It was an early morning as I pulled into work to start my shift as a rehabilitation aide. I had only been working at the rehab clinic for a few weeks, but I already knew many of the patients and felt like they were old friends. I got the notification that our first patient, Shawna, had arrived. I remembered that the last time she came she mentioned her son just started school, and I made a mental note to ask her about it. As I started treatment, I asked Shawna how her back had been feeling, excited to hear that her pain was improving and she had been able to do more with her kids. I loved that I got to help with her physical healing and build a personal connection with her. My experience working as a rehab aide was pivotal in my decision to become an occupational therapist. Though I had always had an interest in health and medicine, my experience working at the clinic solidified my desire to work in rehabilitation. Soon after, I discovered occupational therapy (OT). It was a combination of everything I was looking for: problem solving, creativity, building personal relationships, and helping patients be able to do what they love. Personal connection is very important to me, and it’s one of the elements that drew me to occupational therapy. For the past two years I have been the director of the children’s ministry at my church, and I have seen the difference it makes to each of those kids when I listen to them and build personal relationships. One week, one of the kids was having a hard day and wouldn’t come into class. He sat in the hallway and would not move. I got down on the floor and sat next to him and asked him about the action figure he was holding. It took him a minute to warm up, but soon he was telling me all about it. After a few minutes, I asked him if he would come with me to class and sit with me, and he agreed. Because I took the time to get on his level (literally and figuratively) and talk about what was important to him, he trusted me enough to join in class. I want to bring that same empathy and relationship of trust to my future OT clients. I am also very creative and love problem solving. While I was doing my undergrad, I volunteered with a group that taught science classes to a special needs high school class. I loved the creative challenge of finding ways to teach and present the content in a fun, engaging, and understandable way. One of the more memorable lessons was on the sensory systems in the body. After some brainstorming, I came up with the idea to play a guessing game by putting different items in brown paper bags. We took turns using our different senses to touch, smell, and listen to each item, and at the end we used our sense of sight to reveal each object. As an occupational therapist I will use my creativity and problem solving skills to help clients participate in the activities that mean the most to them, be it cooking, putting on make-up, or traveling the world.

Two pink lines. The image that usually results in screams of excitement or tears of joy. But I wasn't screaming or crying. In fact, I didn’t know how to feel. On the one hand, after two years of infertility and three miscarriages, I was thrilled that I had another chance at a pregnancy. At the same time, I had just started a three year occupational therapy program and I was uncertain about what it meant for my future education and career. Now, two years later, I look back and realize that I didn’t need to be worried. Don’t get me wrong, balancing motherhood and my education and career hasn’t been easy. The first day I had to drop my daughter off at daycare she and I both burst into tears. There have been last minute babysitter cancellations when I’ve had to scramble to find last minute childcare with only a few hours’ notice. My studying time is limited to when my daughter is sleeping, which means some late night and early morning study sessions. I also often have to make difficult choices and sacrifices. I have had to sacrifice volunteer and leadership opportunities at school so I can care for and spend time with my daughter after class. I’ve had to stay home from class and miss important lectures because my daughter came down with a stomach bug. I don’t always get to do all the activities I’d like to with my daughter because I have to go to class or study. However, as difficult as the balance of motherhood and my education has been, the rewards have been even greater. I have had to learn to become more organized. My time management skills have improved. I have become more patient, more empathetic, more creative, and better at asking for help. I value my role as mother and occupational therapist more because I have had to sacrifice more for both of these roles. Being a mom has taught me more about myself and what I want in my life. As a consequence, my career goals have changed. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the reasons behind my goals have changed. Instead of being focused on specific outcomes, they are focused on values. For example, rather than goals about certain positions or ranks for the sake of prestige, my career goals are focused on being an example to my daughter that she is capable of anything she sets her mind to. My income goals are now based on the ability to make ourselves financially stable and save for my daughter’s future education. After experiencing the influence of the parent-child relationship, I have shifted my preferred area of practice in occupational therapy to home-health early intervention where I can use my personal and professional experience to help parents and children together. Though the journey of motherhood and professional life hasn’t been easy, there is no doubt that motherhood has made me a better occupational therapist, and vice versa.

