Occupational Therapy Personal Statement

My entire life I have been surrounded and encouraged by people to care for others. For instance, my mother works in health care as a hospice and home health aid. When she gets home from work I can tell in the way she talks about her occupation that she is thrilled to help her clients live happier and healthier lives. This has led me to want a career that would directly work with people, and watch patients grow independently. In high school I did some research to what careers that would offer just that. In my process, a representative from The College of St. Scholastica brought occupational therapy to my attention. So, that night when I got home, I further researched occupational therapy and it was clear to me that OT would be a good fit. To further inspect if the occupational therapy field was right for me I started observation hours just a week or two after high school graduation. …show more content…
This patient suffered from a stroke that occurred about 8 years ago. In result of this stroke she had troubles with fine movements in her right hand and forced herself to use her left hand. After such a long period of time not having the control of her right hand she converted herself to being left handed. Further, every Monday the occupational therapist would test her strength and timed movement. Over the course of the week her grip strength increased by several pounds. Also, her timed task of manipulating objects in her hand decreased. After the tests were finished the occupational therapist would share with the patient her results. Just the look on the client's face said it all. She was starting to gain control of her right hand again and using it again for everyday tasks such as eating. This was remarkable to me that over such a short period of time she made life changing improvements and would continue to increase her