For my interview, I spoke Amy Newtown, a family friend who is a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant (COTA). I asked her several questions about her work and why she chose to specialize in this type of work.

She works as a smaller hospital in both acute care and inpatient rehabilitation settings. She shared that she usually sees about 14 patients a day, from around 8 AM to 5 PM with a break for lunch. She said that she works with a wide variety of patient diagnoses, including: strokes, heart surgeries, and hip and knee replacement surgeries. In her treatments, she works with patients to improve their activities of daily living (ADLs) like bathing, dressing, and grooming. She also works with them on home exercise programs for arms and cognitive retraining.

When I asked her why she chose Occupational Therapy, she told me that she always knew she wanted to work in the medical field. When making her career choice, she was deciding between nursing and OT. She believed that OT would be a better fit for her personal qualities and skills. She also shared that her favorite part of her job was seeing a patient in some of the worst times of their life and being able to help them get better and return home.

She also shared with me advice for someone just starting out in the field. She told me to make sure that I know the diagnoses, abbreviations, and precautions and how those apply to you as a therapist. She also said to make sure to ask questions and utilize the resources you have like your professors and instructors in school.

Over my freshman year, I volunteered my 20 hours at several different places. I had many opportunities through Pay it Forward, a service based club at OSU. My most memorable volunteering experience was at Spring into Service in April 2017. I volunteered at a local church’s community garden. Me and my group worked to relocate compost piles and clean plastic bottles. When we were done volunteering, our hosts offered all of the volunteers lots of snacks and a free hot lunch. Their unexpected kindness overwhelmed me, and I gained a new understanding of being grateful and humble.

I also participated in Community Commitment in the fall with Pay it Forward. I worked at a local food pantry for 2 hours. I volunteered with IAA for Be the Change Day. We made sandwiches for homeless people in the Union for 2 hours. I worked with Habitat for Humanity in the fall for 7 hours. We worked on a building site and helped wherever we could. In the spring, I participated in MLK Day of Service with Pay it Forward. I worked at COSI and helped assemble kits to take to local schools. I did this for 3 hours. I also participated in Spring into Service with Pay it Forward where I worked in a community garden for 3 hours. I also volunteered at a Parkinson’s 5K with a club that I am involved in, UNOO (Undergraduate Neuroscience Outreach Organization). I helped set up, clean up, and direct runners on the course. I did this for 3 hours. I have had very diverse service opportunities this year.

I recently interviewed Kylie Scott, a second year HSS student. She is Biology major with a minor in Spanish and an aspiring optometrist. From talking to her, I learned more about optometry as a field. I learned about the conditions of working in an optometrist and the courses required to get into optometry school. Optometry schools also require shadowing experience, and prefer for the applicant to have experience working in an optometry clinic. I learned some of the benefits of optometry as a career. Optometry has flexible hours, the possibility for private practice, and it is usually not life-or-death work. This means that optometry as a field is more laid back than other medical professions. Kylie is involved in several clubs, both relating to optometry and not relating to optometry. She has had several opportunities to get involved in optometry related service through these clubs. I also received advice about my career search. She advised me to go out and shadow people in different professions, and to choose a career that I loved. After learning more about optometry, I am interested in the career, but not sure if this is the career for me yet.