Page 61 - 50th Alumni Success Stories Book

Karen Heslop I appreciate all my Pima Medical

Occupational Therapy Assistant Program instructors and the extra time they
Mesa Campus

Graduated 2019 took to make sure I would succeed in
this field.

How did I become an Occupational Therapy Assistant?
Well, it all started when a friend invited me to participate
in a Personal Self Improvement weekend seminar.
One of our exercises was to create goals for ourselves.
School wasn’t really on my radar, as I had completed an
associate degree back in 1992 and I had raised four kids,
but simply to fulfill the assignment, I looked at a couple
schools. While working with special needs children, I was
exposed to and intrigued by Occupational Therapy (OT).
The following day we were challenged to put our goals
into action, so I made an arrangement to tour Pima
Medical Institute’s Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA)
program. By the time the grueling weekend was over, I
knew I had to enroll in the program.
Again, little did I know what I was getting myself into
returning to school while in my 40s. I had never used a
laptop, didn’t know how to navigate my way around
a touch pad and had to Facetime my son in college
to get help creating a PowerPoint. But my instructors
offered support, tutoring, time to ask questions and were
very responsive offering extra help. I was fortunate to be
assigned to hippotherapy for my fieldwork rotation with
an instructor who had years of experience working with
horses. After graduation, I was given the opportunity to
take her position at ABLE Acres, where I’ve been working
for almost two years now. I appreciate all my Pima
Medical instructors and the extra time they took to make
sure I would succeed in this field.

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