Why Occupational Therapy?

September 30, 2010
by Amanda

What are OS/OT?

I arrived at the conclusion that occupational therapy was a great career path for me through the “trial and error” method of majors during my undergraduate studies. Although at the time I felt left behind and frustrated as many of my friends were declaring majors in our first year and a half of college, looking back, all the classes I took and self-discovery I went through were worth it as eventually I came out with the right fit.

I actually began my undergraduate career as an architecture major. For various reasons and interests, such as the creativity that architecture entailed, I really saw myself in this profession. However, soon all I could foresee were late nights in studio and desk-based work. I realized pretty quickly that I was looking for a field that would offer a more dynamic work environment and more human interaction! This led me to another side of the academic spectrum: education. Again, I took wonderful classes that fit many of my interests, but I still wasn’t confident that education was totally me. I found through tutoring students that my strengths are in one-on-one interactions rather than a large group setting. I also wanted to assist people in achieving what they wanted, rather than what was on my agenda.

Around this time my mom had seen an article about occupational therapy and told me that this field really reminded her of me. I did my research and found that this career matched what I valued: creativity, continuous and changing challenges, up and moving work, interpersonally based career, and allowing your clients to decide what is important for them to achieve. I loved the idea that this profession is really anything you want it to be. With occupational therapy school as a goal in mind, I choose kinesiology as a major to fulfill many of the prerequisite courses. Kinesiology was a great choice as it set a foundation for understanding how individuals experience their body: biologically, physiologically, sociologically, and psychologically.

Now moving into my second year of the entry-level Masters program at USC, I am more confident than ever that I want to be a professional that has the medical and science background, but strives to see the big picture for each individual I encounter: which is to ensure that clients are able to maintain participation in meaningful occupations. To any prospective students that are trying to figure out how to make themselves a great fit for occupational therapy school, my advice is to be you and continue to do everything that you value, as this is core to what we advocate! In retrospect, all of my above fields of study could still have led me to where I am now. In architecture, my knowledge of the built environment would contribute to an understanding of how individuals are able to participate in occupations. From the education field, the learning process is innate to the occupational therapy profession as well. Whatever you love to do and interests you is essential to your development and path to becoming a great occupational therapist!

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