Page 37 - 45th Anniversary Alumni Success Stories

Occupational Therapy was not my career goal. Like many
good things in life, I didn’t find OT, it found me. After
earning a bachelor’s degree in Journalism in 2008, I spent
the next three years working as a successful public relations
professional. But, in 2011 at the age of 23, I had a hemor-
rhagic stroke that resulted in complete paralysis of my
right side. After brain surgery, my OTs and OTAs taught
me how to dress, bathe, and care for myself again. They
worked with my right arm to facilitate motor and sensory
recovery, helped increase my balance, strength, and endur-
ance; taught me compensatory strategies, and provided
me the tools to regain my independence. During this
year and a half process, I would often think about how
much I would like to become a therapist and help others,
if I could ever recover enough.

After much hard work and many miracles, I enrolled in
the OTA program at Pima Medical Institute. After gradu-
ation in 2013, I was the first OTA hired at the foremost
neurological rehabilitation clinic in Arizona (SWAN
Rehab). Since then, I have been able to help many patients,
most of them stroke survivors, as they increase their
independence and celebrate their second chance at life.

In 2015, I was presented with the Outstanding Occupa-
tional Therapy Assistant award from the Arizona Occu-
pational Therapy Association. Thank you PMI for providing
the training I needed to make a difference in other’s lives.

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