I walked down the long hallway, hearing children’s giggles and sing-songy voices. It was my first week as the children's ministry coordinator. Here I was, a fresh college graduate, only 24 years old, surrounded by adults older and more experienced than me, yet I was the one chosen to be the head of the children’s ministry. In my role I would oversee about 50 children and the 20 adult leaders that helped with the children, and I was tempted to feel overwhelmed at first. I didn’t let the overwhelm stay long. I leaned into my leadership experience, and got to work. I’ve been in this position for over two years now, and in those two years I’ve learned a few lessons about myself and what makes me a leader. I listen. More importantly, I listen to understand what is important to the person I’m interacting with. When the kids arrive to class each week they can be high energy and reluctant to sit down in their seats. From the very beginning I started asking them questions about themselves, what they did that week, what happened at school, what they’re looking forward to. I saw that doing this made a big difference to them, that they knew I valued them. Listening makes a big difference in my leadership with adults too. When teachers and parents approach me with something that concerns them, I listen to understand where they are coming from. I build relationships. Part of the reason that parents and teachers trust me is because I have invested in building relationships with them and their children. I learn names of children and parents and siblings so that they know I care about them as individuals, and not just as names on a paper. I build relationships with the adults on our team too. Recently, one of the teachers got a kidney stone and was in the hospital for a few days. I texted her and told her I was bringing over dinner for her to help lighten her load. She expressed how much it meant to her. This helped build our relationship, she knew I cared about her as a friend and as part of our organization. I know and recognize others’ strengths. The phrase “it takes a village” is true in all leadership settings. I recognize that I have my own limitations: limitations of my own strengths and weaknesses, my own time and energy constraints. My biggest successes as a leader are when those around me become better leaders. By delegating responsibilities to others on my team I learn from their strengths and allow them to grow into leaders in their own right. Earlier this year I asked our administrative team for ideas to help train the teachers for the coming year. I shared my vision and goals for what I wanted for our teaching team. One chair member brought up an idea for a teacher appreciation and training breakfast. I asked if she would be willing to organize the event. She incorporated many elements that I would never have thought of, and the event was a huge success, and had much better attendance and participation than our previous training sessions. Ultimately, to me being a leader is much less about me, and much more about what I can do to help others shine. By listening, building relationships, and recognizing and encouraging others’ strengths, I have been able to lead in many settings.

Determination and grit run in my family. My maternal grandmother grew up on a dairy farm. She was the oldest in her family, and as such it was her responsibility to milk the cows. This meant lots of early mornings for her, as cows need to be milked at very specific times to keep them healthy. Even once she moved off the farm, my grandma was known for her early rising habit. Whether to help a child out with their early-morning paper route, make bread for the day, or work on service assignments for her church, my grandma was usually up before dawn. There’s something else that runs in my family that not even all the determination and grit in the world can get rid of: depression. My grandma, mom, and all of my mom’s sisters have all struggled with depression at some point in each of their lives. At some points thor depression has lasted years. Experiencing the impact of depression in my family has helped me change my beliefs, habits, relationships, and even career plans. My experience watching my mom experience mental health challenges has led me to be more proactive in improving my own mental health. My mom has gone to therapy several times over the years as different mental health concerns came up. She has been quite open about what she learns, and even teaches applicable skills to me and my siblings. When helping me work through problems, she often will encourage me to identify cognitive distortions, like all-or-nothing thinking or overgeneralization, and help me correct those intrusive thoughts. This has become a therapeutic activity that I regularly incorporate into my own life and has helped me to work through difficult times and keep my own mental health up. Watching my mom’s experience with depression also shaped my belief that asking for help is okay, even good and important. Asking for help can look like reaching out to friends and getting professional help. Last year I experienced a miscarrage when I was 10 weeks pregnant. In the following eight months