Occupational Therapy School is Hard!

OT graduate school is tough.

 That doesn't accurately portray the difficulty that I and my fellow OT grad students experience. Let me try again.

OT school is hard!
Still not quite covering all the ups, downs, valleys, mountain-tops, laughs, grunts, screams of exultation and anguish. I guess it can't be summed up in one sentence, so I will try to describe it in a few paragraphs.

Occupational therapy is my life. I know that people say that phrase about many things from chocolate, coffee, and sports, all with a hint of sarcasm and humor. However, I say that in all seriousness. Occupational therapy has become my life. I wake up thinking about occupational performance and go to bed thinking about it. My daily activities, ADLs for the uninitiated, are shaped by a desire to "optimize performance and participation" across all contexts. I analyze the way I grasp objects, walk, dress, bathe, toilet, and the list goes on. And it's not just me who I analyze, I am secretly analyzing all of you as well!

When did this happen? When did I become so aware of how I and others interact with the world around us? Have I always done this? The answers to these questions are: no idea, no idea, and yes. I have always been the strange guy who "stares", the person who is noticing what is going on, who is saying what, who is doing what. My childhood was spent being told, not to stare, stop pointing, and don't do that. Yet, in the past 14 months these observation skills have become more noticeable and all-encompassing. I am being trained to analyze, critique, and find areas of strength and stretch. I search out strengths to use to increase participation and stretches to mediate.

OT graduate school is a long, arduous, and all-consuming endeavor. It changes you and change is never easy. The training forces you to think critically about everything and yet stay compassionate to the needs of others. In order to succeed you must adapt and learn to evaluate all aspects of a person's life, from the environment, the objects used, and movement. But, being critical does not make a clinician. The true mark is unbiased, honest assessment pared with unwavering compassion. That is what truly makes OT graduate school so challenging. Not the coursework, not the papers, not the hours spent writing and rewriting papers but the knowledge that with all your knowledge, understanding, and ability comes the responsibility to show honest empathy and compassion to your clients and everyone you meet.

So, if you are thinking about being an OT and going to OT school, just do it. GO for it and remember why you decided to put yourself through this. You can do it.