My journey to find occupational therapy may have taken a bit longer than others, but I ‘m grateful for each experience that got me to where I am today!
For those who don’t know me, my name is Colleen McGuinness and I have been completing my fieldwork rotation at Building Blocks Pediatric Occupational Therapy as an OT student for the past 3 months. So before I go, I want to tell you about my journey into OT!
In 2020, I graduated from Stonehill College with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a double minor in criminology and philosophy. Needless to say, I was not planning on going into OT. In fact, I had never even heard of OT before. Throughout college I planned to become a social worker, and following graduation I began my first job as a therapeutic mentor for an in-home family therapy organization.
During this time, I was able to work with children and their families referred to our organization through the Department of Children and Families or the Department of Mental Health. I worked alongside licensed clinicians to provide individual counseling for the children, as well as family therapy and parent coaching. I always say that I learned a lot from this job, but the main thing I learned was that this wasn’t the area I wanted to be in forever, so after about a year and a half I decided to make a change. I knew moving forward I wanted to find a way to continue helping others and advocating for mental health services, which is how I started my career in healthcare.
In October of 2021, I began my new job as inpatient rehab therapy technician at Encompass Health Rehabilitation Hospital. This felt like the best place to learn about different careers in healthcare, while also getting experience working in a hospital. During this time I worked with physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, as well as speech, physical, respiratory, and occupational therapists. I ended up working at the hospital for almost years, during which time I found myself gravitating towards the creative nature and mental health focus of OT. When I decided to pursue OT as a career I first had to complete two anatomy and physiology pre-requisite courses that I had not taken in undergrad. So, for the next year I took night classes at local community colleges after work so that I could be ready to apply to graduate school.
I remember the day I was accepted into Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences for their occupational therapy class of 2026, both excited and nervous for this next chapter in life. Not only was I going back to school for the first time in 4 years, but I also had to move to Worcester, MA leaving behind some of my best friends and the apartment I had lived in for the past 2 years. However, at the same time I was excited to start my journey into the career I had come to love and picture for my life.
It’s hard to believe that was almost 2 years ago and now I am finishing my final clinical rotation before I begin preparing for the board exam. I have found an interest in both adult and pediatric occupational therapy, and I hope to have the opportunity to continue working with all age groups as I take this next step in my career. I have learned so much during my time at Building Blocks pediatric occupational therapy, and if one day I consider myself to be even half the therapist Justine (jelly bean) is, then I will be very lucky!
