Posted on in lifestyle

Five Years of Renrenspeaks – End of 2025 Recap 

Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy end of the year! Can you believe that we have made it to the end of 2025? I simply cannot. Today marks the FIFTH anniversary of Renrenspeaks. I started this blog during the height of the pandemic, and to say that it is half a decade old already is just mind blowing. As yall may have noticed, I unintentionally took a year hiatus from my blog. I apologize for this! It has been a crazy, whirlwind of a year, but it is so good to get back in touch with you all.

This year has been one filled with so many emotions and life altering events. I’ve experienced significant changes, invoking sadness, joy, laughs, hurt, worry, and peace. Truthfully, the first few months of the year were tough mentally and emotionally. In January, I had to abruptly move to a new home in which I was not mentally nor financially prepared to do so. In February, one of my childhood friends suddenly passed away. This was the first time I experienced the loss of someone close to me. And in March, I felt overall job pressures, imposter syndrome, and burnout take a toll on my overall mental health. It felt like one event after another event tested my resilience. However, turning to my support systems, prioritizing self-care, and finding impactful coping skills really helped with processing the first few months of grief and uncertainty.

Fast forward to the second half of the year, I felt much better holistically. I was able to travel back home more often and spend more time with loved ones. As I get older, I am so appreciative of the roots that I have and how they’ve shaped me to be the person I am today. I witnessed beautiful engagements and unions of love, celebrated family gatherings, and saw people from many different chapters of my life that were pivotal in different time periods of my life.

I was also able to complete four out of five of my financial goals for this year! This year, I really focused on growing my financial literacy and hitting financial goals since this was the first year of starting my career. I have a HEFTY amount of student loans (shoutout six-figure debt club), and I’ve been able to pay $30,000 of it back so far. I feel incredibly blessed that I have been able to achieve such a feat, as having six-figure debt takes a toll on you mentally, financially and emotionally. I am very proud of the mindset shift that I obtained during this year when it comes to finances. Having such a large amount of debt felt embarrassing to talk about and share. Moreover, it felt extremely isolating especially when it can feel like other people are ahead financially. However, it taught me SO much discipline and patience in the process. I’ve picked up another job per diem to help achieve these financial goals, and I am very blessed and privileged to be able to have the stamina and drive to do it. I pray for and claim financial freedom hopefully by my mid-30s. I do believe it is possible for myself, as hard as the daily grind is. 

Going into 2026 will be an interesting year. I think it will be a time of great reflection and mourning to some capacity, as it will be my last year of my 20s– I CAN’T believe it! Some of my personal goals for next year are to continue expanding my financial literacy, pay these loans DOWN even more, pivot settings as an occupational therapist, prioritize sleep and fitness, and tap into my previous hobbies prior to graduate school. I also want to be more present on my blog, even if it is quarterly check-ins! Despite those goals, I really have no specific expectations for 2026. All I hope and pray for is that it is one of joy, growth, safety, and good health. I am thankful for another year of life, especially after witnessing first-hand how short life can be. 

We are that much closer to the next decade of the century. I am wishing everyone a happy new year! 

Peace and love,

Irene 

*In remembrance of Sarah. My sweet friend, you may not be here on this physical earth with us anymore, but you remain in my heart forever. I know you are made whole in heaven. Your spirit shines bright still, and you’ve changed so many lives around you with your testimony. ❤ 

Posted on in lifestyle

Celebrating Four Years of Renrenspeaks: A Journey Through 2024

Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy end of the year! Can you believe it – we are wrapping up the end of 2024 and heading into 2025. This time tomorrow, we will officially be halfway between 2020 and 2030.

First, I thank God that I made it through the year to even write this post. Life is truly a blessing. One thing that has really hit me recently is that our days are numbered and are finite. I hope and pray for continuous longevity and covering over my life and the lives of others, God willing.  

Also, HAPPY FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF RENRENSPEAKS.COM! Technically, it was yesterday (I am a day late!). This time 4 years ago I launched my blog. This has been a wonderful documentation of my life’s reflections. I can see as this blog progresses how much support and growth I have had in my communities throughout the years. Give ya girl some love to celebrate the anniversary!

It definitely has been some time since I last caught up with yall. This post is not focused on any one particular topic. I am here to simply share some of my reflections throughout the year and wrap up with some lessons I learned in 2024!

This year has been one of many ups and downs for me. It has been a HUGE year for me, as I have had many life changes, time to reflect, and growing pains/triumphs. Emotionally, I feel like I have been all over the place. I had some hard conversations and hard realizations that honestly made me so unsure of myself and my various identities at various points of the year. However, through those emotional hardships, I believe have blossomed into a stronger individual who can set boundaries, advocate for her needs, and create space for myself. And for that, I am really proud of myself.

Some highlights of 2024 that I have been blessed to experience include some, but not all, of the following:

  • Moving to a new home in a wonderful city central to many sights to see
  • Going to concerts and being outside more often
  • Cultivating a beautiful relationship with refugees/asylum-seekers through my capstone
  • Attending my first OT national conference
  • Graduating from OT school and becoming a Doctor of Occupational Therapy
  • Passing my NBCOT exam
  • My graduation party
  • Traveling around the country (Miami, Orlando, Philly) and internationally via my first cruise (Mexico, Honduras)
  • Attending a weekly Pyro Pilates class and sticking to it
  • Starting my first big girl job as an official OT
  • Building and rebuilding community collectively  

Going into 2025, I honestly do not know what the year holds for me. I am hoping that it is one of continuous growth, as always, in all aspects of my life – spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, professionally, socially, financially – and the list goes on! This will be the first year of my life that I do not hold the “student” identity, so discovering what my next life goals will be shall be an interesting journey, to say the least.

I hope to be generally more positive and have more faith in God for my purpose in life. I think I realized that many times in 2024, I was not truly operating out of faith and positivity, but rather constant fear and worry. As a result, anxiety and a lack of confidence crippled me at various times throughout the year. I want to be better in knowing that I always have God on my side to help me through life and encourage me because as we know, life be LIFING! I am not the only one who is feeling the weight of the world on her shoulders through responsibilities such as student loans, for example (and mind you, mine are a hefty one). I’ve learned that after persevering through my stressors, things always end up being more okay than I thought they would. I probably should channel more Type B energy so that I can live my life well-balanced instead of chronically stressing over little aspects that just may not be that serious at the end of the day.

I am also hoping to be more present on this blog, as it is something that I started during the height of the pandemic as a digital diary. I hope to create more mini blog series, highlighting various stories and life experiences of my peers, colleagues, and loved ones. It helps me stay connected with the world around me.

Thank you to everyone who continues to support me and love on me, whether it is through good vibes, prayers, social media networking, in-person quality time, etc. I am incredibly grateful for another year of life, and cheers to what the next year has in store for us! Happy New Year, everyone!

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in occupational therapy

Three Weeks Down as a Pediatric Occupational Therapist!

Hello Renrenspeakers! How is everyone doing? Long time, no type! I am so glad that the weather has FINALLY cooled off. I have returned my fuzzy socks and sweats as my go-to loungewear. I am about three weeks in as an official OTR/L in an outpatient pediatric clinic with some home health. So far, it has been such a wonderful experience! Lemme update yall on my journey as a new grad thus far.

As a new grad OT, there is a huge learning curve in general. I am constantly consulting other peds OTs I know and look up to, handy dandy Google/ChatGPT, and my old notes/resources from my fieldwork experience and school to refresh my mind on things that I am less familiar with or need additional information on. Heck, the other day, I even pulled out my TherapyEd book I used briefly to study for the NBCOT to verify various developmental milestones and primitive reflexes. Either I blacked it out, but I don’t remember studying as frequently – or might I rephrase, as diligently – when I was in school. I think that I am more willing to seek out this information because first, my license is on the line; and second, I am so new to this, so I want to be the best therapist I can be! I actually do enjoy researching things and discovering how I can spice up my sessions, apply the knowledge that I learn to my tool kit, and educate parents and caregivers for increased carryover (via HEPs, education, etc).

