations to volunteer with, worked as a TA, and grew so much professionally and personally. 

Our program recommended eventually applying for a summer practicum. After applying to 10 sites, I received two offers.

Later on, when it came time for internship applications, I wanted to go all in. I applied to 29 hospital sites and ended up with two offers on offer day. If you’re doing the math, this was after 3 practicum rejections, 8 more practicum rejections, 1 graduate school rejection, and 27 hospital rejections during the internship process totaling 39 overall rejections, and I’m one of the lucky ones…What other career subjects people to continuous rejection?

I made my choice and had an awesome internship experience. I loved my site and the child life team. 

I tell you all of this to show you some of the realities. To show you that each rejection is leading to another opportunity. I had my fair share of struggles, and you will too. But with each new challenge comes new opportunities for learning and growth. I truly believe that with hard work and drive, everyone figures out where they are meant to be. It’s cheesy…. But it is something I truly believe as I have watched all of my child life friends grow and change over the years as they have all found their place. I believe you will find your place too.