Musings of an unconventional OT student

Yes. A typical cynical title which is probably what you have learnt to expect from me. We already had to “re-evaluate” the original goals termed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)… or in more simple terms “we failed so now we need a new plan.” And so came the Sustainable Development Goals. If you are looking for a more optimistic description, this link https://youtu.be/5_hLuEui6ww will give you a brief overview of the change from MDGs to SDGs. The SDGs are a collection of 17 interrelated and integrated goals that the United Nations has said should be achieved in all 193 countries by the year 2030. Here is a cute animation of all 17 goals: https://youtu.be/0XTBYMfZyrM . After that look, I think we can all agree that this seems a bit unattainable. Upon further research into the topic, I found a TED Talk of a man who investigates our progress in attaining the SDGs and predicts how each country will succeed in meeting these goals based on trajectories from 2015 to 2018. If you would like...

  So, I found this spin on the usual “I’m not your cup of tea” phrase and took to it immediately. I just absolutely love the honesty and lack of care required to describe oneself as a rusty bucket of bog water. And while there is an apology in the tweet, it seems rather nonchalant, almost as if it was said as a sarcastic afterthought, rather than a sincere apology. I feel this tweet was specifically made for me as it is a great description of my personality and general attitude. Unapologetic, nonchalant, sarcastic, not your cup of tea and totally OK with that. My views on most things are not the same as the majority, and I am not afraid to voice them and be “unpopular." So, what has contributed to the contents of this rusty bucket of bog water? Why don’t I try break it down for you? But in all honesty, I’m not sure why it would matter at all. I could give you a lovely little story about my upbringing, the negati ves, the positives, and I assure you, you will be able to do an i...

“In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart, there is the power to do it.” This quote by Marianne Williamson struck a chord with me, especially as I have just finished my first week of community block. I will be honest (nothing new there) and say I was incredibly apprehensive about this block for multiple reasons. The workload and the expectations being the biggest stressor. I have always wondered how 1 person (or 3 in my case) could ever make a difference in a whole, established community. What on earth am I going to do to make a difference in so many peoples lives. To be honest, the weight of this thought really came crashing down on me the first time I saw the community we were going to be a part of for the next 5 weeks. I was immensely intimidated at the vastness of this community. The amount of people who were looking at me as if I was just another student in a long line of students trying to make a difference that never really translated to anything. As you c...

And yet again, another prac block has come to an end. Reflecting on this psychosocial block has been somewhat difficult, but illuminating nonetheless. I have learnt so much, about the theory, about prac knowledge and about myself. All the different diagnoses and how to handle each, how to structure sessions to get maximum therapeutic use out of each, how to choose activities to achieve aims, how to formulate aims so that they actually address the client’s needs and how to integrate person, occupation and context to ensure your treatment is holistic. Learning how to treat in a psychosocial setting has been quite an abstract concept. Treating something you can’t see, feel or actually accurately test is rather strange, let alone abstract. You have to constantly dissect everything said by the client because their perceptions about their particular situation isn’t necessarily the same as what the doctor or psychiatrist is saying. So to sum that up in one word - Insight. Insight, ins...

So arguably, this would mean I am doing research all day everyday… Nah, I’m just joking. I know what I’m doing… about 25% of the time… but that is better than nothing I guess (she laughs nervously.) But anyway, let me get to today’s topic of research, or more accurately, research day. What is research day? Where does it come from? Who decided to come up with this concept? Research day is the day everyone presents their research they have been doing for a year on a specific topic. It comes from the fact that in the OT degree, research is considered a part of honours that is sort of meshed with the normal OT degree. So we study for four years instead of the usual three, but we graduate with honours, not just a degree. Who decided to come up with this aspect of tertiary education? I have no idea, and no, I am not going to research it. All I can say is he is probably not the most liked person in history. So back to research day. As a third year, I was invited, along with the rest...

  I was lucky enough to listen to some beautiful minds this past Thursday. And they indeed inspired me. Not by overcoming some massive challenge publicly, not by being famous, not be telling the world how amazing they are, but simply by being themselves. And I find this even more inspiring than some famous persons quote about “overcoming their struggle to enter Hollywood.” A lot of things have lost meaning for me, such as songs and movies, after hearing the background story behind it. For example, Fight song by Rachel Platten used to be so inspiring… Until I realised that this song was about her struggle to fame… What about people’s struggles just to be able to participate in daily life? People who help others participate in daily life? These are the struggle stories I want to hear, watch and listen to.  And this is what I had the absolute privilege to do on Thursday. We had 5 people come speak to us with regards to different intellectual and developmental conditions....