I know my mind is young and fresh, but here are some of the reasons I enjoy the pediatric population thus far:

  1. I always have a story I can recall at the end of the day. My clients say and do the funniest, cutest, and interesting things. I recently had a client who was eating cherry tomatoes for her snack, and she had some remaining juice on her fingers. I laid my jacket down on my chair prior to session starting, and out of nowhere, I saw her walk up to my jacket to wipe her fingers like she would do if she were using a napkin, lol.
  2. I get to be in touch with the youth and channel my inner kid. There are so many things I have discovered that kids like these days, like Ms. Rachel. I also felt super cool working with a client who liked Roblox because I know exactly what that is and could converse about it (shoutout to my little sister, Claudine, for the exposure lol).
  3. I can do a ton of arts and crafts – and they are used therapeutically! First, arts and crafts are my thing. Plus, they can target so many performance areas such as fine motor skills, sensory (tactile), bilateral coordination – the list goes on and on! So far, I have enjoyed finding themed printables or even just creating templates on my iPad and printing them out to use in sessions. I can also upgrade/downgrade them to my discretion. For instance, I can cut pieces of a craft out and have the child bear crawl to them, picking them up 1 by 1 all over the room to also target gross motor skills or any other skills they are working on.
  4. Each client is so different from the next. The variability of clients allow me to get to know many different personalities and learn how to navigate hardships I come across more effectively.
  5. I am constantly on my toes. I never know how the day is going to go as much as I may plan for it, truthfully. Of course, I always hope for a positive, productive session. However, sometimes my clients just might not be feeling an activity as much as I am. I have to be flexible and adaptable so that I am also meeting the client’s needs. This is a skill I am definitely growing in, but knowing that I constantly have to modify my creativity forces me to learn, and therefore, grow as a clinician.

I am thankful that I have a great work environment that supports me and accommodates my needs well. I hear many new grad first job horror stories, and I hate that for us because we are just trying to learn and be our best selves in this new life transition.

The hardest transition for me honestly has been getting used to being an OT. When I first started, I was very anxious because I just did not know what to expect. I had many worries – What is my kids don’t like me? What if my clients and I don’t connect? What is the right way to do therapy? First, there is no right way to do therapy, because everyone’s style is different! Of course, some days are harder than others, but I have to remember to give myself grace. I am three weeks in, NOT 30 years in. And no matter where I am in my years of experience, I will always have room to grow and improve. That is what striving to be a great clinician is all about – recognizing what you don’t know and addressing those gaps. I’ve learned so far that it is okay and even encouraged to ask for help! As much as I try to figure things out on my own, there are going to be so many things that I merely do not know. Again – that is OKAY! I am new to this life! After all, clinicians always say that it took them a year before they finally started really feeling confident and comfortable in what they were doing, so I still have 49 weeks to get there, haha. Fieldwork was a good way to get my feet wet, but that was only the foundation. I get to constantly add to my foundation as a life-long learner. I try to stay grounded as a new grad OT by continuously giving myself grace because again – I am new! I can mess up, I will make mistakes, I will learn from them, and I will grow because of that. Being a peds OT has required me to quickly adopt a Type B personality – one that is more relaxed, easygoing, and flexible when needed.

One thing I noticed that is so easy to fall prey to is going to the store and being tempted to buy anything that I can use for my session, lol. Yesterday, I went to the Dollar Tree and found a TON of items that I could use with my clients to target their goals (shoutout the Dollar Tree for inexpensive stuff, though I do have to side eye a little bit because everything was really marked $1.25. Inflation I guess). My next destination is Goodwill, haha. Currently, there are multiple go-to games stashed away in my car that I did not even touch until starting my job, and I believe that this list will continue to grow at the rate I’m going. I also have a Peds wishlist on Amazon and a growing checklist on my Notes app. Sometimes, it is hard to resist buying new items that my clients might enjoy or benefit from (so help me out with this, fellow peds OTs lol).

The largest downside I’ve faced so far – the getting sick part, eh, not my favorite. I am currently recovering from a bad cold – ah, the joys of working with kids, lol. I remember when I did my first fieldwork at an outpatient peds clinic. I literally lasted 2 weeks, and then BAM. I got COVID for the first time. I was out all week. My immune system is not up to par yet, but I know I will have a beast immune system in no time. 😉 I guess I’ll have to stock up on my vitamins extra hard to try to avoid being sick at all costs.

On my to do list is to continue researching, taking CEUs on my weaker knowledge areas (ex. sensory integration), and honestly just striving to do the best that I can do every day. I also want to work on work-life balance. I want to improve my documentation efficiency, as I notice that I can be a little long-winded when it comes to notes (I blog after all, so writing is inherently a part of my personality trait, lol). If yall have advice or an example of the most efficient notes you’ve written that you’d like to share with me (respect HIPAA, obviously), I am all here for it. 🙂

Thanks for riding this journey with me thus far!

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in new grad, occupational therapy, occupational therapy practitioner

New Grad Season – What a WEIRD Place to Be In!

Hello, Renrenspeakers! I hope all is well with you. Happy October – spooky season is upon us! I don’t know about you all, but I am so ready to watch some Halloween DCOMs this month!

Let me catch y’all up to speed with my life as of late since completely shedding the remains of my “student” identity. My entire month of August was a really fun one! I felt so blessed. I traveled home to San Diego, my hometown, and visited family and friends for a little bit. I also had a delayed but wonderful grad party to celebrate finishing OT school and passing my exam. Then, I flew to Miami for the first time and reconnected with my lovely college girl gang for a few days. And to top it all off, at the end of August, I was blessed to go on a very relaxing, peaceful, much needed vacation via a cruise sailing around the Caribbean sea! It was one of the best trips of my life (shout out to my partner for making it all happen <3). I am officially a cruise advocate now! I wish I could travel forever!

As amazing and necessary as vacation was, after coming back to AZ, reality hit me like a brick. I officially processed that I am now in my new grad season – what a weird place to be in! My entire September has consisted of a whirlwind of emotions. I think these emotions were suppressed because after taking my exam, all I could focus on was how much fun August was going to be at the time. Not going to lie, September has been simultaneously anxiety-inducing, reflective, and introspective. I was super blessed to have a job lined up for me even before taking my board exams, so the process of applying to jobs was one less stressor I did not have to worry about (side note – the power of networking is tremendous. Word of advice? Hold on tight to those connections you make throughout life because this is exactly how I was able to land my first job!). However, when there is a drastic shift from constantly studying, writing papers, and just trying to survive grad school to now having no routine, nothing pressing to do, and no money, I found myself having a LOT of time to think and even ruminate on my future (maybe too much time, honestly). School did not warn me adequately about the many emotions and feelings that come with this new grad season.

The more and more I waited around, the more my nerves started to kick in about EVERYTHING. Perhaps this is the beginning of imposter syndrome creeping up. It is a genuine feeling of wondering if you know enough, are qualified for the job, and are ready to be your own boss. Though I have had extensive training in OT, it is still a feeling that is hard to shake off completely.

What I really think augmented my worries about starting this next chapter of my life is the fear of the unknown, and the realization that I am really now a full-blown adult. I now have to think about and strategically plan for all of the other responsibilities that come with growing up – finding the best health insurance plan for myself, rent, car payments, investing in a 401k and other retirement accounts, maintaining relationships, the list goes on and on. Oh, not to mention the dreaded massive student loan debt I have (and am still slowly coming to terms with). There is no best answer to what I SHOULD do because everyone’s situation is so different. As a student, these were aspects of adulting that I knew were ahead of me. Yet, they were still a pretty abstract concept because I did not have to tackle these things head on. Now, I think about the rising cost of living and overall responsibilities. Sometimes, it makes me spiral worrying about whether or not I will actually be able to afford to live comfortably and merely enjoy life because that is something I really do value. I don’t want to look back 20 years from now and realize that I am continuously in a situation in which I am just going through the motions of life and slowly losing myself and my values because of the overall stressors of adulthood.

