Lesson #11: You don't always get what you deserve.

This has been my "learned it the hard way lesson" of my semester. I know that many times throughout my life I have received many blessings that are much greater than what I deserve. But sadly, this thing works both ways. Sometimes in life, you can feel that you deserve better things than the ones that are coming your way. I have been feeling like this lately. I'm still blessed, and the problems I have are nothing compared to most people but still, I feel like I need to let it out.

What is bothering me the most is that some of my problems could have been avoided if someone else had decided to put me in a different situation. Somehow I felt betrayed because I thought that because I am good student, I don’t deserve to go through all the trouble they've put me through. Sometimes professors put good students in the worst situations because they think they will be able to manage it best. I think that if it isn't going to benefit the student in any way, this is just an unfair punishment.

Anyway, I know this doesn’t happen only in school, everyone has to go through unfairness in all life stages and scenarios.  What I’ve realized today is that if I want to be happy, I have to stop thinking that I deserve better and start moving forward with what I got.
 
Maybe God lets us go through this so we don’t get spoiled thinking we deserve it all. I have faith that He is hoping I learn important lessons from this, and that’s what I’m trying to do.

Lesson #10: Wars also destroy souls

Since I'm working with veterans as part of one of my rotations, I have been hearing a lot of war stories lately. I don't want to say much though, because I know it might be a sensitive topic.  I'm just going to say that after hearing first-hand what these people have gone through, I admire them just for being there working to get their life back together after a very de-humanizing experience. Even if their bodies are unharmed, their souls are wounded forever. "After this, I would never be able to be the same person", a man said to me after about half an hour of telling me his very detailed story. I didn’t know what to say, I couldn’t do nothing else but validate his feelings and give him my undivided attention. My respects to those that, having no other option, had to sacrifice their physical and mental wellbeing to support their families.

Lesson #9: It's ok to be goofy sometimes!

One thing I have learned through my OT classmates since the beginning is that it is ok to be goofy sometimes. My group is very creative, fun and we have been very close since the first days of OT school. Even though we are very different people, we share the same values and beliefs, which made us choose this profession.

 Ok, going back to the goofiness, Michael Iwama, the creator of the "Kawa Model" (https://www.facebook.com/KawaModel?fref=ts) made a Harlem Shake video with OT students from his program and challenged OT students from all over the world to a Harlem Shake showdown. At first as a group, we thought the Harlem Shake was lame and didn't want to participate until Iwama challenged us. But I got to say, even if it looks lame when you watch other Harlem Shakes, it is very fun to make one yourself! I have laughed so much watching it. Each time I see another of my classmates doing crazy things!

 I have learned that sometimes you have to let your pride aside and open yourself to have fun! Hey, if it’s fun and doesn't hurt anybody....why not?

 

Lesson #8: Our health care system is not fair.

This past semester I took a class about administration and management of occupational therapy services. Among other things, this class helped me confirm that what I believed about our health care system is true; it isn't fair. Occupational therapy is such a diverse profession, that we can almost always do something  to help the patients (even if it's just education or prevention).  The ugly truth is that the medical system (at least where I live) doesn't support bringing services to everyone who could benefit from them. I would say that only a few are the privileged ones who can pay, or their insurance pays, for occupational therapy services. Even if the services are covered, this coverage doesn't include prevention and health promotion interventions. So often, conditions that could have been prevented have to become serious in order to be allowed to receive the appropriate attention.  It's frustrating to know that there are solutions available to a large number of health conditions but must people don't have access to them.

As part of this administration and management class, my classmates and I participated in a health fair . We had to practice marketing skills by promoting our profession. I was showing people different devices that helped with daily living activities. When we were about to leave, a man with ALS came looking for something that could help him eat by himself. He was alone and looked desperate. He walked using a walker with wheels that he could barely push. He told us that he wasn't receiving any type of therapy, and since he only had the public health care insurance plan and no transportation, was looking for a therapist that accepted this insurance and that he could access by public transportation. His doctor never referred him to occupational therapy or told him about the assistive technology devices that he would soon need to accomplish daily tasks as a result of his condition. 

I don't know all the details in this case, or if what the patient told us is completely true. But still, it made me sad and angry at the same time to know that there were solutions to some of this man's problems, but he wasn't receiving them. Maybe because his lack of resources, the lack of the doctor's knowledge about occupational therapy, or a combination of the two. I know things like this happen all the time, but seeing it in person gives you a bigger impression. I  hope that someday everyone has the right to receive the best health care available for their situation.

