A Career In Occupational Therapy

The mission of Allen College directly aligns with my goal to continue community service, scholarship, collaboration, and patient-centered focus. I have been determined to pursue a career in occupational therapy since the eighth grade. Although, comically, my view of occupational therapy has drastically changed. I am a planner; I love to map out my day by the hour. I knew I wanted a job that was active and was centered around people. I crossed paths with occupational therapy when I was taking career assessment tests for fun. Occupational therapy continued to appear in my portfolio. I did research on the profession; I was hooked. Not because of what I probably should have loved about the profession. My initial impression was, “Occupational therapists get to play all day long and get paid for it!” That reasoning motivated me to pursue this career path for several years, but as I matured, I realized the impact occupational therapy continues to create not only on an individual, professional to patient basis, but in a community setting as well, I knew that this was

Having a client-centered focus allows an occupational therapist to understand and address the goal of the patient. Each client has a different story, different struggle, and different background that brought him to where he is today. From a young age, I knew I wanted to work with people and for people of all ages; what better way benefit others than to help patients improve their day-to-day activities. Allen College’s program aligns with my goals to grow as a person, improve other’s lives and developing the set of skills necessary to motivate, build relationships and trust with my patients, and learn how to effectively advocate for my patients. Although for differing reasons, I stand by my eighth-grade decision to be an occupational therapist to passionately serve, motivate, and walk side-by side with each one of my patients on his or her