Becoming An Occupational Therapist Essay

Growing up as a twin, I always had that one person who I was always looking after. At the end of the day, I always wanted to make sure she was okay. Working with people has always been something I wanted to do in my future career. I always enjoyed being around people and hearing what they had to say. Sitting in front of a book or even a computer never made me happy. However, I always knew a job in the medical field would. Once I started looking into occupational therapy, it was a career I was intrigued by.
As I got older, I started to spend more time with my grandmother who is eighty-eight years old. I began to listen to all the stories of the “good old days” and I became part of the bingo lifestyle. I quickly realized bingo was more than a
hobby for my grandmother, it was a place where friendships were made. It was also a place that kept her inclined on what was happening around her. I got to see first-hand what age can do to you. It is amazing to see how when someone gets older, they regress to child-like ways. She has got to the point where she has to have someone else come in and giver her baths. Doing things with her from playing cards to even going grocery shopping allowed me to see how something small can be beneficial to ones well-being. Becoming an occupational therapist will allow me to work with people like my gram who have different obstacles that they have a hard time doing or forgot how to do. Being able to impact their lives slightly is something that I want to have as part of my job.
My grandmother is fortunate to have us to help her. I have realized over the years that many older adults are not so blessed. I have spent some time in nursing homes, both in the United States and while studying abroad in Costa Rica. Seeing how lonely some of these patients are, verified how important listening and caring for clients can be. Seeing how one person can make such a prominent impact on ones live is something I want in my career.
Becoming an occupational therapist would allow me to work with people who are not able to do certain activities anymore, such as feeding themselves or tying their shoes.
Being able to help them do what I would consider “easy every day task” and the smiles that would be across their faces once they can do them again would be very rewarding. This would mean a lot to me. Some of these people in nursing home have nobody, it is important for me to show them that there is hope. Becoming an occupational therapist would allow me to work with people who need extra help and reassure them that they can do it. Being able to interact and help people, is something I need as part of my job.
Becoming an occupational therapist will incorporate all of my passions in a career. I have never been the type of person who likes to sit down all day and do the same thing over and over again. Becoming an occupational therapist would allow me to interact with my patients. Having hands on interaction with people is something that is very important to me. Also it will be a job where I will have to be creative when designing new programs for each patient. Being able to see the progress even if is minimal is something that will keep me loving what I am
doing.
As you can see, occupational therapy has all the qualities needed as an occupation to make me happy. It allows me to do different things each day, and it is not confined to a certain age group. It is also a very rewarding job that will allow me to help the people around me. No matter where I end up, I will be able to find a job. That being said it will also be a job that will make me happy, and a job I would clearly enjoy doing.