Truthfully, September was hard mentally and emotionally for me because I realized that to me, change is scary. It is much harder for me to embrace change than I initially thought. There are so many moving parts and components about change that a person just simply cannot fully control. For some time, I really just felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders, and it made me feel like I had to have everything figured out – especially being a Type A girlie like myself.

Now that October is here, I’ve done a lot of processing of my emotions, and it has launched a catalyst for me to seek a complete mindset shift. Me constantly stressing about the future, especially when everyone goes through some kind of trial or tribulation period in their life, was not making me feel better about myself – just worse. Relying on the strength of merely myself clearly wasn’t cutting it, and it never will be enough. BUT stepping into faith and casting my anxiety and worries with God helped me to start developing an inner strength to work through these feelings of exasperation and negativity I was battling. Of course, it is still very much a work in progress, but remembering to keep my faith in all that I do has helped keep me grounded and not completely go off the deep end. Giving myself grace has been so important because I am just simply trying to do my best. I also have to remember that I am not the only one in the world going through this major life transition!

So, how am I taking care of myself and working on my mindset shift as I transition to this next stage of life? The single best thing that I have prioritized to keep my sanity is going on my daily walks! My mom and I used to power walk frequently growing up, and it is a practice that I am very grateful she instilled in me. Honestly, the gym is not my go-to choice of fitness, so I knew that wouldn’t be the way I better myself physically. The weather is still blazing hot (100º+, to be exact), but I refuse to let the hot sun prevent me from staying on my fitness journey! I’ve made it a point to exercise early before peak heat, and it has given me some kind of routine to adhere to. I have upped my daily power walks to 4 miles a day first thing in the morning, and it has helped me a ton with providing clarity and practicing gratitude. This is also a time where I listen to my cherished podcasts to work on bettering myself. I also opened a library card to get back into my reading era, as well as bought a coloring book! Of course, I am still consistent with juicing, so that has been fun and tasty. Additionally, I started to journal again. Not frequently as of late, but I made it a point to keep a regular journal and a gratitude journal. I think I like my gratitude journal much more because even if I am feeling overwhelmed and down, I try to name at least one thing in my life that I am currently happy with and grateful for. I, like most people, find it super easy to fixate on the negative aspects of life, even if they are very few, rather than the numerous, wonderful positive aspects of life that I should strive to focus on.

As of right now, I am (still) patiently waiting for my license to come in, which is the last step I have to achieve before being able to finally practice. By the way, I will be starting off my career in outpatient pediatrics if I have not mentioned that already, whoohoo! Additionally, I have also been trying to increase my financial literacy like crazy while I do have this time so that I am not completely blind-sighted by all of the additional financial responsibilities to come. Even though I consider myself to be a novice in the financial world, I am very proud of myself for finally starting to understand things such as a Roth IRA, a high yields savings account, and even the differences between all the student loan repayment plans. These little action steps are great and should be celebrated because it brings me one step closer to financial peace and freedom. Eventually, I will do a whole finance post because I have a lot to say about the student debt crisis, lol.

I primarily wrote this post as a reminder to myself that everything will be OKAY and will work out! This is a shared experience that I know happens to many people, especially young new professionals who have sacrificed other life opportunities such as traveling, working, etc. to pursue grad school in hopes of fulfilling their own professional ambitions.

I am a new OT grad, so any tips and advice on navigating this new grad season and feeling more confident about starting adulthood (for real this time) as a young professional are SO invited. Thanks for allowing me to be vulnerable within this space today, Renrenspeakers! 🙂

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in occupational therapy

It is Done! From OT Student to Officially Becoming an OTR – Reflections on Passing the NBCOT Exam

Hello Renrenspeakers! I am feeling like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I have amazing news to share. After 9 days of some grueling waiting, I found out that I passed the last, huge hurdle to becoming an OT – the NBCOT board exam, whoohoo! Last Wednesday at 7 am, I begrudgingly opened my computer and nervously logged into my account, just to be pleasantly gifted with the words, Welcome, Irene! and saw my certification status as ACTIVE. I immediately began bawling and praising God for this achievement, because I can tell yall that I literally had no idea how to feel about the exam that I took. I ran upstairs, woke everyone up with my excitement, and cried with joy alongside my family. I am so thankful I had the support of my family to be with me regardless of the outcomes, but boy was I thrilled to not have to ever think about repeating the exam ever again. Let me take yall through my pre-NBCOT and post-NBCOT experience because I think I learned a lot about myself throughout these vigorous few weeks of intense studying. It required a LOT of introspection and self-reflection to make it to the other side. I have a ton to share about this experience, so brace yourselves.

Graduation is such a beautiful and fun time to celebrate the wonderful achievement of being done with school and obtaining a degree that I longed to achieve for so long. However, I quickly had to shift my focus on prepping my mind for the last hurdle – the NBCOT exam. As we know, standardized tests are never fun and easy because half of it is about knowing the content, and half of it is about knowing how to take the exam. I like to consider myself an average standardized test taker – not the best, not the worst. However, being a Type A girlie like myself (I know, it is something I need to work on), I wanted to ensure that I used my last brain cells to give my all to the NBCOT exam. To me, that meant making sure that I aimed to overstudy rather than understudy. The exam itself is daunting because it is a 180 question test with an allotted time of 4 hours to complete it. Thus, test takers must read diligently and swiftly to ensure that they finish the test. This is a lot to do, especially when still coming off the high of graduation!

So, what did I do to prepare for the NBCOT exam? I kick started my pre-NBCOT exam period by first taking a week long break after graduating before starting up my studying because I was SO mentally tired. I took this week to lounge around and find comfort in doing absolutely nothing. I was able to do this for about 75% of the week, not gonna lie. Yes, I know I said I needed to give myself a week off, but I guess I was itching to start studying so I could just get the test over with sooner rather than later and move onto bigger and better things. During my “week” off, I did start to reach out to friends I knew who passed their exams relatively recently to get a gage for how they went about bracing themselves for studying. I also did a lot of Googling and joining Facebook groups to compare and contrast the best study materials that would equip me for successful study sessions. Man, there is a LOT of material out there, so the choices were overwhelming. Pro-tip for current OT students out there – save about a good cushion of $800 – $1000 after graduation to pay for the cost of the exam itself, possible study materials, AND the licensing process because I was very surprised to see how expensive study materials became.

The Saturday after graduation, I attempted to get into the studying mindset by taking my first TherapyEd practice exam without any prior preparation and got a 53%. My initial goal was to get a 50% to see where I was at content-wise, so I was rather pleased with reaching my benchmark lol. I heard from many people that TherapyEd is very difficult, and as long as I scored around the 60% range I would be good, so this checked out for me haha. With that, I created a study schedule via Google Docs that broke down my day and content that I wanted to review each week. Before creating my schedule, at the top of my document, I wrote down an affirmation to refer back to that I knew I was going to need as the weeks went by. It stated, You are a DOCTOR so you can do anything! Just focus, concentrate, and be confident. Take this studying as a fun time! Now truthfully looking back – did I refer to my affirmation frequently? Unfortunately, no. Was studying fun? Nah, not really lol. BUT when I wrote it at the time, it did help me reframe my mindset going into this exam. I refused to see it as this catastrophic event that was waiting to happen, but instead as one last step to getting closer to finally becoming an OT. After I typed out the sentence, I included three links from my fav, OT Miri about inspiring/motivating passing stories from other people who’ve taken the NBCOT once, twice, or multiple times. Reading these stories and reflecting on their advice actually helped to take away nerves and worries that began to creep up going into my pre-NBCOT study period.