I had two more miscarriages. It was one of the most devastating and difficult experiences I have been through. I was struggling with grief and fear about the future, so I decided to meet with a counselor. Because my mom had talked openly about getting professional help from a therapist I didn’t feel ashamed to reach out for help. My relationships are stronger because of how I saw my mom handle her experience with mental health challenges. She has been, and continues to be, vulnerable and genuine in how she discusses her mental health challenges. I have noticed that she seeks out relationships where she can both give and receive help with difficult mental and emotional health situations. Because of her example, I prioritize building relationships like this too. A few weeks ago I realized that I was starting to get caught up in a downward spiral and my mental health was suffering. I had just started grad school and was struggling with worries about being able to do it all. I was experiencing a lot of anxiety and despair and recognized it was getting worse. I texted one of my friends that I have built a close and open relationship with. My message was short, “I’m having a rough day and it’d help to talk though it, are you free to talk later”? My friend responded back in minutes and I was able to talk and process things with her. Because I have been open and vulnerable with my friends about mental and emotional health, I have also been able to be on the other end of these conversations, listening to them and supporting them during hard days. My experience with mental health has also affected my career decision. I have always felt drawn to healthcare, but I struggled to know what career to pursue. I love learning about how the body works, and I also know that there’s so much more that goes into health than just cells and chemical structure. My experience working on my own mental health and watching my mom manage her mental health highlighted the importance of mental health care and emotional health. I found occupational therapy and it’s the perfect fit. Occupational therapists address all aspects of well being that impact an individual’s ability to participate in their desired activities. We are trained to recognize mental health challenges that people are facing, regardless of what their initial reason for treatment is. As an occupational therapist I show people that addressing mental health is important for everyone, and support individuals and families in their mental health journeys.

Hanging by my front door growing up was a framed cross stitch. It greeted us as we came home each day and bid us goodbye as we went out into the world. The red and blue threads stitched out letters and formed the words “Pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and smile, smile, smile.” To most people those are just lyrics to an old-fashioned song, but to me, they capture the essence of my great grandpa; his legacy lives on in those words. He was known for his optimistic outlook on life and his clear, strong, voice, and to this day, when the words to that song are sung, we think of my great grandpa . This cross stitch, made in his memory, captures what a legacy means to me. In that cross stitch, each individual stitch, though small, is necessary to the whole piece. The presence of each stitch orients the next stitch and works to sculpt an image. Legacy is like a thread in a cross stitch. It is the lasting impact a person makes that orients and sculpts future generations. Though I was only two years old when my great grandpa passed away, my life and identity, as well as the lives and identities of many others, is impacted by him for the better. His life was one of determination, hard work, and also boisterous joy. He was a dairy farmer and was no stranger to hard work. Yet his attitude was always jovial. My family still owns the land and barn where he worked. We have quarterly family gatherings in tribute to his memory. His legacy is the thread that ties us together despite our distance. My upbringing has been one of the defining features of my life. It has influenced every facet of my life. Their model of strong, healthy, relationships set the trajectory for how I built and continue to build relationships. Following their example, I developed a love of learning that led me to college and now a doctorate degree. Even my quirky and dry sense of humor I attribute to the influence of my upbringing. One thing my parents made clear is that the way they raised their family was not an afterthought, it was intentional. Just like an athlete spends hours studying technique and practicing, my parents made deliberate efforts to learn positive parenting habits and put them in action. I will continue this cycle by following their example. Though I don’t have children yet, I put a high priority on my relationship with my husband, as that will be a foundation for how I will raise my children. I am intentionally working on recognizing my own insecurities so I don’t inadvertently pass them on to my future children. I will draw on the legacy of hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm from my great grandpa and pass that on to another generation.