This experience also made me think about how many health professionals ignore the benefits that OT could bring to people with progressive diseases. But I think I'll discuss this in the next post....

Exhausted

I'm currently on Christmas break, but this last semester was so tough, I still feel exhausted! There were so many classes, so many oral presentations, and especially way too much of evaluations reports and goal writing.  Adding to all that, there was the stress related to starting to write a research proposal.

 I start the new semester back in a week, which includes classes, rotations, and continuing with the research proposal.  I feel like I need another month of vacations to feel ready to go trough what awaits me. I did learn a lot this past semester though, and I'm planning to share some of that here soon. It's just that, as I mentioned, I still feel tired. I am really praying to be strong enough to face this new challenges without the negative effects that stress bring to our minds and bodies. I know that with the help of God and a positive attitude I'll survive! Happy New Year!

With OT love,

Luna

Lesson #7: Even if things are going to be bad anyway, they will always be better with a positive attitude and worse with a negative one.

Usually I'm not the positivist of the group. Maybe because I don't like to stop being realistic to think that everything will be alright and then get disappointed. But, one of the most important lessons I have learned through OT so far is that even though it is for sure that things are not going to be ok, being positive really helps. To go through a difficult situation will always be easier with a positive attitude and more complicated with a negative one.

A professor talked to us about his friend who had terminal cancer. Even though the doctors told him he just had a few months of life, he decided to take a positive attitude and to not give up. He knew that he would die from his cancer anyway, but chose to live his last days happy. He lived a lot more than the doctors predicted.

After that story I have been trying to remember this phrase when I tend to go back no my negative thoughts: "Even if things are going to be bad anyway, they will always be better with a positive attitude and worse with a negative one".  With each patient that I get to meet through my OT clasees, I confirm this affirmation. I have seen a patient with "complete damage" to the spinal cord at level C5-C6 stand up and walk, and a ALS patient write books and communicate by just moving  his eyes. In both cases their attitudes had been  key elements. I'm beginning to think  this profession would never stop surprising and teaching me.

Tips for first year OT Students

When I started this, my second year as an OT student, my group threw a welcome party for the new students. To continue the tradition, each of us gave advice to the new group to help them succeed in their first year.  I had a lot of ideas in my mind, but this was the advice I ended up giving them:

Keep a positive attitude. When you feel overwhelmed, and wish to be out with your friends or family instead of having to study, think of these years as "separated" for your personal and professional development. In the future, you'll feel happy and proud that you really took advantage of this period.

This was the thought that helped me ( and still does) keep up going in those moments of frustration in which I had a thousand things to do and at the same time asked myself: why am I not at the beach or having fun with my family and friends right now? It's true that those moments of fun also come during the semester but, to be sincere, the moments when you feel overwhelmed come more often, so I couldn’t ignore them in my advice.

Now, I want to share some extra tips that helped me and maybe can help other OT students:

1. Never sleep less than 6 hours- You are not going to function well in classes or tests if you don't give a chance to your brain to rest and integrate all the material you studied. If you feel really tired, stop there. Those hours of sleep will help you understand better the material than studying all night without sleeping.

2. Identify your most productive hours and take advantage of them. My productive hours are in the early morning (4am), when there is no one at facebook, nobody calls me or sends me text messages. In two hours of study in the morning I can do more than in 4 in the afternoon.

3. Find your balance- Balance between studying and the rest of the things in your life is important, but it’s also very individual. Find out how much study time you need to do well without comparing yourself to others. Sometimes finding your balance can mean having less leisure time, because maybe in your case, you have too much. In my case, finding my balance means trying to study less and spend more time in my other interests. But, be careful, don’t take for excuse your search of “balance” to waste a lot of time resting…..you’ll regret it. You can do everything with moderation.

4. Make lists- When I feel like I have too many things to do, making lists usually helps me. I write down everything I have to do for the week, sometimes in priority order. That way, when I’m tired of working with something, I just  look at the list, and start with something else. I am a lot more productive when I make "to do" lists, and the best feeling in the world is to scratch something from it!

5. Love what you do- If you don’t fall in love with the profession, my advice is that you don’t continue in it. If you really love OT, you’ll be willing to make the necessary sacrifices to become the kind of professional that your future clients deserve.

I know that I could have given you many more tips, but right now I have a lot of study to do, so I hope this can help.

With OT love,

Luna