After setting a skeletal outline of my study plan, I ended up deciding to dedicate about 6 weeks of full-time studying. I aimed for about 6, sometimes 7 hours a day of diligent studying for 6 days a week. Sundays were STRICTLY no studying and a much needed self-care day. I did have a bit of an interruption in which I did some light traveling for a few days, but overall, my goal was to aim for 6 hours a day with rest breaks in between. At the beginning, I was overly ambitious and thought that I could do a timed practice test each week, but after doing three my first three weeks, I merely could not do it. I realized I was doing the absolute most haha. I did end up completing probably like five timed practice exams total throughout because I was worried that I would not be able to finish the real thing on time. The stamina that it takes to sit at a computer for 4 hours and train your brain is wild! Burnout was so real for me, as I felt like I was crashing and could not do it anymore during week 4 of my study schedule. I started to incorporate more prayer and listen to positive accounts of testing experiences to subside the worry and negative attitude that began to fester as I continued my pre-NBCOT study sessions. The local library and a local coffee shop became my second home, and I believe that this change of scenery helped me a ton because it was a new environment that was more stimulating. I also began to pick up my daily yoga stretches again to physically release the built-up tension that I realized was trapped in my body.

You might be wondering, what study materials did I end up using that helped me the most? I want to give several shoutouts to my faves lol. Big shoutout to AOTA Study Pack, Truelearn, OT Miri, OT Rex and OT Exam Prepper Podcast for being my favorite resources ever. I wished I discovered these during grad school, specifically the free resources. Also, honorable mention to my previously made study guides from grad school and random people’s Quizlets haha. And SPECIAL SHOUTOUT to my friend for passing along her Truelearn account to me for free because the dollars were starting to stack up!

I ended up spiraling my fifth week and decided to purchase the NBCOT study pack after I completed the AOTA study pack. I will be very honest – it was somewhat helpful for me personally even though there are no rationales for the exams, but it also was anxiety-inducing when I took my last practice exam. From the Facebook group threads that I read, people said that practicing with the NBCOT practice exams are a good resource (which they are, do not get me wrong) to see which domains you might be struggling with. I also read a LOT of threads saying that people’s NBCOT practice exams were similar to what they ended up scoring like on the real exam. With 5 days left to go, I said, “Alright, I got this!” That last practice exam was interesting for sure, but I believed that I did the best that I could do and used my clinical reasoning skills pretty wisely throughout. Now mind you, the minimum score to pass (both on the practice and the real exam) is 450, so that magic number was what I was waiting for. When I clicked “submit” and received my practice exam score, a 422 popped up on my screen. Now that was not what I wanted to see! I was overwhelmed with a sinking feeling of worry, desperation, and panic. I was rather upset to see that what I thought would be a score that reflected all the weeks of my meticulous studying was actually a score that seemingly showed that I was not ready for this exam. Of course my Type A self cried out of frustration and started to panic, especially since I found myself wandering to study prep Facebook groups and comparing my practice exam to what others were getting as a gage for their readiness for the real NBCOT. Now was this helpful? Absolutely not. I decided that it was time for me to hop off the Facebook groups, as it was only feeding my panic even more.

With 5 days left before the big day, of course I could not let the strength and stamina that I put into prepping for this exam become void by the 422 that tried to haunt me. I said, “Alright God, how are we gonna push past this and make sure this doesn’t happen again?” I ended up religiously using TrueLearn and did concentrated study sessions, completing about 5-10 practice questions at a time from each domain and topic that I was still struggling with. For some reason, when it gets close to the wire, the sudden motivation and drive comes full force. This was the single most helpful thing for me (besides listening to my free resources in the background when I could not stare at a screen any longer). With their bomb rationales, I almost felt like I unlocked a new skill of tapping into the mindset of the exam. I also listened to OT Miri’s motivational video, The Passing Mindset to reset my mind and go forth with these last few days with the upmost optimism.

Taking the exam was an experience for sure, yall. I will say, God was definitely with me throughout this time. My exam time was at 12 pm. Usually, I would have preferred an early start such as 8 am or 10 am. However, I believe that it all worked out because I got to take the morning to make a hearty breakfast, watch some of the Olympics, listen to More Than Able by Maverick City Music and The Best is Yet to Come by Donald Lawrence to get my mind right, and even do some light exercise on the treadmill. Luckily, I was 5 minutes away from the testing site, so I was able to do these things without feeling rushed. Asking God for peace and endurance throughout the exam helped me to center myself and know that I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. In my prayer, I also asked God to ensure that I just continue to trust myself and my clinical judgement as I took the exam because I can be a notorious second guesser! One thing I also did to declare that victory would be mine is that I took a video of myself before I left my house proclaiming that I would walk out of the exam as a new clinician and that all my hard work and dedication was going to pay off. Self-talk and recording myself has been something I’ve implemented every first day of grad school, so I said, why not do the same on my first day of unofficially becoming an OTR that I believe I will become?

Before I started my exam, I wrote down Irene the OTR and Jesus got me! at the top of my scratch paper to refer back to when I started to become tired or anxious. Like with any exam, there were questions that I felt certain about, and then there were questions I had no idea how to approach. Because I was losing steam, I started to second-guess myself toward the end of the exam, which made me a bit worried and distracted. However, I centered myself by referring to the top of my scratch paper again and taking a few deep, calming breaths to continue the stamina and pace I established. I finished with 10 minutes to spare, attempted to review my flagged questions, reviewed the first 5 flagged questions, changed one answer, and then decided that I was done and what I didn’t know then I still wouldn’t know now.

When I walked out of my exam, I went into my car, and of course, started to cry because I could finally let out all of the pent up emotion and stress that I had buried all these weeks to stay focused (I know, I am supposed to be in touch with my emotions but I personally had to compartmentalize my emotions to grind better). The cry felt so nice to release, yall. 50% of it was that I felt that the test could have gone either really well or really horribly (I had no idea how to feel about my performance), and 50% of it was pure relief that I was actually done and never had to do that again (hopefully). I was surrounded by such comfort and support from my loved ones afterward, which made me feel a lot better as the days went on.

The waiting game was definitely not fun, friends. 9 days of waiting around for a score is hard! Pro tip for future NBCOT test takers – take your exam as close to the scoring deadline as possible for your own peace of mind. The more days that passed, the less confident I felt with my performance and started thinking about all of the worse case scenarios. I started to ruminate on all the potential wrong answers instead of thinking about all the answers that I did know. Overall, I think I did pretty well with distracting myself post-NBCOT while waiting. It all worked out at the end because I got my desired results, thank God!

The biggest lesson that I learned about prepping and taking this exam is that it is all about mindset. The mind can be the biggest enemy and threat to your success because the way it will have you thinking self-limiting thoughts and beliefs and then manifest into worry, anxiety, etc. is really wild! Mental health is SO important, and I can admittedly say that sometimes I ignored it for the sake of raking in another hour of “content” that ended up just going out the other ear anyway. I also feel like prepping and taking the NBCOT exam was a true reflection of literally leaving it in God’s hand and trusting Him to lead the way (which He always comes through!) So remembering that God is with me even through difficult times was very comforting for me, which I really believe contributed greatly to the success of my NBCOT experience.

If you made it this far, thank you for reading! I had a lot to say, clearly, because I just wanna remind future NBCOT test takers that the key to success is to trust yourself! You do know a LOT more than you do, and your clinical judgement is there because you completed an entire grad program and graduated, right? And if you do need to take the exam again, it is not an indication of how smart you are or of the type of clinician that you will be. Regardless of how many times you take the exam, you WILL be a great clinician! I did get lucky and passed on my first attempt, but through even the experience of failing what I thought was the most important practice test 5 days before my real exam, I did not let that define my capabilities and undermine all the work and effort I put into prepping for my test. Practice occupational balance during your studies! Find something that is meaningful to you and stick to it, whether that is exercising, praying, talking with loved ones, drawing, or even watching TV (Love Island USA was my jam for rest breaks and my evenings off, lol). The NBCOT is hard for so many different reasons, BUT it can be done with the right tools, the right mindset, and the continuous self-reflection and confidence in yourself. Good luck to the future OTRs out there!

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in graduate school, occupational therapy

Dr. Kwangaba, 100% Fully Loaded! OT School—Complete!

