My Journey To Occupational Therapy

Unlike others who found their calling early on, I did not know what I was meant to do. There have been many instances in my life where I was given various paths to choose from. I was among the people who graduated from high school excelling in many subjects, but I was not sure which path I wanted to pursue. I started out as a nursing intended major because I always knew I wanted to work in healthcare, but the journey to finding the niche where my skills set fit holistically was a difficult one. I found my passion through anthropology because of how well I identify with diverse groups of people. Along the journey to finishing my undergraduate degree, I stumbled upon the intriguing field of occupational therapy when one of my professors suggested

When I was about thirteen years old, my dad began having joint pain and swelling. For a few years my family struggled between doctors and specialists, each giving us various diagnoses before finally concluding that my dad had developed gouty arthritis. From this point on, I watched how helpless my dad was becoming. I would apply Bengay and Biofreeze whenever I could, to help my dad relieve the pain, but I still had to stand by and watch him as he painfully limped through life events such as my brother’s graduation and my choir concerts. My dad’s helplessness made me want to find ways for him to help himself. I believe this experience paved the way for me to make the decision to go into the occupational therapy field. I want to choose occupational therapy as my career because I want to gain knowledge on different techniques that can be used to treat people in all walks of life. My goal for occupational therapy school is to learn ways of creating health-promoting interactive activities to enhance the physical well-being and social skills in children, to develop injury prevention for adult workers, and to educate seniors on home and activity modifications to avoid

At my current employment, I have the pleasure of working with a 13-year-old special needs child with autism. Although it was my dad who initially inspired me to commit to this career path, it’s the people who I met everyday while shadowing that showed me the purpose behind occupational therapy. Having the opportunity to work with occupational therapists as well as special needs children daily, reminds me why I love this field so much. Seeing a person’s progress and happiness as they are able to do even one activity by themselves is the reason why I stay in this field. Therefore, it would be my mantra that I will finish the TTUHSC Master of Occupational Therapy Program if given the opportunity to. I will represent TTUHSC in the best possible way by continuing to do what I am most passionate about. I plan to recite this mantra to overcome any obstacles I may