Hi, my name is Veerle and I am 24 years young.
I am currently working on the OT euromaster, but besides that I have been working as a pediatric occupational therapist for the last 1.5 years.
The transition from studying to working is no small change. It brings a lot of new situations and feelings that are hardly talked about. A big advantage for you: I took that step just before you had to do it, and I am absolutely not ashamed to take you through my experiences so that you yourself might be better prepared and especially not feel alone.
From studying to working
After years of sitting in school, doing internships and writing report after report, the time has finally come. You finally have your hard-earned piece of paper with the words “DIPLOMA” in your hands! … and now?
Some may have been offered a workplace right away during their internship (show-offs), but most will only start applying now. And that’s hugely exciting!
Even if you really have been the most amazing student, you are not going to tell me that you finally arrived at your first day of work without even a shred of uncertainty or doubt. And again, that’s very normal.
I myself called my mom just before the start of my first day of work full of tension. “Mom, what if they ask me a question I don’t know the answer to at all?” I asked with trembling hands. “Then you say that you don’t want to give them an answer that you are not 100% sure of, so you will come back to it during the next session” she said. So basically you just say very honestly “I have no freaking idea” but wrapped up in a nice jacket. That’s a tip I still like to apply now with 1.5 years of experience.
Despite all the internships you have had, sometimes it is still quite difficult to translate what you have learned into how you actually apply it in practice. In the first few weeks, or maybe months, you might still feel like a bit of an intern disguised as a professional. Personally, I wondered which “well-thinking adults” were going to listen to a fresh off the press occupational therapist of 23 years old.
It was also a big disappointment to me, but after taking your oath and signing your diploma, you unfortunately do not get the login codes for the big secret database of all occupational therapy knowledge. It really comes down to what you learned in that third lecture from grade two on that one subject that you think you have forgotten right after taking the exam. You especially shouldn’t admit it when someone asks, but sometimes Google is still your best friend.
Something I noticed in this is that you can really trust yourself. You may not be able to recall exactly what was said in the third lesson of your second year on that particular subject. But there really is more left to remember from all those lessons and nights of studying than you think.
After all, during your education, you were given a certain way of thinking. And even if you don’t know every fact by heart anymore, you can no longer see anything but through the vision of an occupational therapist. You may not believe me now, but this is deeply ingrained in you without you even being aware of it. Other people do not have these insights and therefore will not be able to come to the conclusions that you easily come to. And that is exactly what they come to you for!
So believe me, even those “thoughtful adults” (of which, by the way, you are now one yourself) listen with pricked ears and full of expectation to what you as a professional, have to say. And the longer you are at it, the more obvious things will become. At some point during a session, you hear yourself telling a story of which you yourself think “wow, I know what I’m talking about”. Only to pass something completely new a week later.
That will probably be the case for the rest of your life. So don’t worry about it too much now and get used to it. If you want to be a good occupational therapist, you will also be a lifelong student.
Good luck to you future, unique ergo!
Source: trust me bro 😉
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