Hello, Renrenspeakers! I hope all is well! WOW, it has been such an eventful, accomplished month thus far. I am proud to announce that I have successfully completed my grad school journey. Allow me to reintroduce myself—Dr. Irene Kwangaba, the founder of Renrenspeaks, is here! I added new credentials to my name as of last Friday (OTD) because I am now a Doctor of Occupational Therapy, whoohoo!

So, how am I feeling about achieving this milestone in my life? The amount of excitement and gratitude that I have right now is unmatched. I was able to proudly cross off Graduate from OT School from my vision board the other day. My lovely family was in town to celebrate with me. They all witnessed me walk across the stage, receive my diploma, and get hooded. I felt an outpouring of support, love, and blessings from everyone who has directly and indirectly been following my grad school journey these past three years. I received screenshots and live updates of my commencement ceremony from my loved ones who could not physically be present with me, making it feel like a whole live event! The text messages, posts, phone calls, and gifts made this day even more special. Knowing that I set out a goal for myself since college, and then actually accomplishing it was so incredible. All glory be to God!

To me, having this degree is a testament to the dreams and values that my parents instilled in me. Yes, pursuing higher education is wonderful and all, but truly this opens doors for me to connect with all kinds of people and become the best therapist that I can be. It allows me to network with a diverse community of people using my newfound leadership skills and therapeutic use of self so that I can improve the lives of my future clients. I felt that my educational experience was even more enriched by the capstone process. I am forever grateful for the unique, authentic connections that I created through my capstone and will continue to nurture through the next stages of my life. I am also so happy to be a Congolese-American, Black OT breaking barriers and stigmas that we cannot achieve higher education successfully. Of course, the demographics will always illustrate that I am a minority in the profession. However, I hope to inspire future Black OTs and show them that we too can do it, and our place in the field is incredibly valuable and necessary.

With all that being said, I also cannot lie, friends—I don’t think it has really sunk in that I graduated to be quite honest. I am giving myself at least a one-week break to just BE and exist, which I truly deserve.

Now you are probably going to ask… what is next for me? In terms of the blog: Now that I am done with school, I hope to create more time to consistently catch up with yall and update you with other things happening in my life. There is a lot more to me than OT, friendly reminder! In terms of my next move in the world of OT: Well, even though I obtained my degree, I am not quite a working occupational therapist just yet. My next feat will be to study for my national board exam AND pass it (because I refuse to take it more than once), and then become licensed. Then I can add OTR/L to my email signature to make the OTD part more prominent and less lonely, lol. So, I still have quite the journey to go before I can start officially working. However, based on how quickly grad school flew by (for the most part), I know that it is only a matter of time before I step into this new era in my life—my career girlie era!

Thank you all so much for your endless love and support throughout this journey with me. Thank you to all my family, friends, mentors, peers, professors, and followers for always believing in me and rooting for me. Renrenspeakers, you all have had the inside scoop on my journey and life reflections this whole time. It is so cool to see how full circle this moment has become.

To wrap up my reflection, I have learned two major aspects about myself during grad school that I would like to share with yall. 1) I can do hard things, and 2) I have a lot to offer to this world (even when I don’t think I do). I hope that for future OT/grad school babes, these two gems ground and resonate with you and that you too can also receive this revelation during varying stages of your lives.

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in graduate school, occupational therapy

Graduation Season is HERE –Dr. Kwangaba, 95%(ish) Loaded!

Hello Renrenspeakers! Happy Saturday! How is everyone doing? It has definitely been a while since I’ve stopped by the blog. Let me tell yall, it has been a rollercoaster of a month. Why, you may ask? Because….. GRADUATION SZN IS UPON US! That is right, friends! I am graduating in TWO WEEKS (actually, 13 days to be exact). Hence, the 95%-ish fully loaded lol. I cannot believe how time has flownnnn by. I feel like I started grad school not too long ago, but I also feel like I have been here forever.

I am feeling alllllll kinds of emotions about graduating, to be honest! I am mostly excited because I finally get to shift into a new era of my life where I start my career and do what I have felt called to do for so long now. I am finally gonna shed the student identity forever and collect that bag! 😉 However, it is also so nerve-wracking because I have never done this career thing before! This will be my first big-girl job where I do not have to come back home and study for hours on end through a student lens. What am I going to do with my time outside of work? I guess I have the opportunity to tap back into my passions, which will be nice. I have a rough outline of the next steps after graduation, but I really don’t know when I will get all of the other pending requirements completed so that I can launch into my career girl era. There is not a clear answer for anything, which is hard to digest as a Type A girlie. It really is all in God’s hands. Any advice from new grads who faced my position just recently is so welcomed right about now!

Beyond being excited and nervous, I am really just so proud of myself. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I cannot believe that I did something as rigorous as grad school and completed it all in one piece (mostly, lol). I feel that I have had a shift in mindset, and I can witness the professional and personal growth that has taken place within me throughout these years. Being able to give back to the community through an OT lens has been fruitful, and I am sometimes think to myself, I really do kinda know what I am talking about, lol! I thoroughly enjoyed my capstone experience, for example, and I made so many beautiful growing and lasting connections through this experience. I FINALLY finished my capstone paper that I have been working on since my second year — it is submitted and out of the forefront of my mind! I don’t even want to tell yall how many total pages my paper is lol. I also completed my capstone presentation, and I am nearly done with my capstone poster. If yall are interested in learning more about my capstone project, you can watch my video presentation here.

Stay tuned for graduation content coming your way! I did some fun graduation pictures recently, which will drop on the ‘gram soon, so be on the lookout! I am beyond thankful for everyone who has supported me along the way. I literally could not have done it without the many influential, talented, and amazing wealth of support around me. This blog has also been such an archive of all of my greatest, lowest, challenging, and blessed moments in school. I am going to throw it back really quickly to my first blog post as a grad school here. Renrenspeaks.com has come a long way, and she is ever-evolving, just like I am.

Cheers to graduation season, and the next time you hear from me, I most likely will officially be Dr. Kwangaba, 100% FULLY LOADED!

Peace and love,

Irene

Posted on in Occupational Therapy Speaks series

Occupational Therapy Speaks Mini Blog Series – CAPSTONE Edition Part 4: Meet Anna, OTD student!

Hello, Renrenspeakers! I cannot believe it is the LAST SATURDAY of Occupational Therapy Month, let alone April! The month has just flown by like crazy! Part 4 of the Occupational Therapy Speaks mini blog series – CAPSTONE Edition has arrived! On today’s post, we will be learning about Anna, a super kind, warm-spirited colleague of mine who will be incorporating the arts into her capstone project! Today I am so excited to share her story on the blog!

Irene: What is your name/pronouns?

Anna: Anna Seedall (she/her)

Irene: Give us a quick synopsis of who YOU ARE! 

Anna: I am from Idaho Falls, ID. For the last few years, I have been attending school at A.T. Still University in Mesa, AZ. I have 5 sisters, no brothers. My sisters are some of my best friends (and worst critics). I grew up doing ballet and I love the discipline, structure, and grace that it provides. I enjoy hiking, trying new restaurants, paddle boarding, and going to concerts. 

Irene: Why OT? Tell us a little bit about how you found OT and what got you into this field.

Anna: A family friend recommended that I look into OT while I was in high school. She had a son on the autism spectrum and I loved interacting and engaging with him when they would come over. After figuring out what OT actually was, I was hooked. I loved how diverse and personal this profession is.

Irene: Choose three words that come to mind when you think of occupational therapy. Define each word in relation to OT. Why did you choose these three words? 

Anna: Adaptable, creative, and inquisitive

  1. Adaptable- OTs are the most adaptable people I know. I can’t count the times that I have seen a therapist completely switch their session plan to better suit their client’s needs. This is such an important skill! Nothing ever goes as planned and being able to make changes based on what’s best for the client can make a session much more meaningful.
  2. Creative- It doesn’t matter if you are working in pediatrics or at a SNF, you have to be creative! Being able to create activities that are fun and unique to a patient can help build rapport and help them find more meaning in therapy. OTs can take a simple object in the environment and create an entire session to address their client’s goals. Creativity is one of our superpowers. 
  3. Inquisitive- Ever since starting OT school, I find myself asking a lot more questions. Some patients have a hard time opening up and learning how to ask good questions, so this is such an important skill in order to gain necessary insight into a person’s life. I also feel like the more questions we ask, the more clear the root problem becomes. Being a good OT means that we are going to be lifelong learners. By being inquisitive we can learn more about all the complexities of the world and our patients. 

