Student Blog
Joe
So you think you want to OT . . . ⟩
September 19, 2015, by Joe
So you think you want to OT . . . but you’re still trying to decide if it’s the right fit for you.
Check out some of these great resources on getting into OT:
The Many Faces of Occupational Therapists, a video from students at the University of British Columbia.
The Most Important Things You Need To Know About Becoming an Occupational Therapy Practitioner — A free ebook by Abby Brayton-Chung of OT Cafe and Christie Kiley of Mama OT (a graduate of USC!) that addresses many common questions about the profession, such as pursuing OT as a second career, deciding whether to become an OT or an OTA, and what OTs actually do in practice!
Resources for Beginning your OT Career from the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
Enjoy!
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Changing Careers for OT ⟩
September 10, 2015, by Joe
Hello beautiful people! Sticking with the years long tradition of student ambassadors sharing their “how I found OT” stories, here goes mine.
Back to the beginning: White Coat Ceremony 2014
Before finding OT, I was nearly a decade into a career in higher education, pursuing 2 additional bachelor’s degrees part-time, and highly involved with a wide variety of “meaningful activities” from mixed martial arts to dance, knitting to interactive media.
As a non-traditional student, my interest and preparation for the field were the result of a long journey of self-discovery and necessary exposure. Academically, I explored the mind-body connection through studies in language acquisition, moral philosophy, and kinesiology with practice in athletics and dance training. Professionally, my life revolved around helping people through academic advising, mentoring, coaching and teaching. Without knowing about the OT field, I inadvertently developed broad interests & knowledge in biomechanics, functional movement, mobility and nutrition, but also in psychophysiology of emotion, creative expression and learning. As a dancer and artist, I developed strong abilities in analyzing and correcting movement differences, as well as in adapting movements to suit individual challenges. In teaching dance, I focused on self-expression and creative development, which my dancers found cathartic, giving them a venue for emotional expression and leading them holistically to greater emotional stability.
As an academic advisor with USC undergraduate & graduate programs, I worked with domestic and international students, students with families, non-traditional students, and students with various mental or physical challenges, and developed skills and a passion for helping students become more self-reliant and independent by guiding them through a self-selected process of engaging in their education. For me, it was critical that each student develop their own measure of success, and adapt their pursuits towards what they personally value and find most meaningful.
Each of these professional experiences revolved around helping people, but they also felt fragmented. My full-time work as an academic advisor felt both at odds with my part-time roles as student and athlete, and divorced from my continual desire to learn and my passion for human performance. Funny enough, my work as an advisor is what first exposed me to the field of Occupational Therapy, through working with students who were interested in pursuing OT as a career. As I researched OT to better inform myself for my students, I realized that OT would allow me to perfectly synthesize my personal interests and experiences in a meaningful way.
And so far, it’s been absolutely fantastic!
With the eminent Dr. Florence Clark!
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