Dear Readers,Welcome to the San Jose State SOTA blog page! We, Laura Fairley and Carey Serrano, are your blog page editors. We are both in our fourth semester of the Pattern I Occupational Therapy Program here at SJSU. We have been having a great journey as OT students and we are happy to share it with you through this blog!
Allow us to tell you more about ourselves….
Where did you come from?Carey~ I was born in Phoenix, Arizona and I lived there until I was 2...my family then moved to the small town of Los Banos, Ca and lived there till I was 11. We moved to San Jose and have been here ever since!
Laura~ Wow No way Carey I was also born in Phoenix Arizona too! I moved to Riverside California when I was 7. I went to Riverside Community College and ran for two years on the cross country and track team, then transferred to San Jose State for cross country and the Occupational Therapy Program (mainly for OT though!).Why did you pick OT?
Carey~ I transferred to SJSU in 2006 from West Valley College where I first learned about OT from a career class. I found the SJSU OT website and when I read the description of what occupational therapy is I knew this is what I wanted to do. I always wanted to help people, and this is a great way to do that! One of our books, the Meaning of Everyday Occupation by Betty Risteen Hasselkus better describes how I think about OT: “Might we not think of our work as directed toward enabling people, as best as possible, to live the lives that lie within them? Whatever their ages, whatever their capabilities and disabilities, whatever their circumstances—we are, in effect, working together with our clients to let their lives speak, to enable the expression of their authentic selves, to help them experience their own deep inner beings in their daily lives. (p. 19)” I love occupational therapy because it offers hope and life to people who need and deserve it. I consider myself very blessed to have discovered this profession and program at SJSU!Laura~ I actually started off wanting to be a nurse but the idea of giving people shots and handing out medication made me nervous. So then I thought Kindergarten teacher. I was comfortable with that choice for a long time, but something about that decision didn't sit quite right. It felt good but not the perfect fit. I told this to my aunt who is an occupational therapist and she offered to take me to work with her so that I may see what its like to do what she does. HOLY TALEDO BATMAN I loved it!!! It was like nurse meets kindergarten teacher! The perfect fit!!! Helping people in a fun and creative environment!
What are your Hobbies?
Carey~ I love being creative with crafts, painting, writing, etc. I also enjoy dancing, singing, playing guitar, and attending church and Campus Crusade. I love spending time outside, especially at the beach. I like to travel as well. I haven't been to many places, but I'd like to in the future. I may even be a traveling OT so I can do two things I love at once!Laura~ I really love music!! I like putting mixes together, blasting it in my car, or just dancing in my room; I find it to be an excellent stress reliever! Another hobby of mine is working out. Now before you roll your eyes, let me tell you I am not the best at it. It is hard to get up and decide to do something, and I will admit there are days when I skip (ok lets be honest there have been weeks!). However, I enjoy the way I feel after a great workout, I especially enjoy it when you have a partner, then it becomes a fun social hour!
We would love to get to know everyone's story! If you would like to answer any of these questions, please feel free to post your story!!!