Irene: What is the most beautiful thing about OT to you? 

Anna: There are no limitations to what an OT can do or where OT can take place. We get to work with patients when they are sometimes at their worst and help them transform into the best version of themselves. Patients trust us with the intimate details of their lives and we get to play a role in their journey.

Irene: Let’s delve into your capstone a little more. What is your capstone about, and what initially inspired you to pursue your capstone topic? 

Anna: For my capstone project, I created a sensory-based dance class. I started ballet at 7 years old and danced through high school. I always thought that the skills I learned in dance were much more than learning basic ballet positions and movements. The skills I learned carried over into all parts of my life. It challenged my mental flexibility (and physical flexibility). After watching a summer ballet camp performance for little girls after my first year of OT school, I thought combining OT and dance could be a unique way to combine two things I love and see how they can work together. After learning more about the sensory system in my pediatric class, I knew that specifically looking at how a sensory-based dance class could improve self-regulation was the route I should take. During my preliminary research stages, I realized how few opportunities children with sensory processing disorders or even adaptive needs had to engage in extracurricular activities, especially in my community.

Irene: What has been one win during your capstone and one aspect that has been difficult for you during this capstone process? 

Anna: There have been several wins, it’s hard to narrow it down to just one! My class filled up within the first week of advertising, which meant that there was a need in my community for a project like this. Parents emailed me weekly answering questions about their child’s self-regulation skills after our weekly class. I have had some really positive feedback about how their child can better identify their emotions or engage in a breathing technique that we learned during class. It is super rewarding to see that they are learning and able to translate the skills into other settings. It is also such a big win to see how much fun my little dancers are having. They love coming and it’s so much fun to watch them engage with peers, improve in coordination, and gain confidence.

The hardest part has been creating an environment where everyone can thrive and enjoy class. Some of my students are sensory seekers and love running and making loud noises. Others are very sensitive to a lot of stimuli. Figuring out how to set up the environment and how to create and enforce boundaries that allow everyone to participate and have a positive experience has been a challenge. 

Irene: For future students pursuing their capstone journey, what advice would you give them? 

Anna: OT can fit anywhere and everywhere! Do something that you are interested in and passionate about. You spend A LOT of time researching, writing, re-researching, rewriting, and implementing your project. Don’t settle for an idea or placement that you are not excited about. Be willing to be flexible, everything will fall into place. Don’t stress too much about perfection, you will end up redoing and rewriting your project plan, needs assessment, and all the other components multiple times as things change. Your professor will help you fill in the missing gaps. This experience is something that should be uniquely you and set you apart from other students.

Irene: What have you learned about yourself through your capstone experience?

Anna: I have learned that I am creative and that I am adaptable. There have been so many times that my class plan did not go as expected. But when there are 8 kids in a class, you have to be quick and creative on how to adapt the plan to keep everyone engaged and participating.

Irene:  What are your plans for the future of OT?

Anna: For now, I’m just excited to graduate, pass the board exam, get into the field, find mentors, and gain experience. I love that OT is a career where we will constantly be learning. As I learn more, I imagine that I will find issues, disparities, or topics that I am passionate about and will want to make a difference in whatever community or facility I am at. Ultimately, I think the most impactful way to revolutionize the field of OT is to help change a patient’s life, and that is an opportunity that we will have every day.

Irene: Can folks connect with you to learn more about you/support you? If so, please drop your social media info and other creative pursuits down below!

Anna: You can shoot me an email at sa207133@atsu.edu or on Instagram @annaseedall!

—

Anna, thank you so much for sharing your story! Using your dance background as a ballerina to make an impact on sensory regulation for the kiddos in your home community is such a cool and unique take on expanding our roles as OTs. Dance is a great way to help regulate your system in general, so being able to incorporate your passions into this capstone experience is so beautiful. It seems like you made a strong bond with your participants, and that you learned a lot from them as well! Anna, your capstone just further illustrates how expansive OT can be and how our strengths and experiences can continue to help the clients that we work with engage in meaningful, important occupations.

Renrenspeakers, can you believe it? This is the end of the Occupational Therapy Speaks mini blog series – CAPSTONE Edition! I am so thankful that my peers were able to share their stories, journeys, and experiences as occupational therapists in the making with us on the blog. I am telling yall, these are pioneers who are already making an incredible mark in this profession. Please connect with each and every one of them, as they are a wealth of knowledge.

Continue to celebrate Occupational Therapy Month! If you know a person in OT, reach out to them and thank them for all that they do! Capstone students are some of the most influential, aspiring leaders of tomorrow, so if you are a capstone student, make your capstone project uniquely yours, like Anna said! 🙂 Till next time, Renrenspeakers!

Peace and love,

Irene

    Posted on in Occupational Therapy Speaks series

    Occupational Therapy Speaks Mini Blog Series – CAPSTONE Edition Part 3: Meet Kiley, OTD student!

    Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy third Saturday of Occupational Therapy Month! April is just flying by! As you know, it is time for another inspiring blog interview. Part 3 of the Occupational Therapy Speaks mini blog series – CAPSTONE Edition is here! Today, we will be hearing about Kiley, a super down-to-earth, fun, and loving colleague of mine who had such a unique, cool capstone project. She always has a beautiful smile on her face, and her passion for the profession radiates through her everyday positive interactions. I am thrilled to share her journey today on the blog!

    Irene: What is your name/pronouns?

    Kiley: Kiley Foster, she/her 

    Irene: Give us a quick synopsis of who YOU ARE! 

    Kiley: My name is Kiley and I am a third-year OTD student at ATSU! I am from Tucson, AZ but in recent years have spent time in cities across the state including Gilbert and Flagstaff. I stayed local for college and attended the University of Arizona (beardown!) where I majored in Special Education and Rehabilitation with a minor in American Sign Language. Currently, I am in my final semester of grad school at A.T. Still University in Mesa, AZ, and am finalizing my capstone project. In my free time, I enjoy all things outdoors, especially hiking and skiing! I am passionate about fitness and became a group fitness instructor last year! I also love spending time with my friends and exploring new places across Arizona. I am so excited to be wrapping up OT school and entering this wonderful profession!!     

    Irene: Why OT? Tell us a little bit about how you found OT and what got you into this field.

    Kiley: I discovered the field of OT after my freshman year of college when I was looking to change my major. I originally entered college convinced I wanted to become an elementary special education teacher, but after a year, I realized that wasn’t the path for me. My mom, a former 4th/5th grade teacher, introduced me to their school’s OT, and after learning about her roles and doing further research into the OT field I was hooked. I was so inspired by the endless opportunities within this profession to work with diverse communities that I knew it was the profession for me! My experience prior to grad school was working with pediatrics, but during my senior year of college, my grandpa underwent open heart surgery followed by a stay in an inpatient rehab facility. Watching him go through this experience and working with his OT and PT further solidified my interest in this field and opened my eyes to the wide variety of opportunities to positively impact others!

    Irene: Choose three words that come to mind when you think of occupational therapy. Define each word in relation to OT. Why did you choose these three words? 

    Kiley:

    Innovative – Occupational therapy promotes innovation at both the societal and individual levels as the profession advocates for societal changes in universal design and social inclusion for equal access for all, as well as exploring client-centered strategies to promote health, wellness, and participation in meaningful activities for all.   

    Holistic – We work with the whole person, acknowledging them from both the medical model and the biopsychosocial model. OTs take into account all aspects that make up the person in order to provide meaningful care that addresses their needs. 

    Inclusive – Providing a safe space for therapeutic interventions is an essential component of this profession. I value learning as much from others as I do providing services to them. This includes expanding on my cultural competence and disability etiquette to ensure all patients feel welcomed and valued.   

