First Week of OT School

I feel overwhelmed.

I think all of us felt overwhelmed.

After four months being out of school, getting back into the swing of things was a little more complicated than I thought it would be.

My first week of school started with orientation; we all dressed up and rolled in at 8:30 am and honestly, my roommates and I were a bit nervous, so we jammed out to some Avril Lavigne in my car before we walked in. It kind of felt like interview day all over again, but we knew we belonged here.

Most of orientation day was spent listening to professors going over campus and classroom policies, dress code and campus resources- all pretty standard stuff. We met with our academic advisors in groups and got to talk with them and ask questions over a catered lunch, which was really nice. Having an assigned advisor made me feel a bit more comfortable, and I settled into the conversation quite easily. Then orientation was over and my roommates and I made plans to head to a local coffee shop to read over our syllabi and get oriented with our classes.

And that is when it hit us. This is going to be a lot of work.

We already had assignments due and hundreds of pages of reading to be done, and classes hadn’t even technically started yet.

I wrote down every assignment, quiz, exam, practical and discussion post that would be due this semester and called it quits for the day. It was a lot to take in all at once.

Even though it’s only been a week, I found myself asking the question, “will I be able to do this?” And had thoughts like, “everyone else seems so much smarter and put together,” and “I’m literally not going to have a social life.”

But I also keep thinking back to something one of the professors said during orientation. She said, “Remember why you’re here, remember your ‘why’ because that will get you through your toughest moments.”

I chose occupational therapy as my future career for a reason. And I cannot allow myself to become afraid just because I feel a little bit overwhelmed. So many people have done this before me, and if they can do it, I sure as hell can do it too.

Yes I’m overwhelmed right now. But that’s never stopped me before, and it’s not going to stop me now, especially considering how much work it took to get here. It may take me another week to get into the swing of things, it may take me a month (hopefully not), but however long it takes me, nothing will stop me from putting forth my maximum effort and having the focus to get things done.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, try to remember why you’re doing what you’re doing. Focus on your ultimate goal, and I promise you, that will give you more energy and will-power to push through those tough moments.

Here’s to the next two years!