Already?
The fateful day has come: today I began my Level II placements. In a way it was good that there wasn't a long, drawn-out break beforehand, because more waiting would lead to more nerves. Basically, I haven't had the time to become insanely worried! That, however, makes me wonder if I should be more worried, and I get worried that I'm not worried, and frantically delve into my textbooks...again. Because the only reason I am allowed to not be worried is if I: a) know everything or b) am delusional and know nothing but think I know everything. It's obviously not choice a.
I'm sure that none of us have ever felt truly ready for something as important as Level IIs. It's when you really learn if you will sink or swim in the profession, and that's a scary prospect to come up against. While I'm certain that for every person who sinks, there are 100 who swim, it's still frightening to think that you might be the one who goes straight to the bottom.
More than anything else, I think that Level II fieldwork exists to train our minds. Books, theories, facts, and statistics create a foundation upon which we need to build. We have to train ourselves to consolidate all that information through the lens of action and intervention. That is the skill you can't teach in any classroom, because the permutations you'll see out in the field are too numerous to cover in any semester-long course. It's also the skill that is hardest to master.
I taught swim lessons for a year when I was younger. I remember telling every petrified child to think of the water as a friend, not an enemy, and to go with it rather than fight it. When all else fails, the instructor is always there spotting you, even if you can't feel them. I think this advice carries over to many learning experiences, especially fieldwork. It's my hope that in time, like so many of my young swimmers, I'll be able to cross the pool without even realizing that the instructor has let me go.