    Irene: What is the most beautiful thing about OT to you? 

    Kiley: That’s a tough question because this profession is so special! I’d say having the opportunity to provide functional, evidence-based treatments in a client-centered manner that is meaningful for the patient is super unique and leaves us with endless opportunities for growth and learning.

    Irene: Let’s delve into your capstone a little more. What is your capstone about, and what initially inspired you to pursue your capstone topic? 

    Kiley: My capstone is about the impact of individualized exercise programs on the perception of performance in winter adaptive sports! My site was High Country Adaptive Sports (HCAS) in Flagstaff, AZ. Prior to the on-site experience, I met with two recurring athletes from my site to develop an occupational profile. There, I administered a pre-survey, gathered quantitative measurements (range of motion/manual muscle testing), and determined their fitness goals. I then developed their exercise programs which they completed for 10 weeks before starting the ski season in January. After the adaptive ski season concluded, I administered the post-survey to assess if they felt any changes in their strength and endurance since completing the program. 

    I was inspired to pursue a capstone in adaptive sports after joining the adaptive sports special interest group at my school. There, I learned about opportunities to get involved with programs across Arizona, and HCAS was one of them! I was lucky to lock up my capstone site fairly early in the process and the rest is history!  

    Irene: What has been one win during your capstone and one aspect that has been difficult for you during this capstone process? 

    Kiley: There were a few challenges that I encountered during this process. The first was working with a community-based site rather than a traditional clinical site. My supervisor was not an OT which was different than my prior rotations. My capstone experience was very self-directed which was intimidating and overwhelming at the start. It proved to be a great opportunity to grow in self-advocacy as I learned to speak up about my needs and interests! 

    Additionally, one of my two participants chose not to finish the program which was difficult to navigate. Adherence to exercise programs is a major limitation in the available literature which was reassuring and will be what I report on in my final paper.  

    Irene: For future students pursuing their capstone journey, what advice would you give them? 

    Kiley: Spend time in your first year exploring your interests! Even if you are not sure about something, don’t be afraid to give it a try! If I wouldn’t have joined the adaptive sports group I would have never discovered my capstone site! Get involved in organizations at school because you will likely be introduced to new passions and interests! If you decide to go to a community-based site, be sure to solidify a plan and detailed objectives to ensure you have the guidance necessary to both fill your time as well as offer meaningful services to your site. 

    Irene: What have you learned about yourself through your capstone experience?

    Kiley: I have learned that I am capable of handling change and can use unforeseen circumstances as motivation to explore alternative options. Things may not go according to plan and that’s okay!!! I also learned how to ski and became an adaptive ski instructor which was a bonus!  

    Irene:  What are your plans for the future of OT?

    Kiley: My future plans are still up in the air! Despite thinking I wanted to work with peds after OT school, I’m leaning more toward working with adults. I’m fairly open to what setting I start in. Maybe a SNF, inpatient, or acute? I also got to work with a lot of veterans during capstone and would love to do more of that in the future! Long story short, I don’t really know yet lol but I am excited to start the job hunt! All I hope is to find a job that I enjoy! 

    Irene: Can folks connect with you to learn more about you/support you? If so, please drop your social media info and other creative pursuits down below!

    Kiley: Yes definitely! Reach out anytime! Email: kileyfoster99@gmail.com or Instagram: @kileyfosterr  

    Irene: Anything else you want us to know about you or anything you want to share with the readers? Feel free to drop it down below! 

    Kiley: Thank you Irene for this opportunity!! You’re the best ❤ 

    —

    Kiley, thank you so much for sharing your beautiful journey to becoming an OT! Honestly, I really never heard anything about adaptive sports before coming into grad school, and I have learned so much about this very niche, significant area of practice through our prior conversations. I think it is fascinating that through the expansive connections that grad school can provide us, you were able to find your dream site. You emphasize why it is so important to network and join organizations because you never know who you will meet and where they will take you! Adaptive sports is inclusion at its finest, as people with all abilities should be able to still partake in their favorite occupations such as sports in this case, while eliminating as many environmental barriers as we can as OTs assisting this population. I agree with you when you say that working for a community-based site rather than a traditional clinical site presents with some differing challenges. However, I honestly believe that this opportunity allows us to further advocate for OT in a creative way that forces us to be self-starters, leaders, and pave our own roles and positions. Clearly, there is value of OT being immersed in these community-based sites, as you marvelously highlighted using your capstone journey as a prime example. Also, the fact that you learned how to ski during capstone while simultaneously becoming a ski instructor is SO cool! Sidebar – you being a group fitness instructor is so fun and I would love to attend one of your classes one day! 😉

    That is a wrap on the third blog interview for the series today! If yall want to continue to make strides in the world of adaptive sports, Kiley is that girl! Don’t forget that she is a ski instructor AND a fitness instructor – what can’t she do? Next week marks the LAST interview of the series (so sad!), so don’t miss it! Part 4 of the Occupational Therapy Speaks mini blog series – CAPSTONE Edition will be dropping next SATURDAY! Until then, stay blessed and don’t forget to follow the Renrenspeaks Instagram page if you haven’t already for updates!

    Peace and love,

    Irene

    Posted on in Occupational Therapy Speaks series

    Occupational Therapy Speaks Mini Blog Series – CAPSTONE Edition Part 2: Meet Marisa, OTD student!

    Hello, Renrenspeakers! Happy second Saturday of Occupational Therapy (OT) Month, meaning that the best announcement of your day has arrived! I am back with part two of the Occupational Therapy Speaks mini blog series –CAPSTONE Edition who will be led by Marisa, a fabulous OTD colleague sharing her amazing capstone project with us! Marisa is someone who is SO dope, calm, and collected. She radiates such positive energy and was always the student in class who asked such innovative, thought-provoking questions that challenged me and made me think outside the box. Her curiosity and advocacy for the OT profession does not go unnoticed, so I am so excited to share this superstar’s story today!

    Irene: What is your name/pronouns?

    Marisa: My name is Marisa Lamb and my pronouns are she/her/ella AKA that girl  

    Irene: Give us a quick synopsis of who YOU ARE! 

    Marisa: I am a 26 year old who is enthusiastic about her present and her future. I am a woman who has stepped into many new roles lately – I got engaged in 2022, I became a mother in 2023 while in grad school, and I will be a Doctor of Occupational Therapy in 2024! God is so good!! 

    Irene: Why OT? Tell us a little bit about how you found OT and what got you into this field.

    Marisa: I was exposed to the career of OT while I was in undergrad at Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire. It wasn’t until I began shadowing that I was exposed to the craft of OT, and immediately it clicked for me. There was something about incorporating the textbook knowledge of anatomy and physiology with psychosocial aspects of a person to provide ‘whole person’ therapy that my brain loved! I was always interested in healthcare careers but was never clear on what path I would choose. After shadowing OTs in the field and understanding what OT school would teach me… it was a no brainer! 

    Irene: Choose three words that come to mind when you think of occupational therapy. Define each word in relation to OT. Why did you choose these three words? 

    Marisa:

    Practicality. To be practical means that you are concerned with the actual doing of something or that you are likely to succeed or be effective in real circumstances. Occupations are used as a means of therapy. There will be no guessing when you have completed treatment, on the patients end or the therapists end. It will be clear whether or not a daily task can be done with safety and independence because we have practiced it! We have gone through it! We use occupations to rehabilitate. We help you learn by doing. 

    Strategic. To be strategic means that you keep long-term aims and interests in mind. As OTs, we keep the patient’s occupational goals in mind as we build new skills and relearn skills that may be hard to perform. We recognize the barriers that make skills difficult to acquire and pinpoint where we can intervene. We use evidence and assessments to back up our decision making. This also serves as a follow up word to my first word. I will not make you perform a complex task without being sure you can perform the foundational skills required to carry out that task. Say it with me, OTs – (sparkle emoji) activity analysis (sparkle emoji).

