OT in the Making
Hello! My name is Eve Nicole Bautista, but you can just call me Nicole. For as long as I can remember, helping others has always been my passion. As cliché as that sounds, it’s true. When I was little, just like any other child on this planet, I kid you not, I loved to play house and hospital, and can you guess who I’d pretend to be? Yup! The mom and the doctor. No shame about that, I loved it! There’s just something about making others feel better and do better that sparks some inexplainable joy within me.
I guess you could say it runs in my family too. My mom majored in Psychology and she’s now using her degree as a director and co-owner of a Montessori school. Her sister is also one of the higher up teachers in the Philippines as well! My dad, on the other hand, is a computer engineer. On the daily, he helps people solve technological problems within software and things of that sort. My family has played a huge role in helping me decide who I want to be and what I want to become in the future. They’ve been very supportive along the way, and continue to be.
In high school, as I became older and gained more new experiences, I realized I wanted to do this for sure in the future – help those in need. All throughout the four years, the constant questions, “should I become a nurse?,” “should I become a doctor?” “a dentist?” always popped into my head and just never left. It wasn’t until college that really changed everything for me. In the Fall of 2015, I entered in as a Freshman majoring in Kinesiology, with a concentration in Health and Human Performance, at the University of La Verne. Did I love it? Absolutely! But truthfully? I really would have entered in as a Biology major but I admit I wanted to take the easy way out and go with Kinesiology, and hey! I even got to squeeze in workouts throughout my day in a lot of my classes, so that was pretty cool!
Little did I know… it wasn’t as easy as I hoped it would be. I’ve hit a few road bumps, actually many, along the way, that at times, I wasn’t sure anymore if this was what I wanted to do. At some time in my early years at ULV, I took a foundations class for my major. This class often invited various healthcare professionals within the world of Kinesiology. I got to hear stories and experiences from Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Athletic Trainers, so on and so forth. This foundations class was what ultimately paved the way for me. It was then that I knew I wanted to become an Occupational Therapist. I was lucky enough to not want to change majors halfway through college, and I managed to get my degree within the four years.
Postgrad, I had a lot of decisions to make, not many choices though. I knew being an undergrad at a private university would reap some financial consequences, so I decided to take some time off and work instead of immediately obtaining my master’s.
Here I am now at a really good place in my life. I’m thankful I took the time off because if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have become a teacher teaching such amazing children while at the same time getting OT experience through volunteering and interning!
Teaching children ages 2-5 years old has really paid off for the amount of times I played house and hospital at home. I really know how to take initiative and help kids learn! All jokes aside, but as much teaching that I’ve done in almost two years at my job, you’d think it’d only be the kiddos learning. I feel it’s the complete opposite. My kiddos have taught me so much. That’s what’s so special about children. They are the most innocent human beings to walk this earth, yet they are capable of teaching grown adults without the intention of doing so every day!
So why does a teacher want to become an Occupational Therapist? Well.. what’s better than helping others simply just live their lives to the fullest? I mean, that’s what it really is in the end. As a current teacher, that’s what I already do. As a future OT, I only strive to help future patients recover and overcome certain barriers so they can continue doing daily activities. I’m a firm believer in the phrase “love your neighbor as you love yourself” and this is exactly what OT’s are meant to do. Which field in OT do I want to work in? That still remains unknown. My experience as an OT intern continues to make my love for helping children grow stronger and stronger. I’m also not opposed to other settings such as skilled nursing facilities or even geriatrics. I still have much room for improvement and I only want to grow from here on out. I’m excited for what’s ahead of me and I can’t wait for the day I begin making positive influences in people’s lives and inspiring changes for this world of healthcare.
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