“What do you want to do when you grow up?”

As a child, you are asked this question a lot. Most kids will probably say something like an astronaut, firefighter, or even superhero. Although as you grow older, this one little sentence turns into the “BIG QUESTION.”

I would have been the child to yell out “I’m going to be a vet!” In fact, I truly believed I was going to be one until I went into middle school. My sixth-grade English teacher was the first teacher I ever connected with. She is the reason why I enjoy writing so much today; she showed me how to express my feelings through story. From that point on, I was confident that I would become a teacher and touch my students’ lives, just as she did.

However, my last year in middle school, eighth-grade, I had to job shadow a professional for class. My neighbor was a culinary arts professor at a local college. I enjoyed cooking with my aunt and teaching so I figured it was a good choice. Naturally, I absolutely fell in love with her job; the idea of keeping my dream of teaching alive while being able to cook every day excited me. From that point on, I was dead set on being a Culinary Arts Professor.

Approaching the end of my junior year of high school, my parents sat me down and told me that I should seriously consider my options before I set my goals for college. In order to provide me with the best support they could, my parents hired a college counselor to help guide me through my options. He asked me many questions about what I enjoyed doing and what I thought I’d be good at. He recommended the medical field right away; physical therapy was what first shot into my head. I would be able to help people and keep sports in my life, win, win. But then he brought up occupational therapy.

At first I denied his suggestion; I had no clue what it was, but I honestly just wanted to be done with the process of finding what to major in in college. The next day my mom made some calls to people she knew through daycare and set up a job shadowing for me. I was very optimistic while driving to the hospital, although also very doubtful for some reason.

From the time I went into the hospital to the time I left, I felt like a changed woman. I instantly realized I was definitely wrong to push the OT idea away. As soon as I saw the occupational therapist in action, I knew I had found the career I was looking for. I am still not exactly sure what it is about OT that makes me so thrilled, but being able to help people of all ages definitely has a huge impact on my decision.

Finding occupational therapy was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. It’s hard to explain why it has already had such an impact on my life. However, knowing my future career is going to be OT motivates me to excel in school and helps me stay focused on my end goal. I highly suggest OT to anyone who is considering the medical field; I know it has put my life on a great path.