    Potential. I think as a profession, we are just beginning to make our mark in the healthcare world. The OTs currently in entrepreneurship have really set the tone for just how successful and rewarding this path can be when it’s all said and done. I see potential for entrepreneurship to saturate the profession and allow for OT intervention to be provided in a way it might not have been within the modern healthcare model. 

    Irene: What is the most beautiful thing about OT to you? 

    Marisa: The practice recognizes the importance of treating with a whole person mindset and emphasizes the goals/wants of the patient. I received lactation consulting until my son was 5 months old. I was able to feel and pinpoint the difference in approach when I had an OT help me through this time in my life. I felt heard, understood and validated all while informed and educated about the new things I could expect with breastfeeding and motherhood. OT allows therapists to address all possible factors in order to reach client satisfaction.

    Irene: Let’s delve into your capstone a little more. What is your capstone about, and what initially inspired you to pursue your capstone topic? 

    Marisa: I like to break down my capstone into all of its moving parts because I had many projects taking place during this time. 

    1. I sent out a survey to MSOT and OTD students across the nation with the purpose of understanding students’ levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy. In other words, how well do OT students believe that they can carry out certain demands that require entrepreneurial skills?
    2. This idea then gave way to the power of belief and the power of believing in your capabilities. I spent 14 weeks reading a psychology textbook by Albert Bandura titled Self-Efficacy, the Exercise of Control. This read really helped me inform the items I was to include on my national survey as far as their wording and their format. But, this book also helped me self-reflect and think about the power of my own beliefs – something that has to be solid as I plan to embark on the entrepreneurial journey. 
    3. I gave a presentation on the logistics of independent contracting (IC) as an OT to the OTD class of 2025 in OTDE 6440 (a business course) at ATSU under the support of my community mentor, Dr. Adam Story. My main goal with this presentation was to introduce the idea of being a sole member business and the different ways it can be incorporated into our careers. It included the first steps on becoming one, the rules and regulations tied to IC in Arizona, and highlighted the differences between employee and independent contract work. This information was something that I was able to learn myself. I made it clear that I have no IC experience, but I am so passionate about planting seeds. I simply shared knowledge that was not received in our curriculum but I felt could be really helpful, even if it isn’t something someone would consider now. If 10 years from now they say, “Mmm, I remember that idea, maybe I should look more into it,” then cool!! DOOO IIIIIT!
    4. I am currently helping my community mentor revamp the financial portion of the business plan assignment for increased understanding by students. 
    5. I am currently curating a booklet of infographics that detail entrepreneurial resources that student’s can keep in their “OT Toolbox”. 
    6. I am taking a CEU course taught by Sarah Thomas, titled Shifting Your Mindset: An Introduction to Entrepreneurship for OTs. I have never been more inspired by an OT. Sarah Thomas really highlights how we can modernize and value our OT skillset in order to provide services in non-traditional spaces. I absolutely love her!!! On top of this course, I have also been binging all the free content I can find. Doug Vestal has really been a go to! His Youtube account is filled with great videos you can access for free. I also recommend signing up to newsletters on his website freedomofpractice.com. These are emails sent to you full of great advice. 

    Irene: What has been one win during your capstone and one aspect that has been difficult for you during this capstone process? 

    Marisa: I will say that I was able to answer the questions I had when I first started capstone. How do I go about starting a business? What are the steps? I read, I searched, I consulted, I asked questions. I feel equipped in the sense of knowing what rules, regulations and processes I have to abide by when first getting started and feel that I know what resources are available to me should I have any questions. 

    Because my capstone’s focus is on entrepreneurship, it was very difficult to not get ahead of myself. I had the space and time to come up with business ideas and reflect on my passions, but I would have days where it all felt premature. I have no experience as a licensed clinician just yet and I was a bit overwhelmed at times. I have had to learn how to pace my mindset in all of this and shift my perspectives. 

    Irene: For future students pursuing their capstone journey, what advice would you give them? 

    Marisa: The capstone in its essence is entrepreneurial. Use the time and opportunity to start doing something within your OT interests and make it something you can enjoy! I just watched a video titled Make the OTD Capstone Matter through Sarah Lyon’s OTPotential channel on YouTube. She states that “doctoral students are uniquely prepared for more diverse job opportunities, and sometimes jobs are even created due to the clear value of the capstone experience.” Check out her podcast episode here: https://otpotential.com/ceu-podcast-courses/making-the-otd-capstone-matter

    Irene: What have you learned about yourself through your capstone experience?

    Marisa: Being a mom and being a wife and being a doctoral student all at once some days makes me tired but most days, if not all, makes me disciplined. Self-directed and self-initiated learning can still happen even when life seems too busy. 

    Irene:  What are your plans for the future of OT?

    Marisa: I will become a CHT (certified hand therapist) but I have become okay with working towards this goal while working in a setting that isn’t strictly an outpatient hand therapy setting. I simply want to be exposed to as many diverse clinical experiences as I can. I want to absorb and take note of all the current issues that patients are facing so that I can directly provide solutions through my own entrepreneurial endeavors, come time. 

    On top of the clinical nature entrepreneurship dreams, I also have dreams to contribute to the diversity within the OT profession. The election of the new AOTA president, Dr. Arameh Anvarizadeh, in my opinion, really sets the tone for the trajectory of a diverse, OT workforce. In order to adequately serve the nation’s population, our workforce must be a reflection of such demographics. I am a Hispanic woman and I have volunteered at ATSU for the Dreamline Pathways program. I want to continue outreach to Hispanic students through programs such as Dreamline Pathways and simply expose them to the idea of OT. Plant seeds and let them grow. 

    Irene: Can folks connect with you to learn more about you/support you? If so, please drop your social media info and other creative pursuits down below!

    Marisa:

    Instagram: @thatotgirly 

    Irene: Anything else you want us to know about you or anything you want to share with the readers? Feel free to drop it down below! 

    Marisa: If there are any mothers or soon to be mothers who will have a child during ANY grad school/college program, please reach out to me. I would love to connect with you and share solidarity. 

      God bless! And thank you Irene for considering me to be a part of your fantastic blog. Love!

          —

          First of all, Marisa is really THAT GIRL yall, as you can witness through this beaming interview! Becoming a mother during such a rigorous time like OT school is not for the weak. I commend people who are able to become parents, especially mothers, during grad school and STILL can do it all! You defined OT SO WELL. I feel that I stumble sometimes explaining a clear definition of the scope of our profession, but I especially loved your word, practicality, to help the readers better understand OT! Occupations are the means of therapy, which makes this field especially unique! Marisa, you have learned a TON during capstone! Your capstone is especially unique because you did a ton of independent study and poured into your own OT cup in order to maximize your learning and service. Thank you for dropping all of these free gems on entrepreneurial resources that you found helpful. I will for sure have to check them out myself! I also admire the fact that you emphasized how your views and perspectives on starting a business has wavered and shifted during capstone. From personal anecdotes that I hear, it is not an easy thing to start a business, and it is something that you have to remain persistent and open-minded in pursuing. Some days will be more challenging than others, but if you have the drive and a good support system around you, I think it helps tremendously with the process. Last thing I want to comment on – YES, the capstone experience itself is entrepreneurial in nature! Thank you for acknowledging that! This is a unique opportunity where we can make our passion projects come to life and cultivate job opportunities for ourselves. I am so excited that OTs of COLOR are out here like Marisa who are paving the way to become entrepreneurs! Let’s make that impact and that money now! 🙂

          Marisa’s blog interview just further validates the fact that OTs deserve to become entrepreneurs, yall! Especially in today’s economy where a lot of the times our role is not recognized and valued the way it should be, we should be encouraged to be self-starters and take control of our own careers. Marisa is definitely a person to keep in your circle because she is already spreading the narrative that we as OTs are entrepreneurs. Y’all can learn a lot from her through her experiences and newfound knowledge. Kind reminder that part 3 of my Occupational Therapy Speaks mini blog series – CAPSTONE Edition will be dropping next SATURDAY featuring another dear OTD student and colleague of mine! Don’t miss it! 😉

          Peace and love,

          Irene